Editing The Big Parade (section)

==Reception==
[[File:The Big Parade (1925, trailer).webm|right|thumb|The official trailer of ''The Big Parade'']]
''The Big Parade'' was one of the great hits of the 1920s earning [[gross rental]]s of $4,990,000 in the United States and $1,141,000 overseas on a budget of $382,000 during its initial release, with MGM recording a profit of $3.4 million, its biggest of the silent era.<ref name="mannix"/><ref name="scott">Scott Eyman, ''Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer'', Robson, 2005 p 112</ref> The domestic earnings were MGM's biggest until the release of ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'' (1939).<ref name="mannix"/> It played in some larger cities continually for a year or more, boosting Gilbert's career and made Renée Adorée a major star, although Adorée would soon be diagnosed with [[tuberculosis]] and die only a few years later. Its release in some nations of the [[British Empire]] was initially delayed to resolve claims that the film, in focusing only on America's part in the war, was [[propaganda film|propaganda]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Ban on ''Big Parade'' in Australia Not Settled; Parliament to Decide |journal=Motion Picture News |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=32 |date=3 July 1926 |publisher=Motion Picture News, Inc. |location=New York City, New York |url=https://archive.org/details/motionnew34moti/page/n35/mode/1up |access-date=16 May 2023}}</ref> The film ultimately grossed $18–$22 million in worldwide rentals and is sometimes proclaimed as the most successful film of the silent era,<ref name="May (2005)">{{Citation| last = May| first = Richard P.| title = Restoring The Big Parade| journal = The Moving Image| volume = 5| issue = 2| pages = 140–146| issn = 1532-3978 | doi = 10.1353/mov.2005.0033| date =Fall 2005| s2cid = 192076406|quote=...earning somewhere between $18 and $22 million, depending on the figures consulted}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Robertson |first=Patrick |title=Guinness Book of Movie Facts and Feats |publisher=[[Abbeville Publishing Group]] |year=1991 |edition=4 |isbn=9781558592360 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jdjsQY5qkbEC&q=%22samson+and+delilah%22+worldwide+million+rentals 30] |quote=The top grossing silent film was King Vidor's ''The Big Parade'' (US 25), with worldwide rentals of $22 million.}}</ref> although it is most likely this record falls to ''[[The Birth of a Nation]]'' (1915).<ref>{{cite book |last=Everson |first=William K. |year=1998 |orig-year=First published 1978 |title=American Silent Film |publisher=[[Da Capo Press]] |isbn=978-0-306-80876-0 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pyQaKxBjjzMC&pg=PA374 374] |quote=Putting ''The Birth of a Nation'' in fifth place is open to question, since it is generally conceded to be the top-grossing film of all time. However, it has always been difficult to obtain reliable box-office figures for this film, and it may have been even more difficult in the mid-1930s. After listing it until the mid-1970s as ''the'' top-grosser, though finding it impossible to quote exact figures, ''Variety'', the trade journal, suddenly repudiated the claim but without giving specific details or reasons. On the basis of the number of paid admissions, and ''continuous'' exhibition, its number one position seems justified.}}</ref> The film won the [[Photoplay#The Photoplay Magazine Medal|''Photoplay'' Magazine Medal]] for best film of the year in 1925. The medal is considered the first significant annual movie award, prior to the establishment of the Oscars.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=American Cinematographer | title=Honors for Arnold | date=December 1926 | page=5 | url=https://archive.org/stream/amemato06asch#page/n311/search/John+Arnold | access-date=October 1, 2018}}{{Open access}}</ref>

After the film's producers found a clause in Vidor's contract that entitled the director to 20% of the net profits, studio lawyers called for a meeting with him. At the meeting, accountants upgraded the costs of the picture and downgraded their forecast of its potential success. Vidor was thus persuaded to sell his stake in the film before he could receive his percentage.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}} However, the film's tremendous success established Vidor as one of MGM's top directors.<ref name="Silver">{{cite web |first=Charles |last=Silver |title=King Vidor's ''The Big Parade'' |publisher=[[Museum of Modern Art]] |url=https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2010/02/23/king-vidors-the-big-parade/ |access-date=May 24, 2020}}</ref>