ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930)

Today is the anniversary of the greatest war movie winning the Oscar for Best Picture in 1930.  If you like war movies, you might want to check out my blog The War Movie Buff (https://warmoviebuff.blogspot.com/) and my Facebook group War Movie Lovers Group.    

1. There is a sequel called “The Road Back” released in 1937.
2. Zasu Pitts, a comedic actress, was originally tabbed to play Paul’s mother. She was replaced by Beryl Mercer after test audiences laughed whenever Pitts appeared on the screen.
3. 2,000 extras were used for the battle scenes. Many of them were veteran German soldiers who lived in the Los Angeles area.
4. It won Academy Awards for Outstanding Production (Best Picture back then) and Direction. It was the first picture to win both.  It was the first sound war movie to win best picture.  It was nominated for Writing and Cinematography.
5. It was ranked #54 on the first AFI list of movies, but inexplicably did not make the 10^th anniversary list. It was #7 on the list of Epic Movies.
6. When it was shown in Nazi Germany, stink bombs and mice were released in theaters. This led to it being banned. 
7. One of the German extras told Milestone about an incident in the war where a Frenchman’s hands were left hanging on barbed wire. Milestone use the story for the iconic image in the film.
8. Milestone did not want a musical score because he felt it would dilute the seriousness of his work. He was upset that some theaters added music.
9. Lew Ayres became a conscientious objector during WWII because of his experience making the movie. He was blackballed in the acting business.  He regained some of his reputation through heroic service as a medic in the war.
10. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Erich Marie Remarque were considered for the role of Paul.
11. Louis Wolheim (Katt) died unexpectedly of stomach cancer in 1931.
12. It was #2 at the box office that year.
13. The German title was “Nothing New in the West”.
14. It was banned in Italy until 1956, Australia until 1941, and Austria until 1960.
15. Erich Marie Remarque was wounded five times on the Western Front.
16. Filming started at 11 A.M. on Nov. 11, 1929. The eleventh anniversary of the end of the war.
17. Raymond Griffith (the dying French soldier with Paul in the shell hole) had lost his voice as a child, but became a silent film star. The advent of talkies ruined his career.
18. The original ending had Paul dying heroically. Milestone was dissatisfied with it, but had no alternative until his director of photography suggested the butterfly (which harkened back to the butterfly collection in Paul’s room).  Since he was in post-production, Milestone had dismissed Ayres, so he shot the scene using his own hand to reach for the butterfly.