Après

It was in 1932 that James Whale found another piece of candy after 'Frankenstein'. It was called 'The Road Back', and it was the follow up novel to 'All Quiet on the Western Front'.

Universal was going to buy the rights and make the film. The book was not even written yet, but Remarque wanted fifty-thousand dollars.

But, when the book was published, it turned out to be not so hot. Universal decided to spend the money on other films, including 'Frankenstein'.

The film was revived though, after the Laemmles had lost the studio. Filming began on a strongly rainy night on January 27th, 1937.

It was a bad time to be shooting films outdoors. One man was killed when an explosive device knocked a gunner's tripod into shrapnel. George Daly, one of the actors, was pierced through the chest with a piece of wood.

The film went rapidly over budget and over time.

Then came the German government.

To make a long story short, they threatened Universal, and they threatened even some of the actors in the film. They wanted the movie to be killed. Charlie Rogers the production chief knew that he would not get the film into Germany, or into other countries pressured by Germany.

John King, the star was a downfall. Whale had decided to employ relatively unknown, and some actually unknown actors, as he had done in his early days in the London stage.

King simply couldn't handle the role, and the film was nearly finished before Whale realized it. Whale did what he did to actors that couldn't act well enough. He ignored him. He wasn't a particularly helpful man.

When the film was finished, it was two and a half weeks overdue and about two hundred thousand dollars over. That overage was enough for many a Universal movie, in total.

Whale got himself on the bad side of Charlie Rogers at that point. Whale got himself loaned out to Warner Brothers, and left Ted Kent, his favorite editor to handle the cut.

Then the German problem came back. As the film was about to be released, suddenly it was drawn back. Pressure from the German Embassy again.

Universal did have a fair amount of money invested in German properties. For whatever reason, Rogers found himself with a million dollar movie which he couldn't export, except to England. He gave in, and the movie was taken away from Kent and, to a great extent, destroyed.

The European nations that would not take the film without the changes largely still didn't take them. Brazil, China and Brazil refused it too, by German government request.

It was truly a disaster in just about every way.

But it was not the fault of James Whale.

The first part of the film is definitely a masterpiece, with extremely touching scenes from the trenches and unforgettable sequences of the armistice, how it happened and how it was experienced by the soldiers. I never read the book, but naturally the soldiers encounter problems when they are obliged to readjust to peace time life at home among gross political disturbances, introducing new conflicts galore, and here obviously the director had some difficulties keeping up the intensity of the film, as some ladies in action caused some disturbance both to the soldiers and to the film. Nevertheless, the end riot scenes of the film are magnificent and impressing, and the final court proceedings provide a sad finale to the destiny of these soldiers alienated from normal reality, so habituated to handle constant slaughter at war, and so incapable of handling banal crises at home. The spirit of Remarque nevertheless sustains the entire movie, all his stories made as great films as novels, and although this is not the best Remarque film and novel, it certainly is important and ranks as such in the canon. This film is extra added to in quality by Dimitri Tiomkin's very approppriate and inspired music.

In the years following WWI, slowly the former Allied Powers came to realize that this war was a pointless waste of lives. As a result, there were many war films of the 1930s that humanized the German enemy and discussed this new view of this awful war. The problem is, although films like "J'Accuse" and "All Quiet on the Western Front" were right...the timing was poor, as it encouraged these countries to disarm and see the Germans very favorably....just as Hitler was coming into power! Of these anti-war/pro-German films, "The Road Back" is probably the most unfortunately timed, as only a very short time later, the world's love of Germany began to diminish quickly--with Nazis taking over Austria and Czechoslovakia and Kristalnacht, in which Jews were slaughtered. Not surprisingly, the American audiences were no longer eager to see the Germans as victims...and "The Road Back".

The irony to all this is that the original book (by Erich Maria Remarque--the same man who wrote "All Quiet on the Western Front") DID have a strong anti-Nazi message and COULD have been a very effective film in preparing the world for the Nazi menace. Unfortunately, the studio removed this from the film in an attempt to make the movie acceptable abroad...especially in places that were pro-German! In the end, however, no one wanted the picture--the Germans STILL didn't think it was pro-German enough and folks who were scared of the mounting German aggression were not in the mood for such a film! Ultimately, it ended up being shown very few places.

The story begins in the final days of WWI. A group of German soldiers who have managed to remain alive and remain friends are trying to make it out of the war alive. Most do...only to find life back home is not at all easy nor pleasant. Communists at home are calling for revolution and officers returning from the front are attacked. Additionally, food shortages, no jobs and a broken economy spell disaster for the men and their families. In other words...life really sucked. And, it gets even worse when one of them kills a man. Why? Watch the film to find out for yourself.

While the film does not come out with an overtly pro-Nazi message because the Nazis are never mentioned, the film's covert message seems to be "Germany was a mess...until the Nazis came and brought peace and prosperity". Despite this and its strong anti-Communist message*, the German government banned the film anyway. I guess Hitler and his comrades just weren't taking any chances with this movie...though it sure seems like it would have been effective pro-German propaganda if used by them--especially if you chopped off the confusing and unnecessary minute of the picture. As for the quality of the film, it is exceptionally well made and if it weren't for its pro-Nazi bent, it would be a very good film.



* By the way, both the Communists AND Nazis were tearing the nation apart during this post-war period. Both promised prosperity...provided you gave them a free hand to deal with problems their way! Often, this resulted in gun fights in the streets between the two factions....though the film never mentions the Nazi part in all this violence.

This anti-war film follows the lives of some German soldiers who find difficulty adjusting to life after the horrors of the front-line in World War I.

This film is often considered a spiritual follow up of sorts to the movie considered the first classic of the talkie era, All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). Like that one, this one is unusual in that it follows the 'enemy' side, the Germans. I think, though, this decision was more expedient than outreaching in the cases of both films in that by doing so it allowed the screenwriters to criticise the authorities more, as it was the German rulers who were the recipients of the anti-war sentiments. Still, it must also have humanised the German enemy for many viewers and this is obviously no bad thing. It is also notable for being directed by James Whale, who was one of the directorial masters of his day, in particular for his classic horror movies for Universal. So, this studio used him to helm this film but they found themselves with a very controversial movie, one which was bluntly critical of the then new Nazi regime in Germany. As a consequence, the Nazis demanded changes to the movie, which if not met would result in all Universal films being banned from that nation. With this huge threat to its European distribution prospects, the studio buckled and the film was partially re-shot and re-edited. It lost much of its power in the process. The remaining film has some interesting things about it but it pales significantly when compared to All Quiet on the Western Front and its overall dynamics are not especially strong or compelling enough to make this no more than an interesting footnote in movie history.

Remarque's novel (which I haven't read) Der Weg zurück/The Road Back is a sequel to his All Quiet on the Western Front. Whale's (or rather Universal's) The Road Back has Slim Summerville as Tjaden again and mentions the names of Kat, Detering and Paul Bäumer in order to directly tie on the preceding film's success. Without success. Surely, The Road Back has a great first half, but, alas, a second half which does not hold up very well. Whale's excellent talent in directing is apparent, but as soon as the German soldiers arrive at home after World War I, it drifts too much into sentiment and pathos, without holding back the one or the other really powerful scene, (especially the one in the mental hospital) and some truly wonderful performances by Slim Summerville and Andy Devine. The choreography of the mass scene towards the end is impressive as well (which resembles Eisenstein's famous Odessa shots a lot). So, it's not really forgettable, but slight disappointment nonetheless.