2 ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
soldiers were prohibited from wearing the uniforms of a foreign power, Laemmle
couldn’t rely on the U.S. Army as a source of extras; he had to scour greater Los
Angeles to recruit some 2,000 of them. All were WWI veterans, many of them Ger-
man, but also of vari ous other nationalities. The shoot was supposed to run for
48 days but ended up taking 99 days, resulting in numerous cost overruns, mostly
for salaries, wardrobe, set construction, and lighting. Originally slated to cost
$891,000, the film came in at $1.4 million, or 39 percent, over bud get; however,
this money was later recouped by brisk box office business.Plot Summary
The film opens at a gymnasium (boys’ secondary school) in Germany at the out-
break of the First World War in 1914. Professor Kantorek (Arnold Lucy) gives a
bombastic speech about the glory of military ser vice and “saving the Fatherland,”
prompting his entire class to enlist. After basic training, the new recruits arrive at
the front, but one of them is killed before they can reach their post. On night patrol,
veteran soldier Stanislaus “Kat” Katczinsky (Louis Wolheim) instructs the “school-
boys” to hit the ground to better survive incoming artillery shells. The unit strings
barbed wire and tries to avoid shells. Flares light up the night sky as the enemy
tries to spot them, machine guns rattle, and shelling begins. Behn (Walter Browne
Rogers) is killed by machine- gun fire. Franz Kemmerich (Ben Alexander) runs out
to retrieve Behn but later realizes that he’s been carry ing a corpse. Back in the bun-
ker, the soldiers play cards and fend off rats. Others scream and shake uncontrol-
lably, unnerved by the constant shelling. Kemmerich panics, runs out of the trench,
and is badly wounded. Suddenly the shelling ends and the men are ordered out to
man the trenches and repel an enemy attack. Hundreds of French soldiers run
toward the trenches. Despite heavy losses, the enemy reaches the German trenches,
where hand- to- hand combat ensues. Overwhelmed, the Germans retreat to a sec-
ond line of defense and then launch a counterattack that proves unsuccessful. The
men of 2nd Com pany return from the battle and line up for a meal. Ginger, the
cook (William Irving), refuses to feed them until the entire com pany arrives. The
men explain that they are all that is left of the com pany— only 80 of the original
150— but Ginger remains adamant. Lt. Bertinck (G. Pat Collins) arrives and orders
the cook to feed his men. After eating, they hear that they have been ordered to
return to the front the next day. The men speculate about who needs the war more:
the Kaiser or the arms manufacturers. Katczinsky suggests roping off a field and
stripping the kings and their ministers down to their underwear and letting them
fight it out with clubs. Five of the men visit their wounded friend Kemmerich and
find him in poor shape, and Müller (Russell Gleason) informs Kemmerich that his
right leg has been amputated. Kemmerich rues the fact that he will never become
a forester, and Paul Bäumer (Lew Ayres) tries to comfort him. Kemmerich asks Paul
to give his boots to Müller, who has asked for them, and then dies. Paul leaves the
dressing station and brings Müller Kemmerich’s boots. Müller is pleased to return
to the front in such fine boots. During a scene in a cemetery, Paul stabs a French
soldier (Raymond Griffith) and is then trapped in a shell crater for the night as the
soldier slowly dies. As the night wears on, Paul attempts in vain to save the sol-
dier’s life. After the man dies, Paul weeps and begs forgiveness from the dead body.