This is an English language film (made in America) adapted from a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque. The film follows a group of German schoolboys, talked into enlisting at the beginning of World War 1 by their jingoistic teacher. The story is told entirely through the experiences of the young German recruits and highlights the tragedy of war through the eyes of individuals. As the boys witness death and mutilation all around them, any preconceptions about "the enemy" and the "rights and wrongs" of the conflict disappear, leaving them angry and bewildered. This is highlighted in the scene where Paul mortally wounds a French soldier and then weeps bitterly as he fights to save his life while trapped in a shell crater with the body. The film is not about heroism but about drudgery and futility and the gulf between the concept of war and the actuality.
| Release Date: | Apr 1930 |
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| Genre: | War / Drama / Action |
| Awards: | Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations |
| Cast: | Louis Wolheim (Kat Katczinsky), Lew Ayres (Paul Bäumer), John Wray (Himmelstoss), Arnold Lucy (Professor Kantorek), Ben Alexander (Franz Kemmerich), Scott Kolk (Leer), Owen Davis Jr. (Peter), Walter Rogers (Behn (as Walter Browne Rogers)), William Bakewell (Albert Kropp), Russell Gleason (Mueller), Richard Alexander (Westhus), Harold Goodwin (Detering), Slim Summerville (Tjaden), G. Pat Collins (Lieutenant Bertinck (as Pat Collins)), Beryl Mercer (Mrs. Bäumer - Paul's Mother) |