Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Looking for films featuring World War I

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Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 09-02-2003, 08:03 PM:

Well school is back in session and once again I've been asked to lecture on twentieth century world history. This week the discussion topic is World War I (aka: The Great War). American college students know little about this conflict and that is not always their fault. High school history teachers overlook the base reasons for the war such as nationalism, economic rivalry, and popular militarism; while instead present a hopless battlefield situation inwhich only the intervention of the United States could the day be saved.

Educators on the forum will probably also agree with me in that film is an excelent method of classroom communication when used properly. In order to appeal to their senses, as well as paint an historically accurate picture as possible, I am asking for suggestions as to which films freshman college students would most relate to with refrence to the First World War.

The films do not have to have a 100% military plot. Indeed, as stated earlier, I am actually interested in certain clips showing the struggle in a light most students were not exposed to while in secondary school. For example: Today I showed the scene from Legends of the Fall in which Henry Thomas gets gassed. Say what you want about the film, the battlefield images are first class (remember this movie did win the best cinematography oscar).

So what films do you guys recommend?

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 09-02-2003, 08:10 PM:

All Quiet on the Western Front

Posted by Aaron Mehocic (Member # 15) on 09-02-2003, 08:18 PM:

I thought about this one but did not go with it in part because I'm trying to connect with the students using something a bit more modern in production. A great film though [Smile]

.

BTW: I'm sensing a move probably to Yak. Thats my fault.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 09-02-2003, 08:30 PM:

There are two versions of All Quiet...I believe.

Steve

Posted by Rick Long (Member # 213) on 09-02-2003, 08:46 PM:

Another film about WWI which I enjoyed is Richard Attenborough's "Oh What a Lovely War" It presents, as it claims, an irreverent, musical and sometimes comedic view of the Great War.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 09-02-2003, 08:56 PM:

Indeed there is a 70s remake which is not bad, but the original is still better and nearly contemporary to the actual events which makes it not even really a historical film but a historical document. If your students need a more recent rendering in color and all that to connect to the subject then they are not history students but idiots and you can also let them play a video game.
A more recent film (in color!!!) which I also liked is Gallipoli. It is not really a film about WWI, more a drama against the historical background.

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 09-02-2003, 10:26 PM:

All Quiet On The Western Front is about the best!(origonal version)

I would suggest a few other sources for documentaries: The Imperial War Museum in London, as well as the History Channel.

For a good background reference in literature, I would strongly recommend "History of the World War" by Francis A. March PhD. with an introduction by General P.C. March, Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Leslie-Judge Company New York 1918 in 6 volumes. I have a first printing 6 volume set, but I do know that later printings were contained in one volume. This is truly excellent material.

I would also look into Time Life Books. Their series on the history of aviation contains excellent material on WWI. They also printed some excellent material about naval warefare in WWI.

Aaron, the cause of WWI will for centuries be debated. But please also remember this. In a simple sense, WWI was a family feude. Up until the end of WWI, Europe was ruled my monarchies. All of these were related through blood and marriage, with Queen Victoria of England at the helm. The monarchies were split between loyalities, and it was Victoria who held the situation under check. When she passed away is when all hell broke loose. WWI saw the end of European Monarchies and the rise of Nationalism, Socialism, Communism and Democracy. It also ushered in America as a modern super-power.

The Arms of Krupp by William Manchester Little, Brown and Company 1964 is another excellent work. Furthermore, many of the published works about the early history of Israel and the roots of the mid-east conflict also give excellent insite into this era. OH Jerusalem by Collins and LaPierre comes into mind, as well as several others.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 09-02-2003, 10:55 PM:

Kubrick's Paths of Glory.

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 09-03-2003, 12:37 AM:

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) also had a silent version available which was apparently significantly different (worked even better, according to a very reliable source). The silent version is not available. There was a remake in the last couple of decades.

Wings (1927) is a rip-snorter, & the first winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Dawn Patrol (1930 & 1938), but not as good as Wings!

There were many documentary & battlefield type movies made of WWI, & a number of propaganda films. Several focused on the new British tanks (which actually had mixed success). There's footage of the Battle of Ancre & Somme.

David Shepard released a DVD of silent-era films about WWI with a mix of documentary/propaganda & entertainment product like comedies
World War One Films of the Silent Era

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 09-04-2003, 06:38 AM:

Availability may be limited for some of these titles, but possibilities include:

Britain Prepared (1915) - propaganda film about the UK military, originally in Kinemacolor (though AFAIK it only survives in b/w)
The Battle of the Somme (1916) - the notorious British government propaganda film in which a 'dead' German gets up and walks away in the background of a shot.
The Life Story of David Lloyd George (1918) - a propaganda film celebrating L-G's political leadership in wartime.
J'Accuse (1919) - anti-war epic directed by Abel (Napoléon) Gance
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) - discusses impact of WWI on family life in Europe; available on VHS in the US.
Remembrance (1927) - how British demobbed soldiers coped with life after the war and the economic hardships of the early '20s.
Journey's End (1930). The story of life in the trenches, and the last film made in Britain by James Whale before he emigrated to the US to direct the Universal horror film cycle.
Westfront 1918 (1930) - Life in the trenches seen from a German perspective.
The Roaring Twenties (1939) - explores what life was like for US soldiers returning from the war in 1918. Available on VHS in the US.

There were also some feature films made during the early Nazi period (1933-37 approx.) which present the events of WWI and Germany's humiliation at Versailles as justification for Mr. H's activities. Some of them are discussed in The Ministry of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and its Afterlife.

Also, your students might find the following books useful to have in the school library:

Film and the First World War - I've read this and highly recommend it. Other possibilities:
The First World War and Popular Cinema
Book on German Cinema and WWI

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 09-04-2003, 10:51 PM:

There is also that American classic..."Sargent York"

Steve

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 09-05-2003, 08:13 AM:

My suggestion is Fraulein Doctor, A genuinely sicko movie loosely based upon the life of the woman who developed mustard gas for the Germans during WW1. The film contains some spectacular battle scenes with an actual cast of thousands.

All Movie Guide

Posted by Pete Naples (Member # 761) on 09-05-2003, 11:09 AM:

Regneration

Posted by Jeff Logan (Member # 1163) on 09-07-2003, 11:28 PM:

Don't forget the 1966 roadshow film THE BLUE MAX starring Geo. Peppard as a German pilot.
One of the classic silents about WW1 was THE BIG PARADE. It shows up on TNT late nights sometimes.
Most of these are available on video.
Wish we lived closer, I'd come visit, my Dad served in the air service in WW1 and passed along a lot of stories--most repeatable in school.

Posted by Bernard Tonks (Member # 809) on 09-08-2003, 05:29 AM:

Two Anna Neagle films.

“Nurse Edith Cavell”

As Nurse Nightingale in “The Lady With The Lamp”

[ 09-08-2003, 07:42 AM: Message edited by: Bernard Tonks ]

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 09-08-2003, 07:00 AM:

The 1928 silent version was in fact called Dawn, starring Sybil Thorndike. Herbert Wilcox remade it in 1939 as Nurse Edith Cavell with his wife (Anna Neagle) as Edith.

There is an interesting story about the first version. When he heard that the film was being produced, the German ambassador in London hit the roof and complained to the Foreign Office. This being in the aftermath of the Locarno treaties and in the context of the post-Versailles 'don't let's be beastly to the Germans' atmosphere, the Foreign Office went straight to the Home Office which in turn applied behind-the-scenes pressure on the British Board of Film Censors to ban it. Wilcox responded by going to the press, and ensured that the high-profile row which ensued (the coverage was eerily similar to the way the news media covered the 11 September 'burying bad news' email at the start of last year) effectively prevented any possibility of Dawn being suppressed.

In the aftermath of this episode the Home Office encouraged the BBFC to introduce script vetting. Producers were encouraged to submit their scripts to the BBFC for free 'advice' on what would and wouldn't be allowed. The idea was to see off politically controversial films before they even went in front of the camera, a system which operated with ruthless efficiency throughout the 1930s. Many of the script vetting report files can be seen at the British Film Institute library in London (though many others were destroyed in a fire at the BBFC's Soho Square HQ in 1941) and they make scary reading: projects which were banned before the production stage include a 1936 version of I Claudius starring Charles Laughton (hints of homosexuality too explicit) and a 1937 film of Lawrence of Arabia (because Britain's League of Nations mandated role in Palestine made the revolt in the desert a little bit of a sore point).

When WWII broke out in 1939 the BBFC was instantly sidelined by the newly-formed Ministry of Information, which was of course encouraging anti-German propaganda, hence the remake.

Suggested Reading: The Age of the Dream Palace by Jeffrey Richards, which discusses the content control system of the 1930s, and The British Board of Film Censors by James Robertson, which covers the Dawn episode (currently out of print, unfortunately).

A book published at the time, The Censor, The Drama and the FIlm by Dorothy Knowles (London, 1932), makes fascinating reading. The author accuses the government of applying double standards, allowing political expression in 'legitimate' theatre which it was cracking down on in the cinema, her argument being that the powers that be were less worried about what middle-class theatregoers saw than working class film audiences. It's incredibly difficult to get hold of, though. When copies do appear in places like The Cinema Bookshop, even dog-eared ones change hands for £50 plus.

Posted by Bernard Tonks (Member # 809) on 09-08-2003, 07:51 AM:

Thanks Leo for refreshing my memory. It was "Dawn" that I showed with piano accompaniment at the Roundhouse Chalk Farm in London during 1970 with Kalee 20 projectors run at 18 fps.