Movie Review – All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Today we’re kicking off a bunch of movie reviews dedicated to one of my favorite time periods — World War 1.

As you can guess by the title of this article, the first movie that we’re going to review is the 1930 classic, All Quiet on the Western Front.

Based on the classic novel by Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front follows a group of young men as they graduate from school, enlist as soldiers in the German army, and then experience the various forms of horrors in warfare, from attacking an enemy’s position to starvation to the horrors of life in the hospital.  It’s a gripping story as the young men are faced with the challenges of staying alive and fighting “for the Fatherland.”

Directed by Lewis Milestone, All Quiet on the Western Front was produced by Hollywood legend Carl Laemmle, Jr.

All Quiet on the Western Front begins in Germany as a group of boys finishes their final semester at secondary school.  As soldiers proudly march in formation through the town’s streets, Professor Kantorek (Arnold Lucy) gives the boys an impressive and patriotic speech about the duties of enlisting in the Army and fighting for their home, the Fatherland.  The students are impressed by the speech, and they believe in the glory and honor of serving in the German military.  The group of them promptly enlist and find themselves at a training camp.

Life at the training camp is initially rough for the young men, especially with the harsh methods of their drill instructor, Corporal Himmelstoss (John Wray).  Their drill instructor is a strict disciplinarian, and he seems to take amusement whenever he gives commands for the recruits to drop to the ground and crawl through mud.  The recruits quickly learn how to become soldiers, and it’s not long before they graduate and are given orders to transfer to the Western Front.  On the eve of leaving their training camp, they ambush a drunken Himmelstoss, beat him, and then leave him in a muddy field.

Upon arriving near the Western Front, the area is hit by French shells, and the young soldiers get their first taste of violence and death as one of their companions is killed.  It’s an alarming reality check as death can strike away from the trenches and in a perceived “safe zone.”  When the soldiers reach their post, they learn that the older soldiers aren’t accommodating to the new recruits.  None of them have been fed for a number of days.  When one of the soldiers goes out and returns with a slaughtered hog, the new recruits are forced to “pay” for their meal with cigarettes.

That night the young soldiers are sent into the trenches for the first time.  Their mission is to string up new sections of barbed wire, but the soldiers are constantly challenged by French shells.  The French also fire flares and illuminate the area, allowing their machine guns and snipers to see the German soldiers.  When one of the new recruits is killed by a machine gun, another one, Franz Kemmerich (Ben Alexander), risks his life by going out and retrieving his friend, only to later discover that it was useless as his friend was dead.  His actions earn him a reprimand by Stanislaus Katczinsky (Louis Wolheim), one of the experienced soldiers.  The soldiers are then evacuated out of the trenches.

Back at the bunker, the soldiers battle boredom by playing cards and fighting off rats.  Already the soldiers are showing signs of stress during the nearly endless bombardment by French shells.  One of the young soldiers loses control and panics, running out of the safety of the bunker and later injuring himself.  Other soldiers are fed up with waiting and want to attack the French, but doing so would be a suicide as the French trenches are heavily fortified —- just like the German trenches.

Suddenly there’s a break in the shelling and the men are ordered into the trenches.  The enemy is about to attack!

The Germans hold their position and wait until the French are nearly upon them.  Then they open up with their machine guns, rifles and grenades, inflicting heavy damage to the attacking forces.  It’s not enough and the French jump into the German trenches, forcing them to fight hand-to-hand.  The Germans retreat to a secondary trench where they reorganize and launch a counterattack against the French.  The Germans attack and reach the French trenches, but they are unable to hold the position and are forced to retreat back to their original position.  It’s a spectacular sequence that shows the stalemate that was so common between the opposing trenches.

The men are again removed from the trenches, and they enjoy a hard-earned meal.  They then sit around discussing the causes of war and who is responsible for sending armies to war.  One of the soldiers suggest that only the government leaders should do the fighting.  After the meal, some of the young soldiers decide to visit a nearby hospital to check on Franz Kemmerich, who was wounded in the battle.

At the hospital, the young men are shocked to discover that their friend is in bad condition.  He’s complaining about pains in his right foot, but he’s unaware (until somebody mentions it) that the doctors had to amputate his lower leg.  Kemmerich becomes depressed about the amputation as he believes it’ll stop him from pursuing his dreams after returning from the war.  One of his friends asks to borrow Kemmerich’s boots, and he loses consciousness.  Paul Bäumer (Lew Ayres) runs off to find a doctor, but there’s nothing that the doctor or medic could do.  Kemmerich has died from his wounds.

The men are soon sent back to the front lines, and they’re surprised when their old drill instructor, Corporal Himmelstoss, joins their unit.  He’s immediately spurned by the soldiers.  During the next German attack, Himmelstoss proves to be a coward in the face of the enemy.

The attack continues into a French cemetery and Paul Bäumer falls into a shell crater with a French soldier.  He quickly stabs the French soldier repeatedly, but the soldier doesn’t die immediately.  Paul is forced to spend the night in the crater, listening to the French soldier slowly suffer and die from his knife wounds.  Paul ties to bring him water and save his life, but he fails and the Frenchman ultimately dies.  He cries and begs the dead body for forgiveness.  Paul locates the Frenchman’s wallet and promises the dead man that he’ll write to his wife and explain what happened, that he didn’t mean to kill the man.  There’s a break in the fighting and Paul returns to the German lines.

The unit is again pulled from the front lines, but this time it’s for a period of rest and relaxation.  The men get drunk at a tavern and talk about French women.  When some of the men bathe in the river, they see some young French women and try to talk to them.  Since neither party is allowed across the river, the German soldiers wait until night before discretely crossing the river and talking to the women.  They give the ladies food in exchange for some “comfort” for the evening.

The soldiers march back to the front line, but a French shelling wounds Paul Bäumer.  He’s taken to a hospital and meets Albert Kropp (William Bakewell), a fellow soldier who was also injured and dealing with an amputation.  Kropp tells Paul horror stories in the hospital, about how wounded soldiers taken to the bandaging room never return.  He makes Paul believe that whoever is sent there dies.  When Paul is sent to the bandaging room he puts up a fight and vows to return.  He triumphantly returns to his hospital bed a short while later.

Paul Bäumer recovers and earns himself a furlough, which he uses to visit his town.  Back at home, Paul’s mother is sick in bed as her health is failing.  He then walks around town and discovers that despite the stalemate on the front lines, there’s still a proud and patriotic spirit in town.  That spirit and glorification of war is still present as his old school teacher tries to inspire the next generation into enlisting into the military.  Paul gives the class a brief talk about what war is really like.

When Paul returns to the front lines, he learns that most of his friends and fellow soldiers are dead.  When he hears that Katczinsky is still alive and out looking for food, Paul leaves to find his friend.  He finds Katczinsky and the two of them quickly catch up on old times.  Suddenly an airplane flies overhead and drops a small bomb on the two men.  Paul is uninjured but Katczinsky has a wounded ankle.  Paul picks up his friend and begins to carry him to the nearest hospital.  A second bomb falls nearby and a piece of shrapnel strikes Katczinsky in the head, killing him.  Paul is unaware that his friend is dead, and he carries him all the way to a field hospital.

All Quiet on the Western Front ends with Paul back in the trenches.  When he spots a butterfly just outside of the trench, he reaches out to touch it.  Suddenly a sniper fires and kills Paul Bäumer.

So is 1930’s All Quiet on the Western Front a good movie?

Absolutely!

All Quiet on the Western Front is a film that expertly shows how young men are changed when they go off to war, from the pride and glorification of enlisting in the army to fight for their country, to the adrenaline and horrors of combat, to finally death itself.  In a war zone death comes from many angles whether it’s shelling or bombing, machine guns and rifles, hand-to-hand combat, or from deadly infections gained from wounds.

It’s hard to find a finer picture when it comes to not only World War 1, but warfare in general.  The theming here can be discovered in nearly any armed conflict from ancient times to today.  War is hell.  It’s an experience that changes a person in many ways both mentally and physically.  It’s a necessity used to fight evil and defend your home.

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) – movie trailer

Fans of war movies will feel right at home when viewing All Quiet on the Western Front.  If you haven’t done so already, make sure that this film is part of your movie library.  It’s easy to forget that this movie was released all the way back in 1930.  Although this is an anti-war film, this World War 1 movie is truly an amazing experience.