All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
92%RT Audience Score: 89%
Awards & Nominations: Won 2 Oscars
7 wins & 2 nominations total
Director Lewis Milestone’s brilliant anti-war polemic, headlined by an unforgettable performance from Lew Ayres, lays bare the tragic foolishness at the heart of war.
All Quiet on the Western Front is a movie that will make you feel all the feels. It’s got tragedy, levity, and romance all wrapped up in a package that will leave you speechless. The war scenes are so realistic, you’ll feel like you’re right there in the trenches. And the anti-war message is so powerful, it might just make you want to start a peace movement. But don’t worry, there are still some moments of humor to lighten the mood. All in all, it’s a must-see for anyone who loves great cinema.
Production Company(ies)
Les Films, du Cru Film4 Orange Studio
Distributor
Universal Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Sherwood Forest, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Passed
Year of Release
1930
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.20 : 1 (original aspect ratio)
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Runtime:1h 45m
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Language(s):English, French, German, Latin
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 24, 1930 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 6, 2007
Genre(s)
War
Keyword(s)
War, German, schoolboys, World War I, anti-war, tragedy, jingoistic teacher, Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray, Raymond Griffith, Slim Summerville, Russell Gleason, directed by Lewis Milestone, produced by Carl Laemmle Jr., written by Erich Maria Remarque, George Abbott, Del Andrews, Maxwell Anderson, Maxwell Anderson, Lewis Milestone, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Ella H McCormick, Jefferson Bell, Edwin Schallert, Robert Randol, Inquirer Staff, Globe Staff, Don Shanahan, Reg Whitley, Eleanor Barnes, NZ Herald Staff, David Bax, Charlotte Observer Staff, genre, MPAA rating, distributor, Universal Pictures
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Louis Wolheim – Katczinsky
John Wray – Himmelstoss, Postman, Sergeant
Raymond Griffith – Gerard Duval
Slim Summerville – Tjaden
Russell Gleason – Muller
Director(s)
Lewis Milestone
Writer(s)
Erich Maria Remarque, George Abbott, Del Andrews, Maxwell Anderson, Maxwell Anderson, Lewis Milestone
Producer(s)
Carl Laemmle Jr.
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 2 Oscars
7 wins & 2 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (83) | Top Critics (26) | Fresh (81) | Rotten (2)
All Quiet on the Western Front will grip you and leave an indelible mark upon your soul.
April 8, 2021
Ella H. McCormick
Detroit Free Press
TOP CRITIC
[All Quiet on the Western Front] strips war of all its glory and bares its sickening brutality with a tragic grimness that spares nothing and leaves the spectator shaken and speechless.
April 8, 2021
Jefferson Bell
Miami Herald
TOP CRITIC
How it was passible to attain such remarkable accuracy in the battle episodes is a story in itself. But the delicate and intimate touches in the production are exceptionally fine, and though the story is somber there is the relieving humor here and there.
April 8, 2021
Edwin Schallert
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
There is not much characterization in the picture. This is another reason why it is not a masterpiece. Many times it seems like a news reel actually taken at the front during 1917. It is this photographic detail which limits it as a work of art.
April 8, 2021
Robert Randol
Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com
TOP CRITIC
All Quiet on the Western Front is unquestionably the greatest screen document of war and its bitter, terrifying futility that has yet been presented.
April 8, 2021
Inquirer Staff
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
All Quiet on the Western Front is beautifully photographed, and the difficult trench scenes have been reproduced with distinctness and clearness of detail.
April 8, 2021
Globe Staff
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
It enormously earns its reverence and celebrated place among war films and epics. Make no mistake. This film’s resonance has not diminished with time or changing movie tastes.
June 26, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
Don Shanahan
Every Movie Has a Lesson
I went to see the film with the idea at the back of my mind that Hollywood would “murder” Remarque’s powerful indictment of war. My fears were groundless, for Lewis Milestone’s treatment of the story could not be improved upon.
February 19, 2022
Reg Whitley
Daily Mirror (UK)
If ever there was a play aimed to bring about permanent peace, this Universal picture, directed by Lewis Milestone and produced by Junior Laemmle, is it.
June 10, 2021
Eleanor Barnes
Illustrated Daily News (Los Angeles)
Its presentation of bombardments and actual fighting is without doubt the finest and most convincing thing of its kind that the screen has yet offered to the public. Another feature is the magnificent acting of all those who are concerned in the picture.
April 8, 2021
NZ Herald Staff
New Zealand Herald
In a perfect world… this would be the war movie to end all war movies, so definite and forceful is it in its anti-war stance, while also exhibiting such grace as to place it among the best cinema has to offer in any genre.
April 8, 2021
David Bax
Battleship Pretension
A thoroughly effective cast enacts the events. There are many war scenes in All Quiet and tragedy presented directly and without sentimentality, but there Is levity and romance.
April 8, 2021
Charlotte Observer Staff
Charlotte Observer…
Plot
This is an English language film (made in America) adapted from a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque. The film follows a group of German schoolboys, talked into enlisting at the beginning of World War 1 by their jingoistic teacher. The story is told entirely through the experiences of the young German recruits and highlights the tragedy of war through the eyes of individuals. As the boys witness death and mutilation all around them, any preconceptions about “the enemy” and the “rights and wrongs” of the conflict disappear, leaving them angry and bewildered. This is highlighted in the scene where Paul mortally wounds a French soldier and then weeps bitterly as he fights to save his life while trapped in a shell crater with the body. The film is not about heroism but about drudgery and futility and the gulf between the concept of war and the actuality.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features an unforgettable performance from Lew Ayres.
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