The Big Parade

Infobox_Film
name = The Big Parade


amg_id = 1:5451
imdb_id = 0015624
writer = Harry Behn
starring = John Gilbert
Renée Adorée
Hobart Bosworth
Claire McDowell
director = King Vidor
producer = Irving Thalberg (uncredited)
distributor =
released = November 5, 1925
country = USA
runtime = 141 min
language = Silent film
English intertitles
budget =

"The Big Parade" is a 1925 silent film which tells the story of an idle rich boy who joins the Army and is sent to France to fight in World War I, becomes friends with two working class men, experiences the horrors of trench warfare, and finds love with a French girl.

The film was groundbreaking for not glorifying the war or its human costs, exemplified by the lead character's loss of a leg from battle wounds. It heavily influenced all subsequent war films, especially "All Quiet on the Western Front" (1930). It was adapted by Harry Behn and King Vidor (uncredited) from the play by Joseph Farnham and the story "Plumes" by Laurence Stallings, and directed by Vidor. It stars John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Claire Adams, Karl Dane, Robert Ober and Tom O'Brien.

"The Big Parade" was one of the greatest hits of the 1920s, and made Gilbert and Adorée major stars. Tragically, Renée Adorée would soon be diagnosed with tuberculosis and die only a few years later. The film is the highest grossing silent film in cinema history (taking in $6,400,000 at the box office, $22,000,000 worldwide.) [ [http://www.nh.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080904/NHUSERPRESS/809049990/-1/nh_news03 Epic war movie 'The Big Parade' to open Palace Theatre silent film] Retrieved on 2008-10-07]

After the film's producers found a clause in Vidor's contract, entitling the director to 20% of the net profits, studio lawyers called for a meeting with him. At this meeting, accountants played up the costs of the picture while downgrading their forecast of its potential success. King Vidor was thusly persuaded to sell his stake in the film before receiving his percentage. However, the film's tremendous success did establish Vidor as one of MGM's top directors for the rest of his career.

In 1992 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Composer Carl Davis created an orchestral score for the film in the 1980s, and it was restored and released on video in the late 1980s as part of the MGM and British television Thames Silents project.

Cast

* John Gilbert - James Apperson
* Renée Adorée - Melisande
* Hobart Bosworth - Mr. Apperson
* Claire McDowell - Mrs. Apperson
* Claire Adams - Justyn Reed
* Robert Ober - Harry
* Tom O'Brien - Bull
* Karl Dane - Slim
* Kathleen Key - Miss Apperson
* Rosita Marstini - Melisande's mother
* Julanne Johnston - Justine Devereux
* George Beranger - (as Andre Beranger)
* Frank Currier
* Harry Crocker - Soldier (uncredited)
* Dan Mason - (uncredited)
* Carl 'Major' Roup - Extra (uncredited)
* Carl Voss- Officer (uncredited)

External links

*imdb title|id=0015624|title=The Big Parade

References