April 2011:
Waiting for the last bus home after seeing a fantastic concert featuring the US Punk band Anti-Flag,I decided that with being the only person waiting at the bus station at 11:30pm, (not the smartest,or safest decision that I ever made!) that I would pass the time by reading IMDb user reviews on my phone.
Checking a fellow IMDber's reviews,I was shocked to discover,that despite being known for his Horror films,director James Whale had actually directed a follow-up to the famous War movie All Quiet on The western Front.Searching around online,and in all of the near by shops,I was saddened to learn,that with the exception of a 5 minute clip being posted online,and despite Western Front and James Whale's being big names,that the movie had never come out on DVD,or Video.
Late 2013:
Getting close to writing my 500th IMDb review,I decided to search round online for titles which I had been keen on seeing for years.Originally being told by all the DVD sellers that I E-Mailed that there was "no chance" of this particular road being found,I was given a delightfully surprise,when a DVD seller sent me a sudden E-Mail to let me know that he had just tracked down a version of the title,which along with getting me excitingly ready to see a James Whale movie for the first time,also led to me,at last getting the chance to walk the road back
The plot:
WWI:
Being bombarded by constant gunfire and also having to witness countless number of their friends fall to the ground,a group of German soldiers begin to strongly believe that their government will never allow the war to officially end.
Picking up a newspaper from one of the few remaining newsstands still standing,one of the solider's rushes to the troop,to give them the good news,that the Kaiser and the government have fled the country,and that "A revolution" is taking place in Berlin,being led by a brand new political party called the Narzi's.
Leaving the battle grounds with their fists in the air and a smile on their faces as they expect to be welcomed back as heroes by the revolutionary's,the soldiers discover to their horror that none of the revolutionary's and even their own families view them as heroes,but instead see them as soldiers who "turned their back" on their people and their country,so that they could take part in the government's war.Attempting to adjust to normal life,the soldiers soon find out that the road back to normal life is harder than any of them could have expected.
View on the film:
Seen by director James Whale as the film that would lead to him being a maker of "epics" after having made a number of successful Horror movies, (which in a weird twist,would end up becoming Whale's epics!)the title's production was sadly a complete disaster from start to finish,with the movie going massively over budget and original cinematography John J.Mescall having to be replaced by George Robinson after one too many drinking "problems".
Whale also got to witness Universal studios real morals,by the studio caving into the demands of the Nazi party, (who threatened to stop any Universal movie from being shown in Germany) and taking Whale's 105 minute cut of the movie out of his hands,and trimming it down to 97 minutes, (thankfully,my version was a longer cut,running for 100 minutes) with additional scenes shot by director Edward Sloman spliced in,so as to tone down the anti-Fascist element of the movie. (Whale original filmed ending involved children getting introduced to Nazism)
Whilst history makes the movie appear to be a complete disaster,and the "passable" print that I viewed not allowing for the title to be seen in all of its glory,the film thankfully contains enough of its original roots to still make it a powerful viewing.
Adapting from Erich Maria Remargue's soon to be banned in Germany novel,the screenplay by Charles Kenyon (who in 1924 had written John Ford's wonderful epic The Iron Horse) and R.C.Sheriff show a tremendous skill in making each of the on screen characters representations for parts of Whale personality.
Basing the film right at the end of WWI,the movie is thankfully able to break out of the studio-enforced sentimentality by Sheriff and Kenyon placing Whales still-strong sense of anger and bitterness towards the war and his issues over the system of class, (with Whale's attempting to hide his working class background as much as possible in Hollywood)right at the heart of each character,with the soldiers return to their homeland being shown as a living nightmare,thanks to all of their family and friends seeing them as being completely different people,with the psychological damage that some of them suffered in the war,leading to family members to call them weird.
Showing a real determination to not let studio politics ruin his moment to shine,James Whale directs the film with a tremendous flair,with the battleground scenes having a real dept of filed,as Whale shows this "no mans land" to be an endless pit of doom.Pulling the troop out of the trenches,Whale uses complex tracking shots to show the distance that each solider has in his relationship,and also superbly uses high angles to reveal the judges who are prepared to judge,but are afraid of ever setting foot on the hard road back.
Waiting for the last bus home after seeing a fantastic concert featuring the US Punk band Anti-Flag,I decided that with being the only person waiting at the bus station at 11:30pm, (not the smartest,or safest decision that I ever made!) that I would pass the time by reading IMDb user reviews on my phone.
Checking a fellow IMDber's reviews,I was shocked to discover,that despite being known for his Horror films,director James Whale had actually directed a follow-up to the famous War movie All Quiet on The western Front.Searching around online,and in all of the near by shops,I was saddened to learn,that with the exception of a 5 minute clip being posted online,and despite Western Front and James Whale's being big names,that the movie had never come out on DVD,or Video.
Late 2013:
Getting close to writing my 500th IMDb review,I decided to search round online for titles which I had been keen on seeing for years.Originally being told by all the DVD sellers that I E-Mailed that there was "no chance" of this particular road being found,I was given a delightfully surprise,when a DVD seller sent me a sudden E-Mail to let me know that he had just tracked down a version of the title,which along with getting me excitingly ready to see a James Whale movie for the first time,also led to me,at last getting the chance to walk the road back
The plot:
WWI:
Being bombarded by constant gunfire and also having to witness countless number of their friends fall to the ground,a group of German soldiers begin to strongly believe that their government will never allow the war to officially end.
Picking up a newspaper from one of the few remaining newsstands still standing,one of the solider's rushes to the troop,to give them the good news,that the Kaiser and the government have fled the country,and that "A revolution" is taking place in Berlin,being led by a brand new political party called the Narzi's.
Leaving the battle grounds with their fists in the air and a smile on their faces as they expect to be welcomed back as heroes by the revolutionary's,the soldiers discover to their horror that none of the revolutionary's and even their own families view them as heroes,but instead see them as soldiers who "turned their back" on their people and their country,so that they could take part in the government's war.Attempting to adjust to normal life,the soldiers soon find out that the road back to normal life is harder than any of them could have expected.
View on the film:
Seen by director James Whale as the film that would lead to him being a maker of "epics" after having made a number of successful Horror movies, (which in a weird twist,would end up becoming Whale's epics!)the title's production was sadly a complete disaster from start to finish,with the movie going massively over budget and original cinematography John J.Mescall having to be replaced by George Robinson after one too many drinking "problems".
Whale also got to witness Universal studios real morals,by the studio caving into the demands of the Nazi party, (who threatened to stop any Universal movie from being shown in Germany) and taking Whale's 105 minute cut of the movie out of his hands,and trimming it down to 97 minutes, (thankfully,my version was a longer cut,running for 100 minutes) with additional scenes shot by director Edward Sloman spliced in,so as to tone down the anti-Fascist element of the movie. (Whale original filmed ending involved children getting introduced to Nazism)
Whilst history makes the movie appear to be a complete disaster,and the "passable" print that I viewed not allowing for the title to be seen in all of its glory,the film thankfully contains enough of its original roots to still make it a powerful viewing.
Adapting from Erich Maria Remargue's soon to be banned in Germany novel,the screenplay by Charles Kenyon (who in 1924 had written John Ford's wonderful epic The Iron Horse) and R.C.Sheriff show a tremendous skill in making each of the on screen characters representations for parts of Whale personality.
Basing the film right at the end of WWI,the movie is thankfully able to break out of the studio-enforced sentimentality by Sheriff and Kenyon placing Whales still-strong sense of anger and bitterness towards the war and his issues over the system of class, (with Whale's attempting to hide his working class background as much as possible in Hollywood)right at the heart of each character,with the soldiers return to their homeland being shown as a living nightmare,thanks to all of their family and friends seeing them as being completely different people,with the psychological damage that some of them suffered in the war,leading to family members to call them weird.
Showing a real determination to not let studio politics ruin his moment to shine,James Whale directs the film with a tremendous flair,with the battleground scenes having a real dept of filed,as Whale shows this "no mans land" to be an endless pit of doom.Pulling the troop out of the trenches,Whale uses complex tracking shots to show the distance that each solider has in his relationship,and also superbly uses high angles to reveal the judges who are prepared to judge,but are afraid of ever setting foot on the hard road back.