Editing War film (section)

=== First World War ===
{{further|Fiction based on World War I|History of the United Kingdom during the First World War#Media|United States home front during World War I#Motion pictures|Home front during World War I}}

During the First World War, many films were made about life in the war. Topics included prisoners of war, covert operations, and military training. Both the Central Powers and the Allies produced war documentaries. The films were also used as propaganda in neutral countries like the United States. Among these was a film shot on the Eastern Front by official war photographer to the Central Powers, [[Albert K. Dawson]]: ''[[The Battle and Fall of Przemysl]]'' (1915), depicting the [[Siege of Przemyśl]], disastrous for the Austrians, with incidents reenacted using soldiers as extras.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World War I: Siege Of Przemysl | website=[[YouTube]] | date=29 August 2009 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJchHW2SXs0 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211110/FJchHW2SXs0| archive-date=2021-11-10 | url-status=live|access-date=6 March 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Movies: The Battle and Fall of Przemysl (1915) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/236068/The-Battle-and-Fall-of-Przemysl/overview |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402103234/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/236068/The-Battle-and-Fall-of-Przemysl/overview |url-status=dead |archive-date=2015-04-02 |access-date=6 March 2015 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |author=Hal Erickson |date=2015 |author-link=Hal Erickson (author) }}</ref>

The 1915 Australian film ''[[Within Our Gates (1915 film)|Within Our Gates]]'' (also known as ''Deeds that Won Gallipoli'') by [[Frank Harvey (Australian screenwriter)|Frank Harvey]] was described by the ''Motion Picture News'' as "a really good war story, which is exceptional".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Quigley Publishing Co.|url=http://archive.org/details/motionpicturenew132unse|title=Motion Picture News (Mar–Apr 1916)|date=1916|publisher=New York : Motion Picture News|others=MBRS, Library of Congress}}</ref>

[[File:The Battle of the Somme film image1.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.35<!--width for low image-->|Staged scene of British troops advancing through barbed wire from ''[[The Battle of the Somme (film)|The Battle of the Somme]]'', 1916]]

The 1916 British film ''[[The Battle of the Somme (film)|The Battle of the Somme]]'', by two official cinematographers, [[Geoffrey Malins]] and John McDowell, combined documentary and propaganda, seeking to give the public an impression of what [[trench warfare]] was like. Much of the film was shot on location at the Western Front in France; it had a powerful emotional impact. It was watched by some 20 million people in Britain in its six weeks of exhibition, making it what the critic [[Francine Stock]] called "one of the most successful films of all time".<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Battle of the Somme (DVD viewing guide) |last=Smither |first=R.B.N. |year=2008 |publisher=Imperial War Museum |edition=2nd rev. |url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/upload/package/100/Somme%20DVD/documents/viewing_guide.pdf |isbn=978-0-901627-94-0 |access-date=2016-06-29 |archive-date=2011-08-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110801231715/http://www.iwm.org.uk/upload/package/100/Somme%20DVD/documents/viewing_guide.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Stock |first1=Francine |title=Why was the Battle of the Somme film bigger than Star Wars?|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zc3dhyc |publisher=BBC |access-date=29 June 2016}}</ref>

The 1925 American film ''[[The Big Parade]]'' depicted unglamorous elements of war: the protagonist loses his leg, and his friends are killed.{{sfn|Suid|2002|pp=24–26}} [[William A. Wellman]]'s ''[[Wings (1927 film)|Wings]]'' (1927) showed aerial combat during the war and was made in cooperation with the Army Air Corps. It proved a powerful recruiting tool.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Oldfield |first=Barney |title='WINGS' A Movie and an Inspiration |journal=Air Power History |year=1991 |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=55–58}}</ref> It became the first film (in any genre) to be awarded an Oscar for best picture.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 1st Academy Awards : 1929|date=8 October 2014 |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1929|publisher=Oscars.org|access-date=23 June 2015}}</ref> Later films of varied genres that deal with the First World War include [[David Lean]]'s "colossal epic", both war film and biopic<ref name=BFI-Lawrence /> ''[[Lawrence of Arabia (film)|Lawrence of Arabia]]'' (1962), shot in the then unfamiliar and exciting [[70mm]] [[Technicolor]],<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Fahy |first1=Patrick |title=Lawrence of Arabia: 50 years ago |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/watching-lawrence-arabia-first-time-story-world-premiere |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=9 March 2015 |date=4 April 2014}}</ref> and described by [[Steven Spielberg]] as "maybe the greatest screenplay ever written for the motion-picture medium";<ref name=BFI-Lawrence>{{Cite web |title=Lawrence of Arabia (1962) |url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6aea50ea |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712005330/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6aea50ea |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 July 2012 |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=9 March 2015}}</ref> [[Richard Attenborough]]'s satirical anti-war musical comedy based on [[Joan Littlewood]]'s play of the same name, ''[[Oh! What a Lovely War]]'' (1969);<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) |url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6b1e5daa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712173035/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6b1e5daa |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 July 2012 |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=9 March 2015}}</ref> Spielberg's 2011 war drama ''[[War Horse (film)|War Horse]]'' was based on [[Michael Morpurgo]]'s [[War Horse (novel)|children's novel of the same name]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=War Horse (2011) |url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4f4bb4a882c89 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804164509/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4f4bb4a882c89 |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 August 2012 |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=9 March 2015}}</ref>

Many of the films promoted as "documentaries" added context to authentic battlefield scenes by staging critical events, and invented episodes and dialog to enhance excitement at the cost of authenticity.<ref>David H. Mould, and Charles M. Berg, "Fact and Fantasy in the Films of World War One," ''Film & History'' (1984) 14#3 pp 50–60</ref>