All Quiet on the Western Front
One of the greatest pacifist statements ever to reach the screen, All Quiet on the Western Front follows a group of German youths from their patriotic fervor at the start of World War I in 1914, to the death of the last of their number in 1918. Based on Erich Maria Remarque's like-titled novel, All Quiet downplays the political issues that led to World War I and dwells instead on the folly and horror of war in general. Filmed at a cost of $1.2 million and populated with 2,000 extras, many of them war veterans, All Quiet garnered widespread critical acclaim and Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director (Lewis Milestone). It also made a star of Lew Ayres, a previously unknown 20 year-old who played Remarque's autobiographical figure of Paul Baumer. A 1990 addition to the National Film Registry, All Quiet remains a timely and powerful indictment of war.
Further Reading:
Millichap, Joseph R. Lewis Milestone. Boston, Twayne, 1981.
Norden, Martin F. The Cinema of Isolation: A History of Physical Disability in the Movies. New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 1994.
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