All Quiet on the Western Front

‘Absorbing’ Gerald Kaufman, Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year ‘Kelly’s use of the film’s troubled history of cuts, censorship, [and] banning in every country where it’s ever been shown explores cinema’s power in society ….’ Premiere ‘Kelly’s genuine passion for Milestone’s great film is infectious and justified.’ David Robinson, Times Higher Education Supplement ‘The research and the feeling for the film, is the most compelling of any such project I’ve ever encountered. It recalled such mem- ories that I was tearful when I finished reading it.’ Producer Arthur Gardner, who played a German soldier in All Quiet on the Western Front ‘Here for the first time, is the full story behind the first great masterpiece of the sound cinema … Kelly’s painstaking research has unearthed a wealth of detail, sometimes funny, sometimes moving, but always illuminating. This is a worthy companion to the greatest war movie of all time.’ Professor Nicholas Cull, University of Leicester ‘This is a superb book, meticulously researched, compulsively readable and consistently fascinating’ Professor Jeffrey Richards, Lancaster University ‘[All Quiet on the Western Front ] provides the most detailed docu- mentation on the making of a classic of American cinema … There is evidence here of considerable and unique research.’ Anthony Slide, Classic Images ‘A concise, thorough and eloquent history of one of the most important – and influential of all American films.’ James Curtis, author of Between Flops: the life of Preston Sturges and New World of Gods and Monsters: the life of James Whale . A Universal publicity poster ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT The Story of a Film Andrew Kelly I.B.Tauris Publishers LONDON · NEW YORK Published in paperback in by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd Salem Road, London Fifth Avenue, New York www.ibtauris.com In the United States of America and in Canada distributed by St Martin’s Press, Fifth Avenue, New York First published in Copyright © Andrew Kelly, All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. A full record for this book is available from the British Library A full record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress catalog card number: available Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin Set in Monotype Garamond by Ewan Smith, London Contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgements ix Introduction . Cinema, Society and the First World War . Erich Maria Remarque and All Quiet on the Western Front . The ‘Boys of All Quiet’ . The Troubled Production . Reception, Condemnation and Censorship . The Aftermath: The Road Back, Three Comrades and All Quiet on the Western Front (–) . The Greatness and Continuing Significance of All Quiet on the Western Front Postscript: Remarque ‒ Appendix: The Re-release Notes Select Bibliography Index For my parents Illustrations . A Universal publicity poster ii . Troops mobilising for war in All Quiet on the Western Front . The front line of war in All Quiet on the Western Front . Christ returns to earth to try to bring peace to the battlefields in Civilization () . The dead of war rise up to accuse those who sent them to their deaths in J’accuse, Abel Gance’s plea for an end to war () . Lieutenant Osborne (Ian Maclaren) with Captain Dennis Stanhope (Colin Clive), who endures the burdens of command with drink in Journey’s End () . ‘Moi, camarade … pas enemie, pas enemie’ – bridging nationalism and hatred in Westfront () . Carl Laemmle, founder of Universal Pictures, and Erich Maria Remarque, author of All Quiet on the Western Front . The ‘Boys of All Quiet’ – and one woman! . Carl Laemmle Junior, Universal’s Head of Production, and the producer of All Quiet on the Western Front . Lewis Milestone reading All Quiet on the Western Front . The screenwriting team – Lewis Milestone and Maxwell Anderson, standing; Del Andrews and George Cukor, sitting . Paul Bäumer (Lew Ayres) with Mrs Bäumer (ZaSu Pitts) in a scene not included in the film because the great actress was replaced by Beryl Mercer . Lew Ayres as Paul Bäumer – the image which made him a star . Lew Ayres experiencing the difficulties of life on the set . The crane used by Lewis Milestone to take the shots of the battlefield and training ground . Milestone’s realistic portrayal of the battlefields of the war had the impact of contemporary newsreel . Bäumer found dead on the battlefield – one of the alternative endings for the film . The troops enjoy chocolate on the set. Milestone and Cukor can be seen at the back . An advertisement for the film in New Zealand in . Himmelstoss (John Wray) with Paul Bäumer. One of the controversial sequences deleted in the initial German release . The surviving troops celebrate the end of the war in The Road Back () . The original ending for The Road Back () . Margaret Sullavan and Robert Taylor, stars of Three Comrades () . Paul Bäumer with Gerard Duval (Raymond Griffith). Duval’s death, and Bäumer’s response, showed the futility of war and nationalism Acknowledgements Many people have been of assistance with this book over the past five years. Librarians and archivists, in many institutions and in many countries, have been of great help in locating material. I would like to thank library staff in Bradford Central Library, the British Film Institute, the Margaret Herrick Library in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – in particular Howard Prouty, Sam Gill, Linda Harris Mehr – Ned Comstock at the University of Southern California (for particular help with Universal archive material), Nicole Schmitt in France and staff in censor offices and film archives in Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Italy and Belgium. For help in seeing films – in particular the many versions of All Quiet on the Western Front – I would like to thank Jürgen Labenski, Bob Gitt, the National Film Archive, and Patrick Sheehan and David Parker in the Library of Congress. For transla- tion of French and Scandinavian material I would like to thank David Fox and Patrick Litherland. Philippa Brewster had confidence in this book and has sup- ported its publication. She has also been an editor of great value and a colleague and a friend. For invaluable comments on various drafts of this book – and for additional help – I would like to thank, in no particular order, Jeffrey Richards, Barry Taylor, Melanie Kelly (who has lived with this book for a long time), x Filming All Quiet on the Western Front Natasha Fraser, James Pepper, James Robertson, Luke Mckernan, Bob Baker, Jim Sheehan, Rachel Phillips, Nicholas Reeves, Jerry Ohlinger and Peter van den Dungen. James Curtis, Kevin Brownlow, and Thomas Schneider have been of particular assistance in providing information, chasing and checking facts, challenging assertions: this book is all the more stronger for their contributions. None of these are responsible for any errors in this book. The help of all these people, over many years, should have minimised these. Needless to say, any that remain are my respons- ibility. I am grateful to those holders of copyright material who have given permission for material to be included in this book. Kevin Brownlow has allowed me to quote extensively from his work, and has given me access to his interviews with Lewis Milestone, William Bakewell and Harold Goodwin. Thomas Schneider has allowed me to use interview material. Teresa Hooley’s poem ‘A War Film’ from Scars Upon My Heart has been reproduced courtesy of Jonathan Cape. Permission to quote Curt Riess and Billy Wilder has been granted by Julie Gilbert from her book Opposite Attraction: the lives of Erich Maria Remarque and Paulette Goddard (Pantheon, ). Material from interviews with Michael Blake has been used with the permission of James Curtis. The poem ‘The War Films’ by Henry Newbolt has been reproduced courtesy of Peter Newbolt. Extracts from the release of All Quiet on the Western Front are © by Universal City Studios, Inc. Extracts from the silent version of the film are © by Universal City Studios, Inc. Extracts from the version of the film are © by Universal City Studios. In all cases these quotes are courtesy of Universal Publishing Rights, a Division of Universal Licensing, Inc. All rights reserved. I am grateful to Christiane Townsend of Universal Studios for assistance with this. Film stills appear by courtesy of the British Film Institute, the Acknowledgements xi Erich Maria Remarque Archive and the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research. Thanks are due to staff in all three organisations. The picture of the advertisement for All Quiet on the Western Front on the Dunedin tram (p. ) is from the Jack Welsh Collection, New Zealand Film Archive. I am grateful to Diane Pivac from the Film Archive for her assistance with this. All attempts have been made to locate copyright holders of material used in this book. If any attribution or acknowledgement is missing it would be appreciated if contact could be made, care of the publishers, so that this can be rectified in any future edition. When first released, the film was exactly the way I wanted it … All Quiet had rough sledding in many countries and in some was forbidden exhibition. But I’m glad to report that the picture proved to have a longer life than many a poli- tician and is still going strong in spite of brutal cutting, stupid censors and bigoted politicos. Lewis Milestone, Introduction first saw All Quiet on the Western Front when I was eleven years I old.

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