Wow! Such a good movie.

Truly Dreadful Film

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

"You'll look gorgeous in an officer's uniform. I'll love you even more then." Justyn Reed (Claire Adams) to Jim Apperson (John Gilbert)For me, this is one of the most significant lines in this very, very "big" movie. Contrast these silly and superficial words against Justyn's disgusted reaction to the sight of a seriously disabled Jim when he returns from the war. This contrast from the beginning to the end of the movie summarizes its very serious and somber message about the unrealistic glorification of war as it compares with the very real experience of those who are called upon to do the actual fighting. As Jim endures the horrors of battle, Justyn doesn't even wait for his return before she takes a passionate interest in his own, nerdy brother, of all people.More than any other silent director, King Vidor's exceptional work in both this picture and "The Crowd" succeeded to awaken my appreciation to the very special beauty and value of the silent film. I can't say that all silent films are of this caliber, but, after so many years and so many technological advances in the movie business, they both maintain their viewing appeal and their relevance to our lives.The battle scenes rank among the most impressive portrayals of combat that I have witnessed on film and are the successful results of painstaking efforts not only by director Vidor but of the uncredited MGM production manager, Irving Thalberg. While they are not as graphic as such modern films as "Saving Private Ryan", they nevertheless strongly convey the nearly impossible challenges of serving on the front lines of physical conflict. Beyond these striking battle scenes, so far ahead of their time, I was very moved by the scene of Jim with his parents, played by Claire McDowell and Hobart Bosworth. I don't believe that this scene would have been as potent without the outstanding directing ability of Vidor. Also, the image of Mrs. Apperson standing at the front door as her son departs for war in a faraway land depicts the pain and torment of all mothers in this dreaded predicament as well as any that I have ever seen, and it will linger in my mind for a very long time.Although the first 75 minutes could have been shortened, I believe that the director wanted to develop the human characters of the three central soldiers as fully as he possibly could, and the result is that the viewer even more strongly empathizes with them and their excruciating circumstances on the battlefield. The growth and transition of Jim Apperson's character during the course of the film is a remarkable achievement by both Vidor, the director, and Gilbert, the actor. The performance of Renee Adoree as Melisande is delightful, and I regret that her film career was so tragically cut short as the result of her fatal illness at age 35. While some reviewers disliked Karl Dane's performance as Slim, I found him to be a very likable personification of Disney's Goofy who is suddenly placed in the midst of a major war, facing it with admirable, almost inhuman, bravery and fearlessness. Slim, even as a humanized Goofy, is the one you want with you in a foxhole. He is man's fearless, loyal, and best friend.The 1988 musical score of Carl Davis contributes significantly to the emotional impact, successfully communicating what spoken dialogue obviously cannot achieve in a silent movie. This is one silent movie that will hopefully enhance an appreciation for this very important era of film-making in other viewers as it did for me.

This movie traces three men from the same American town. The men are from different social and economic backgrounds. Jim (John Gilbert) is the rich son of a mill owner, 'Bull' (Tom O'Brian) is a bartender, and Slim (Darl Dane) is a riveter in construction work. When America joins the Great War in Europe all three enlist. As usual in movies of this type, there is a patriotic fervor in the town at the time that they join up. Jim's girl, Justyn (Claire Adams), is one of the first to assume that Jim will enlist and make her proud. This is the first use of the term, 'The Big Parade' on the movie's title cards—the big parade of patriotic people sending boys off to war. For the first 75 minutes of the movie, we get to really KNOW these three lovable and fun-loving guys, long before they actually go into any battle situations in Europe.While in a French village waiting for a battle, Jim meets a villager, Melisande (Renee Adoree). The movie spends time with Jim and Melisande as they try to communicate with each other in two different languages and have lots of fun and laughs together. When Jim and his buddies are actually called into action, Jim promises Melisande that he will be back. The long convoys of trucks and marching soldiers advancing into battle is the second use of 'The Big Parade' on the movie's title cards.The battle scenes are very well done showing bombing, large guns, mustard gas, aerial attacks, and hand-to hand combat. Much of the time, the three soldiers are in trenches or in bomb holes. When the commander orders one of them to clean out an enemy stronghold, the question is which one will be 'IT.' Slim sets up a spitting contest to determine which of the three will go. Slim easily wins--which means that he will go. When he doesn't return, his two friends become very anxious about him. Slim dies. Bull later dies in another assault. Jim gets hurt in the leg and is sent to an army hospital in another 'Big Parade' sequence. While in the hospital, he finds out that it is near the village where he left Melisande. In a search of her, he only finds a deserted house in the bombed out village. He is again wounded and sent home. Of course, his homecoming is another 'Big Parade.' However, after the term is used several times on the movie's title cards, it becomes increasingly more hollow and sarcastic.After seeing this movie and Vidor's The Crowd (1928), I am convinced that he was one of the really great SILENT directors! His movies stress beautiful images and bustling action rather than broad acting gestures. They are both playful and sad; the are replete with a realism that conveys genuine emotion. As one watches these movies, they don't seem contrived; they seem to be about REAL PEOPLE living real lives. Vidor's magic seems to be in the WAY he captures people and events without the use of sound. At least in these two movies, he is not afraid to let the story unfold naturally. These movies seem as fresh today as they were when they were first released.

A gritty silent era war movie.Quite realistic for its time. Certainly doesn't glamorise war, unlike many other movies of that period would. I wouldn't go so far as to say it is an anti-war movie, but it certainly doesn't paint a glorious picture of war.Not all good: the movie drifted in the middle. The escapades of the soldiers while in the camp in France seemed quite silly and just delayed the inevitable battle scenes.The over-dramatic nature of silent movies also means this hasn't aged that well. The overly stereotypical characterisations of some of the soldiers, especially the hick building construction worker, was a bit over-the-top.At the time of its release, however, it was probably revolutionary, and highly regarded.

We all know of course that the father of film is DW Griffith, that he fleshed out the basic canon of cinematic technique, and that one way or another we owe it all to him. But it wasn't Griffith who turned a burgeoning art form into the professional movie-making workshop that was classic-era Hollywood. Such a development could not be pinned down to one picture or one person, but The Big Parade and its producers Irving Thalberg and King Vidor, are as good a demonstrative example as any.Let's look at Irving Thalberg first. His name is fairly familiar, mainly because the award that bears his name still crops up from time to time at the Oscars. What he did is not so well known, partly because he never took a screen credit, and partly because respecting producers is rather unfashionable these days. He was nevertheless behind some of the finest titles of Hollywood's early glory days. Not an intrusive, busybody producer like David O. Selznick, and never took a direct creative hand. He was instead a great organiser, with a knack for picking out the best material and putting together the ideal team to bring it to life. For the Big Parade, he had tried to acquire the rights to the acclaimed anti-war play What Price Glory?, but found they had already been nabbed by Fox. Undeterred, he hired the services of What Price Glory?'s writer Laurence Stallings, commissioning him to fashion an original story in a similar vein.And with this story, Stallings effectively outdid himself. The Big Parade is the perfect anti-war fable, astonishingly simple and pure in its construction. Rather than bombard us with scenes of combat and associated horrors, it immerses us in ideas one at a time. We begin with patriotic fervour, then move onto the drudge of soldiering as work, the build-up of camaraderie, the desperate passion of wartime romance and the pain of separation, each dealt with intensely, but succinctly and without repetitiveness. Only then do we move onto scenes of action, and again each of these is played for a different effect – anticipation, tension, tedium and finally a descent into chaos. It actually presents war as a rather fun adventure, one that is only spoiled by the unfortunate business of killing each other. This may seem a somewhat weak or naïve treatment of the subject to the average pacifist civilian, but in fact it's incredibly accurate and sensitive, because this it is the way war is viewed by the majority service personnel. To a soldier, soldiering is enjoyable, even if fighting is not, and it is this paradox that Stallings has captured.Stallings's outline was given a screen writing makeover by Harry Behn and Joseph Farnham, after which Thalberg handed over all creative control to director King Vidor, a true master of his craft. Vidor's aim is always to make the image complement the mood of the scene. There isn't a single shot, or even a single item in the frame that is out of place, and like Stallings he is economic and succinct in his expression. Take the early scene of the titular parade where Jim decides to enlist, which is very brief for such pivotal event. We move from a grand shot of the marching column, to a shot of John Gilbert with flags waving in the background, to a close-up of Gilbert's foot tapping in time to the music. The scene can afford to be so short not only because of the simplicity with which these images show what is going on, but also because of that constant sense of movement, which means the rhythm and thus the mood is not disturbed. Every shot is not only telling a piece of the story, it is a part of the tone of the scene.But let's forget those clever folk behind the scenes for a moment. It's the stars that people pay to come and see. John Gilbert, a screen legend in his day, gives a fantastic performance, doing little with his face, but conveying his emotions and intentions through the way he carries himself. Renee Adoree is charmingly naturalistic, animated and energetic but never once being unrealistic or theatrical. But what is marvellous about the interplay between these two is that Gilbert's character doesn't speak French, and Adoree's doesn't speak English. And yet the two lovers are able to understand each other through gesture and context – and so do we in the audience! What better proof of the power of these images over that of words? The Big Parade is thus not any one person's film – it is a superb melding of cinematic talents. It is around this period that the dominance of the major studios was gained, and the system of vertical integration known as the studio system was established. This system would often be a straitjacket for arty and egotistical directors, but it can't be denied it delivered the goods. It was the beginning of the era when film-making was at its most professional. People like Thalberg and Vidor were not only savvy to what the public wanted, they also respected the integrity of what they are creating. Thus The Big Parade not only proved to be a phenomenal box office success, but it has endured as an ageless classic.