Editing Lewis Milestone (section)

=== ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1930) ===

Milestone's anti-war picture'' [[All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 film)|All Quiet on the Western Front]]'' is widely recognized as his directorial masterpiece, and as one of the most-compelling dramatizations of soldiers in combat during the [[World War I|Great War]].<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 38: "generally regarded as{{nbsp}}... his masterpiece{{nbsp}}... in terms of both subject and style" and p. 53: "remains Lewis Milestone's most important film."<br />Baxter, 1970 pp. 132&ndash;133: "''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1930) is still one of the most eloquent of anti-war documents{{nbsp}}... one of the acknowledged classics of the American cinema."<br />Thomson, 2015: "It is still one of the best films about the Great War."</ref> The film was adapted from [[Erich Maria Remarque]]'s [[All Quiet on the Western Front|1929 eponymous novel]]. Milestone cinematically conveyed the "grim realism and anti-war themes" that characterize the novel. Universal Studio's head of production [[Carl Laemmle Jr.]], purchased the film rights to capitalize on the international success of Remarque's book.<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 38: "the director had his first chance to translate a powerful literary statement into cinematic language{{nbsp}}... perhaps the best war film ever made". Editor's Forward: Milestone: "Throughout my career I've tried, not so much to express a philosophy, as to restate in filmic terms{{nbsp}}... my agreement with the author of a story I like is trying to say." From Preface: "like [[William Wyler]], a cinematic interpreter of literary texts."</ref><ref>Thomson, 2015: "The novel sold 2.5 million copies in twenty-two languages{{nbsp}}... it was purchased for pictures by Carl Laemmle Jr., head of production at Universal and son of the studio's founder."<br />Silver, 2010: "On top of the worldwide success of Remarque's novel, the film made lots of money."</ref> According to Strago (2017):
{{blockquote|When he was preparing to shoot his wrenching anti-war film ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' from the point of view of German schoolboys who become soldiers, Universal co-founder and president [[Carl Laemmle]] pleaded with him for a "happy ending." Milestone replied, "I've got your happy ending. We'll let the Germans win the war."<ref>Strago, 2017</ref>}}

''All Quiet on the Western Front'' presents the war from the perspective of a unit of patriotic, young, German soldiers who become disillusioned with the horrors of [[trench warfare]]. Actor [[Lew Ayres]] portrays the naïve, sensitive youth Paul Baumer. According to Thompson (2015), Milestone—who was uncredited—together with screenwriters [[Maxwell Anderson]], [[Del Andrews]] and [[George Abbott]], wrote a script that "reproduces the terse, tough dialogue" of Remarque's novel to "expose war for what it is, and not glorify it".<ref>Thomson, 2015: "For English and American audiences (it was banned for years in France), a part of the novelty in All Quiet is watching 'enemy' soldiers and realizing they are just like our own."<br />Millichap, 1981 p. 38: quoting Milestone, from an interview with Charles Higham and Joel Greenberg, See footnotes. And p. 39: "terse, tough" is Millichap's appraisal. And "the horrors{{nbsp}}... of the trenches."<br />Canham, 1974 p. 80: "the script wisely chose to concentrate upon the effects of war on individual characters, instead of making wordy statements about the nature of war."</ref> Originally conceived as a silent film, Milestone filmed both a silent and a talkie version, shooting them together in sequence.<ref>Canham, 1974 p. 78: "shot on location at the Irving Ranch{{nbsp}}... almost unique in that they were largely shot in ''sequence''." (italics in original)<br />Thomson, 2015: "Except that All Quiet on the Western Front was shot with two cameras, one for a sound film, and the other for a film that has music and sound effects, but no dialogue."</ref>

The most significant technical innovation of ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' is Milestone's integration of the era's rudimentary sound technology with the advanced visual effects developed during the late silent era. Applying post-synchronization of the sound recordings, Milestone was at liberty to "shoot the way we've always shot{{nbsp}}... it was that simple. All the tracking shots were done with a silent camera".<ref name="Canham" /> In one of the film's most-disturbing sequences, Milestone used tracking shots and sound effects to graphically show the effects of artillery and machine guns on advancing troops.<ref name="Canham">Canham, 1974 p. 81: "Above all it was the technique of Milestone's film that rightly led to his fame [overcoming] the problems of adapting photographic needs to the demands of [early] sound recordings" and "crane shots of soldiers being mowed down as they try to cross a field." And "above all it was the technique of Milestone's film that rightly led to his fame. The [camera] movement became the message at a time when talkies were reputed to be static and stage bound because of the problems of adapting photograph needs to the demands of sound recording" suggesting that the limitation of early sound technology "may have been exaggerated by early sound historians and that "certainly Milestone's work is one those exceptions."</ref><ref>Millichap, 1981 pp. 37&ndash;38: "Milestone was able to combine the Realism of sound in both dialogue and effects with the [[German Expressionism|Expressionistic]] visual techniques he had learned as a silent editor and director." (Capitalization of keywords in original) And see these pages for Milestone quotations.</ref><ref>Thomson, 2015: "The film was a triumph and you feel its sophisticated vision{{nbsp}}... with a feeling for depth and striking compositions that were new in 1930. Milestone became famous for aerial tracking shots of troops crossing no man's land."</ref>

The movie met with critical and popular approval, it won Academy Award for Best Picture and earned Milestone Academy Award for Best Director.<ref>Silver, 2010: "In addition to Milestone's directing Oscar, it won for Best Picture was nominated for screenplay and cinematography.</ref><ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 38<br />Thomson, 2015: "The film was a triumph{{nbsp}}... as much of a sensation as the novel{{nbsp}}... audiences came in huge numbers. ''All Quiet'' took an Academy Award for best picture and Milestone won for director. It is still one of the best films about the Great War"<br />Whitely, 2020: "This magnificent movie remains a powerful indictment of war. It was adapted from the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, and won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director for Milestone, and received a special commendation from the Nobel Peace Prize committee."</ref> ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' established Milestone as a talent in the film industry; [[Howard Hughes]] rewarded him with an adaptation of [[Ben Hecht]]'s and [[Charles MacArthur]]'s 1928 play ''[[The Front Page]]''.<ref>Canham, 1974 p. 82: "The high quality of Milestone's directorial abilities [after ''All Quiet on the Western Front''] had opened up a broad spectrum of opportunity for him, but the pitfalls of fame and the studio system were not to be forgotten."</ref>