The Big Parade (1925) was one of the largest and most ambitious films of the silent era. It is also one of the finest war movies ever made. The scale and quality of this movie was not lost on Martian J. Quigley, a writer for the Exhibitors Herald, who felt that this might be the greatest movie ever made. The following is the article he wrote about this movie for Exhibitors Herald (Dated December 5, 1925).
-Michael J. Ruhland
"New York, Nov.24. -The opening of 'The Big Parade' here last Thursday evening at the Astor theatre turned out to be a great event. It was the presentation of a subject which many will call the greatest picture ever made.
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Good Reasons to Consider it Greatest Picture"Whether it shall enjoy this position of supremacy with the general public remains, of course to be seen ; It is sufficient, however for the moment to say that there are good reasons for it to be considered the greatest picture ever produced.
"It is inevitable that 'The Big Parade' should be compared to 'Birth of a Nation,' which has been commonly accepted at the outstanding production of the screen. A picture can be no greater than its theme and as the theme of each is patriotism, they can enjoy a common advantage.
"But aside from its theme 'The Big Parade' has many advantages over 'The Birth of a Nation.' The many years of technical progress which the industry has traversed since the production of the Griffith masterpiece leave an effective imprint on the newer creation; also it has a greater spirit of genuineness about it, doubtlessly due to the fact that it has an author who lived through the events he has written about and his pen has been that of a participant rather than that of a historian and novelist.
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Written By Laurence Stallings"In order in bestowing credit where credit is due, the first personality involved in the making of 'The Big Parade' is Laurence Stallings, a former newspaperman, member of the Marine Corps during the World War and coauthor of 'What Price Glory,'
the most successful stage production based on a story of war. Mr. Stallings lived through the war and came out of it with a mind chock full of vivid impressions of the trials, suffering and triumphs of the doughboy and these he has set down in both 'What Price Glory,' and 'The Big Parade.'
"'The Big Parade' has about it a vividness, a genuineness and a reality that could only be achieved by an author who has lived through the drone of German gun fire, trench mud and the peculiar psychology that came to be imposed by the participants in the Great War. Mr. Stallings does not picture the war for the spectator, but rather takes you into it. He does not moralize about the subject matter and he does not even dramatize it; he simply takes the spectator to France with the American doughboys in the great days of 1919 and permits him to experience sensations, situations and events that range from the ridiculous to the tragic.
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King Vidor Makes it Great"Mr. Stallings has been the indispensable factor in the production of 'The Big Parade,' but his great story and treatment which might either have remained a mute and lifeless thing or, worse still, might have been butchered into an ordinary 'movie' have been immortalized and builded into an entertainment epic by King Vidor, the director. Stallings made 'The Big Parade' possible but Vidor has made it great.
"The direction of 'The Big Parade' is a thing of marvelous strength, consistency and realism. It is not merely a workman like job; it is an inspired piece of work - uniform in its merit, yet the span of its appeal touches practically every emotional reaction that man is subject to. Not in a few but in dozens of sequences the direction of 'The Big Parade' is brilliant, unusual, and triumphantly successful. Its broad sweeps of spectacle are awe-inspiring and thrilling; its intimate drama strikes unerringly to the heart of the spectator and its comedy touches scintillate with unescapable humor.
"Mr. Vidor has realized that he has a patriotic subject but does not lean too heavily upon patriotism. The patriotic appeal flits in and out of the picture but it is unmixed with sentimentality and there is no tawdry use of it. He has kept a nice proportion between intimate drama and spectacle and each seems to enter the picture logically and without recourse to theatrical effect. His handling of the players makes each of them seem like a greater artist than ever before. The action throughout is swift and sure and there is not a lag in the entire twelve reels.
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Sequences Nicely Timed"On the opening night the entire twelve reels seemed to pass more quickly than the average five reel feature. Although a great deal of subject matter has been compressed into production, the sequences are so nicely timed that they cut at the moment of the spectators greatest interest.
"This is, of course, the type of production where the musical score plays an all-important part. The musical score that has been prepared for 'The Big Parade' is a feature of the show. The entire presentation on the opening night under the direction of J.J. McCarthy, was notably effective.
"The players who will march to fame in 'The Big Parade' will be John Gilbert, as the American doughboy; Renee Adoree as the French peasant girl; Tom 'O'Brien, a bartender recruit to the A.E.F., and Karl Dane, who has left his job as a structural steel worker to go to war. Other of lesser significance in the story are Hobart Bosworth, Claire McDowell, Claire Adams and Rosita Marstini.
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Credit to Mayer and Thalburg"Two figures in California who might be seen smiling as broadly as 'The Big Parade' goes by are Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalburg. The production organization which made 'The Big Parade' is headed by Mr. Mayer. His associate executive, Mr. Thalburg, was in charge of the unit which made the production. Just what credit Mr. Mayer and Mr. Thalburg may be entitled to for the making of this picture - which is at least the greatest of recent years - cannot be told or proved. But this much is evident: That the plan of administration erected by these men at the Culver City studio of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayor and the system of production perused there has permitted of the creation of this most extraordinary picture.
"The stirring and appealing scenes of this production are many. There is one in which a French girl is seeking to find her sweetheart, John Gilbert, among the multitude of doughboys who have been called about suddenly up to the front of town in which they have been billeted. The troops have hurried into formation and then quickly mount lorries which are to take them to a distance on their way to the front. The French girl stands as a pathetic and heart rendering figure alone in a roadway where hundreds of motor wagons and motor cycles flashes past her as she frantically seeks for her sweetheart among the throng in uniform. The treatment of the solitary figure against the background of the swift moving throng is most effective.
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To Render War Less PopularIn another scene John Gilbert comes out of a shell hole into no man's land to rescue a comrade who has been hit. There he engages an enemy solider and pursues him to another shell hole. They both drop low in the hole to escape the barrage overhead. Gilbert is about to finish off his opponent when he discovers the enemy is wounded The German asked for a cigret and Gilbert takes from his helmet the last one he has and puts it in the enemy's mouth. In a moment the German expires. Gilbert in the stoic manner of the war-ridden doughboy, takes the cigret and smokes it himself.
"While 'The Big Parade' is great entertainment - and that is all it is intended to be - it may also be noted that it is destined to render war less popular by making it understood by persons who get war fever at a safe distance from the mental and physical torture of the battle front."
Note: I kept in the grammatical and spelling errors that were present in the original article.
