All Quiet on the Western Front (AQOTWF) is one of the greatest anti-war films ever made. Its powerful pacifist message, dramatic realism and unique German perspective make it a one-of-a-kind classic from Hollywood's Golden Age. Its most famous scene involves the fatal confrontation between a young German soldier and a similar French lad who meet by chance in a crater hole near a no man's land cemetery. The German soldier (Paul Baumer played by Lew Ayres) fatally wounds the French soldier (Gerard Duval played by Raymond Griffith). As Gerard slowly dies over the course of a long agonizing night, Paul grows increasingly guilt-ridden, sad and remorseful over what he had done and the events that led up to the tragedy. His sorrow is sincere and almost painful to watch.
What if Paul were given the opportunity to survive the war and visit Gerard's family to help convey to them the full depth of his feelings about what he had done? With the insertion of a couple of minor plot revisions, that could be the narrative presented to us in Broken Lullaby (BL). In BL, Paul's last name is now Renard and he becomes the French soldier who killed the young German soldier (Walter Holderlin played by Tom Douglas). Renard is depicted by Phillips Holmes, a sensitive blond-haired actor now best remembered as the young man who acted the role assumed by Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun's predecessor-----An American Tragedy.
BL is a little known film that is largely forgotten today. This is most unfortunate, because BL is important in many ways. It is the only dramatic sound movie made by the great Ernst Lubitsch. BL's success in presenting a touching and beautiful story with considerable eloquence is all the more remarkable when we realize that Lubitsch's fame rests mainly in the genres of comedy and musicals. Lionel Barrymore (who in BL plays the dead German soldier's father) got one of his great screen roles almost by accident. Emil Jannings was originally set for that part, but his failure to master understandable English allowed Barrymore to take it over, and he was excellent. There is no trace here of the mannerisms and excesses that critics believe marred some of Barrymore's later performances. Phillips Holmes was moving and often eloquent in playing the troubled French soldier who seeks forgiveness from the Holderlin family (including Walter's grieving fiance). He never achieved a major screen career and died at the early age of 33 from a mid-air collision during WWII while serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Zasu Pitts portrayed the Holderlin household maid, and provides a direct link to AQOTWF. Pitts was signed to play Lew Ayres's mother in the earlier film, and she was seen in that part in the initial version of AQOTWF shown in Europe. However, American audiences were so used to seeing Pitts in fluttery comedic roles that they would not accept her in such a dramatic part. She was quickly replaced by Beryl Mercer, who appears as Paul's mother in the final version of AQOTWF originally released in America.
BL is a deeply felt story that captured the emotions of wartime loss, guilt, hope, forgiveness and redemption. The fact that both Lew Ayres and Phillips Holmes played a character named Paul in AQOTWF and BL respectively may be just coincidence-------but maybe not. That Holmes died so young as a casualty of war may also be a coincidence, but it is remarkable nonetheless. That the spiritual power of AQOTWF continued almost at the same level of intensity in BL is certainly noteworthy. Seek BL out. It is well worth your time.
What if Paul were given the opportunity to survive the war and visit Gerard's family to help convey to them the full depth of his feelings about what he had done? With the insertion of a couple of minor plot revisions, that could be the narrative presented to us in Broken Lullaby (BL). In BL, Paul's last name is now Renard and he becomes the French soldier who killed the young German soldier (Walter Holderlin played by Tom Douglas). Renard is depicted by Phillips Holmes, a sensitive blond-haired actor now best remembered as the young man who acted the role assumed by Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun's predecessor-----An American Tragedy.
BL is a little known film that is largely forgotten today. This is most unfortunate, because BL is important in many ways. It is the only dramatic sound movie made by the great Ernst Lubitsch. BL's success in presenting a touching and beautiful story with considerable eloquence is all the more remarkable when we realize that Lubitsch's fame rests mainly in the genres of comedy and musicals. Lionel Barrymore (who in BL plays the dead German soldier's father) got one of his great screen roles almost by accident. Emil Jannings was originally set for that part, but his failure to master understandable English allowed Barrymore to take it over, and he was excellent. There is no trace here of the mannerisms and excesses that critics believe marred some of Barrymore's later performances. Phillips Holmes was moving and often eloquent in playing the troubled French soldier who seeks forgiveness from the Holderlin family (including Walter's grieving fiance). He never achieved a major screen career and died at the early age of 33 from a mid-air collision during WWII while serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Zasu Pitts portrayed the Holderlin household maid, and provides a direct link to AQOTWF. Pitts was signed to play Lew Ayres's mother in the earlier film, and she was seen in that part in the initial version of AQOTWF shown in Europe. However, American audiences were so used to seeing Pitts in fluttery comedic roles that they would not accept her in such a dramatic part. She was quickly replaced by Beryl Mercer, who appears as Paul's mother in the final version of AQOTWF originally released in America.
BL is a deeply felt story that captured the emotions of wartime loss, guilt, hope, forgiveness and redemption. The fact that both Lew Ayres and Phillips Holmes played a character named Paul in AQOTWF and BL respectively may be just coincidence-------but maybe not. That Holmes died so young as a casualty of war may also be a coincidence, but it is remarkable nonetheless. That the spiritual power of AQOTWF continued almost at the same level of intensity in BL is certainly noteworthy. Seek BL out. It is well worth your time.