All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Director: Lewis Milestone
Actors: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray, Arnold Lucy, Ben Alexander
Runtime: 133 min.
Inspired by his teacher's patriotic speeches, young German student Paul Baumer eagerly enlists to fight in World War I with his classmates. But the brutal realities of trench warfare soon shatter their dreams of glory, leaving them scarred by fear, loss and disillusionment.
Trivia: This movie was adapted from German novelist Erich Maria Remarque's 1929 novel of the same name. Its battlefield sequences used approximately 2,000 extras, many of them actual World War I veterans, including former German Army soldiers living in Los Angeles who also advised the production. The movie won Academy Awards for Best Director and Outstanding Production (Best Picture). Lewis Milestone was one of the most noteworthy directors of Hollywood's Golden Age. He was only 34 years old when this film was made. Milestone is best remembered for directing films such as the original Ocean's Eleven (1960), John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1939), and the Marlon Brando epic Mutiny on the Bounty (1962).



