The Lost Battalion

I suspect that anyone who enjoyed the 2001 television film of the same title and on the same subject would be rather disappointed by this film featuring the real people concerned. On the other hand many people who would be totally uninterested in the 2001 film will enjoy this. Burton King really rather brilliantly turns the whole story into a kind of allegory of "melting pot" America (less than half the film is concerned with the famous battle) - and bear in mind that the term "melting pot" had only come into use in 1908 but proved vital to US propaganda during he war. It is actually a remarkable social docufiction as, amongst the existing reviewers, only the Geman Count sems to appreciate (as he would), for which the wartime tale of derring-do simply provides the occasion.

It could have been better, if a bit less patriotic, but don't ask too much either. You have here a rare gem, though available on you tube, showing gritty trench battle scenes, very rare, but many silent movies are now lost, thousands of them, so shame.... It hurts when you think about it. Imagine early Henry King or other great directors early films, speaking of WW1, how could it have been avoided? Most of them lost forever. This short film, one hour and several minutes, is quite interesting, but it could have been a bit bitter, brutal, depressing, showing hell in Argonne...In 1919, there were many opportunities to collect, purchase all accurate details, information about the bloody battles.... But I guess audiences needed to forget the horrors of those years.

During the last century, Deutschland lost many wars and a lot of battles, the biggest defeat being WWI. For that reason it is always a painful and complicated matter, even for a German count accustomed to losing many battles with his servants, to watch any silent film wherein the victors boast about their merits against the Germans.

But that doesn't matter a lot when the film is well done and directed as is the case with "The Lost Battalion", directed at the end of such a painful and mad war by Herr Burton L. King.

The film depicts the deeds of the Amerikan 77th Division in Europe and their advance through the enemy lines (obviously the Germans). It is focused mainly on a lost battalion of that Division that was cut off and surrounded by the enemy, (again the Germans) in a ravine that will be later known as "The Pocket" in Amerikan war glory lore.

The film recounts the participation of many Amerikan high ranking officers that battled against the Teutons and are portrayed in the picture, and these officers are presented with honours at the beginning and the end of the film with careful close-ups. However, for this German count the role of those military men in the film wouldn't matter ( you can't have everything and be a war hero AND a silent star… ) if they didn't have the help of the common people who also participated and suffered the consequences of that battle. They are the real heroes of that war (and any war,) and they belonged to different social classes, conditions and races and they were all united to battle against the enemy ( that is to say, the Germans).

Herr Burton depicts at the beginning of the film (remarkably) the particular life and social condition of those unknown soldiers before they enlist. Burton delivers an interesting and valuable portrait of the Amerikan life. These men, some ordinary, some exceptional, will find their lives drastically changed when they embark for Europe.

The battle scenes are also very well done, full of drama and very claustrophobic, especially during the ambush at "The Pocket". The direction is very modern for a 1919 film, but of course is full of patriotic elements that fortunately are not overstated or distracting from the artistic merits of the film. This remarkable artistic fact can be still appreciated 90 years later since the film avoided the Manichaeism that was part of many WWI film productions of that time wherein the Germans were excessively caricatured or parodied in an exaggerated way (This Herr Von knows very well what he is talking about when it comes to exaggerated matters…)

"The Lost Battalion" gives, as usual, the honor and the credit to the military high ranking men but it was the common soldiers whose devotion and valour and sufferings won the war and are the main characters of this film. The fallen soldiers they portray unfortunately couldn't be invited as guest stars.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must try to find a war he can win.

Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/

We're told at the start that the people who survived the actual "lost battalion" battle played themselves in this recreation, and without compensation either. The first 35 minutes introduces some of the men who formed the 77th Division, and some of the women in their lives. Included are two Chinese Americans fighting on opposite sides in a Tong war, a Jewish kid, a burglar, a thief, a wealthy merchant's son in love with his father's stenographer, etc. In short, the 77th had men from the melting pot that was America. We see them train at Camp Upton, Long Island and then finally shipped to France. The action then is riveting. Ordered to take the Argonne Forest, the American army faces formidable German resistance. By means of the actual map used by headquarters at the time and stop-action photography, we see on the map the dotted lines representing the German army facing the dotted lines representing the one-million man American army. The lines move as the push is on. Lt. Col. Charles W. Whittlesey (who plays himself) commands the left flank (the 77th division), which rapidly advances and breaks through the German lines into German-held territory, and winds up in "The Pocket" surrounded by the Germans. Cut off from headquarters without food and water for 123 hours, and nicknamed "The Lost Battalion," the men settle into a siege of dauntless defense. 34 runners to headquarters are killed; their only hope to contact headquarters is by means of a carrier pigeon called Cher Ami.

I thoroughly enjoyed the use of the map to detail the action, which made everything crystal clear. Modern films involving battles should use the technique to avoid the confusion so often present. The U.S. Government sanctioned this film and some footage shot by the U.S. Signal Corps was used in the film. The film also tells us that the drawings used on the title cards were by Lt. Augustus Kaiser (also in the film) and some of them were made while under siege in The Pocket. There was some comic relief even in the heat of battle. When a gun jams, the title card reads "The guy who invented this gun ought to be pinched for aiding the enemy." I also enjoyed seeing Tammany Young, the only actor in the film I recognized from films he made in the 30's.

This Signal Corp documentary and re-enactment presents a patriotic portrayal of the heros of the "Lost Battalion" of the 77th division. They were out of contact and relieved after 6 days of heavy fighting in the Argonne Forest during October 1918. The real hero is Bon Ami who received a Distinguished Service Cross for her heroism as a carrier pigeon.