Another silent treat - the restored version for Thames TV, supervised by Kevin Brownlow - with a Carl Davis score - it makes all the difference. And the tinted scenes. (I was sure the blood coming from the head was red - certainly the red cross on a later van particularly stands out (both must have been hand painted).
It takes something like an hour and twenty minutes before we actually get into any warfare - in that sense the film anticipates The Deer Hunter. When the combat scenes come, they must have had the same shocking effect on its audience as did Saving Private Ryan 73 years later.
John Gilbert is capable of overacting, true, but the scenes between him and Renée Adorée are sweet, climaxing in the truly wonderful moment when he's been sent off to fight and she desperately tries to drag the truck from leaving. (Edgar G Ulmer also loved this scene.)
Gilbert's army buddies are Tom O'Brien and Karl Dane.
First rate photography (John Arnold, also The Wind) and editing (Hugh Wynn). Written by Laurence Stallings and Harry Behn.
Peter Bogdanovich called it the finest American made WW1 drama. It was a huge hit for MGM grossing $15m domestically on a budget of $250,000. It stands up pretty well especially in the combat scenes.
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