"Great Great War Films & TV" Topic

What are the best WWI films, in your opinion?

I can forgive some errors in the history if the story is good (I' a big an of Shakespeare's so called 'histories') but if the story and/or presentation sucks then historical errors just compound my distaste for a show.

On my list , these are the standouts. Which are yours?

Western Front:
Paths of Glory (Kubrick/Kirk Douglas)
Joyeux Noel
A Very Long Engagement
(Looks like the French have the advantage!)
One more: O What A Lovely War

War in the Air:
The Blue Max
More recent CGI-fest films like Flyboys and The Red Baron just don't measure up! CGI is overdone and the stories don't grab me the same way.

Eastern Front:
None. Every one set in this era that I've seen just present the Eastern front as a prelude to the Russian Revolution and Civil War. Best RCW film would be a whole different list!

Africa:
The African Queen. Based on CS Forrester's novel, which couldn't tell the true story of Commander Spicer-Simpson's expedition as it was too outrageous!
Shout at the Devil- again, I'm happy to waive'true' history for a fun adventure flick!

Middle East/Ottoman Empire:
Gallipoli – great film, even if it did inflict Mel Gibson on the world!
The Lighthorsemen – much more fun than Gallipoli, and a great war-game scenario to boot!
Lawrence of Arabia

Itay/Balkans/Austria-Hungary: I'm open to recommendations!

TV
ANZACS
Young Indiana Jones (especially as Young Indy shows such a wide range of events from the war, and shines a particular light on Belgium
And of course last on the list, first in my heart, Blackadder Goes Forth!

I would include All Quiet on the Western Front (the 1930 original, not the remake with John Boy Walton).

For war in the air try Wings – a silent film that won the first ever Oscar for best picture. It's a bit corny at times but the aerial sequences are startling.
For the Western front the French film Wooden Crosses is excellent. Also try Stosstrupp, Hitler's cinematic response to All Quiet on the Western Front. Made in 1934 and funded by the German government it used regular troops (and I believe real ammunition at times) for some spectacular battle scenes. Amazon sells a censored 90 minute version or you can buy the full length version with an extra 21 minutes from International Historic Films.
I also liked Lost Battalion.

Add The Dawn Patrol to the air war list, either version, though I prefer the 1938 version with the British cast since I am a fan of David Niven.

Rick

Company K about Americans in WW1

The Lost Battalion is very good. It's a true story about some Americans at the end of the war. It's also on Youtube, so free to watch.
Michael.

"Our World War" which is now showing on Netflix streaming. Not the best production in the world but better than I was expecting. Three episodes covering three different times in the war, early, middle, and late. Early is from the first battle of WWI for the Brits, I forget the middle, and the last was about a tank crew. Dodgy FX at times but based on memoirs from the war.

The Trench, Brit's waiting to go over the top

I'll second "Wings" and The original "Alls Quiet on the Western Front".

I'll add "Hells Angels" it has some terrific aerial combat scenes.

Dawn patrol and hill 60

I'd include The Great Waldo Pepper, even though it's post-war and about barnstormers. The flying scenes earn it a spot on the list, for me.

"The Lost Patrol" (1934), WW1 in the Mesopotamian desert.
"The Big Parade" (1925), silent film, American soldier in France.
"The Big Parade" was written by Laurence Stallings who also wrote or co-wrote many screenplays including "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" and "Northwest Passage". Stallings served as a Captain with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines and lost a leg at Belleau Wood.

The 1970s BBC drama series Wings is worth checking out on Youtube.

Both Upstairs, Downstairs and The Duchess of Duke Street had some very good episodes dealing with the "Home Front".

The King of Hearts.

actually its an anti-war film but it is wwI

All the King's Men; a BBC film on the Sandringham company at Gallipoli.

YouTube link

YouTube link

Die Maenner der Emden(German film),Black and white in Color,WW1 Kamerun

Thanks for the great suggestions, everyone. Some new ones for me to chase down as well as some I'm already familiar with. The home front category is valid and there are several great shows that touch on that aspect of the war (and its aftermath), thanks infant perdus.

I'd forgotten B&W in Colour, thanks for the reminder, and I've been meaning to hunt down a copy of the Emden film. I just re-read All Quiet, so I should re-watch at least one of the productions, too.

Cheers, everyone!

For James Cagney fans there's The Fighting 69th and What Price Glory?

The African Queen. Based on CS Forrester's novel, which couldn't tell the true story of Commander Spicer-Simpson's expedition as it was too outrageous!

Actually, Forrester based The African Queen on an actual incident in West Africa where the nationalities were reversed, with the local German forces improvising "torpedoes" against an RN gunboat.

I haven't seen it, but here's one for your Eastern Front list: The Good Soldier Schweik (1960).

TV series Gallipoli

Another vote for "Our World War". The final episode on the tank battle at Amiens is particularly good.

Easter Front (Bulgaria and Post War) – -

Captaine Conan – 1996 Film about French troops on the Balkan front.
link

Mike

Does anyone know if the dvd of Die Manner der Emden has English subtitles?

Also the BBC did a drama about the Wipers Times a couple of years ago that was very good.

You can't have this list without "All Quite" 1930 version. And I'll throw out "Westfront 1918" a German film from the same year.
Peter

Yes, just watched "Our World War" excellent.

"The Better 'Ole" ca. 1920's with Charlie Chaplin's brother, Sydney Chaplin,as "old Bill". Charlie himself,in "Shoulder Arms",

Not sure if I'd call it great, but there's also "Reilly, Ace of Spies", the TV mini-series with Sam Neill as the title character, mainly set in Russia before, during, and after WWI.

Last night I caught the first episode of a 2014 BBC series called The Crimson Field. It's set in a BEF field hospital near the front in 1915. It starts with the arrival of three half-trained VAD nurses and the inevitable friction with the sisters of QAIMNS and military life in general. I see a fair amount of tropes and clichés in store, but all in all I was intrigued. The sets are fantastic and the uniforms are mostly spot on.

The African Queen. Based on CS Forrester's novel, which couldn't tell the true story of Commander Spicer-Simpson's expedition as it was too outrageous!

Actually, Forrester based The African Queen on an actual incident in West Africa where the nationalities were reversed, with the local German forces improvising "torpedoes" against an RN gunboat.

I didn't know that. In Forrester' novel, there is an afterword that indicates Charlie and Rose's plan failed, and that the motor torpedo boats hauled overland to the lake succeeded, but the ending was changed for the movie so the heroes could triumph.

I enjoyed Reilly: Ace of Spies when I first saw it, but thought that it had more to do with the Russian Revolution and Civil War than WWI.