This classy MGM screen adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel about three young German soldiers trying to find some reason and meaning for living in post-World War I Germany, boasts some of the studio’s best talents, in front and behind the cameras.
Margaret Sullavan received her first and only Best Actress Oscar nomination for playing the dying girl.
Robert Taylor was cast as the “comrade” she loved the most; and Franchot Tone and Robert Young were his friends.
All the men are united in their love for the same girl, who is dying of tuberculosis; her illness cast a pall over the joys of youth, made sharper and more painful due to the political context.
As written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edward E. Paramore, directed by Frank Borzage and produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, the movie not only remains true to the spirit of Remarque’s book, but it’s also to-notch entertainment due to Borzage’s smooth direction and polished production values.
The foreboding Nazi undertones in the Germany it depicted were not appreciated by American Bundists.
CAST:
Robert Taylor
Margaret Sullavan
Franchot Tone
Robert Young
Guy Kibbee
Lionel Atwill
Henry Hull
Charley Grapewin
Monty Woolley
Credits:
MGM
Release date: June 3, 1938
Running time: 98 Minutes
Produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
Directed by Frank Borzage.
Screenplay by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edward E. Paramore, from the book by Erich Maria Remarque.
