''The Big Parade'' is a 1925 American silent

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

King Vidor King Wallis Vidor ( ; February 8, 1894 – November 1, 1982) was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose 67-year film-making career successfully spanned the silent and sound eras. His works are distinguished by a vivid, ...

, starring John Gilbert,

Renée Adorée Renée Adorée (; born Jeanne de la Fonte ; 30 September 1898 – 5 October 1933) was a French stage and film actress who appeared in Hollywood silent movies during the 1920s. She is best known for portraying the role of Melisande, the love inte ...

Hobart Bosworth Hobart Van Zandt Bosworth (August 11, 1867 – December 30, 1943) was an American film actor, director, writer, and producer. Bosworth began his career in theater, eventually transitioning to the emerging film industry. Despite a battle with ...

, Tom O'Brien, and Karl Dane. Written by

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

veteran Laurence Stallings, the film is about an idle rich boy who joins the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

's Rainbow Division, is sent to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to fight in World War I, becomes a friend of two working-class men, experiences the horrors of

trench warfare Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising Trench#Military engineering, military trenches, in which combatants are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from a ...

, and finds love with a French girl. A sound version of the film was released in 1930. While the sound version of the film has no audible dialog, it featured a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film has been praised for its realistic depiction of warfare, and it heavily influenced a great many subsequent war films, especially '' All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1930). ''The Big Parade'' is regarded as one of the greatest films made about World War I, and, in 1992, was selected for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Plot

In the United States in 1917, James "Jim" Apperson's idleness, in contrast to his hardworking brother, incurs the great displeasure of his wealthy businessman father. Then America enters World War I. Jim informs his worried mother that he has no intention of enlisting, and his father threatens to kick him out of the house if he does not join. However, when he runs into his patriotic friends at a send-off parade, he is persuaded to enlist, making his father very proud. During training, Jim makes friendships with Southern construction worker Slim and Bronx bartender Bull. Their unit ships out to France, where they are billeted at a farm in the village of Champillon in the Marne. All three men are attracted to Melisande, whose mother owns the farm. She repulses all their advances, but gradually warms to Jim, bonding at first over

chewing gum Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its tex ...

. They eventually fall in love, despite not being able to speak each other's language. One day, however, Jim receives a letter and a photograph from Justyn, which reveals that they are engaged. When Melisande sees the picture, she realizes the situation and runs off in tears. Before Jim can decide what to do, his unit is ordered to the front. Melisande hears the commotion and races back, just in time for the lovers to embrace and kiss. The Americans march towards the front and are strafed by an enemy fighter before it is shot down. The unit is sent to the attack immediately, advancing against snipers and machine guns in the woods, then more machine guns, artillery, and poison gas in the open. They settle down in a makeshift line. Jim shelters in a shellhole with Slim and Bull. That night, orders come down for one man to go out and eliminate a troublesome mortar crew; Slim wins a spitting contest for the opportunity. He succeeds, but is spotted and wounded on the way back. After listening to Slim's pleas for help, Jim cannot stand it any longer and goes to his rescue against orders. Bull follows, but is shot and killed. By the time Jim reaches Slim, he is already dead. Jim is then shot in the leg. When a German comes to finish him off, Jim shoots and wounds him. The German starts crawling back to his line. Jim catches up to him in another shellhole, but, face to face, cannot bring himself to finish him off with his bayonet. Instead, he gives his erstwhile enemy a cigarette. Soon after, the German dies. However, Jim is not stuck in no man's land for long; the Americans attack, and he is taken away to a hospital. From another patient, he learns that Champillon has changed hands four times. Worried about Melisande, Jim sneaks out of the hospital and hitches a ride. When he gets to the farmhouse, he finds it damaged and empty. Melisande and her mother have joined a stream of refugees. Jim collapses and is carried off in an ambulance by retreating soldiers. After the war ends, Jim goes home to America. Before he arrives, his mother overhears Justyn and Jim's brother Harry discussing what to do; in Jim's absence, they have fallen in love. When Jim appears, it is revealed that he has had his leg amputated. Later, Jim tells his mother about Melisande; she tells him to go back and find her. When he returns to the farm, Melisande rushes into his arms.

Cast

Music

The 1930 sound version featured a number of songs. The theme song was entitled “My Dream of the Big Parade” and was composed by Al Dubin (words) and Jimmy McHugh (music). Other songs featured on the soundtrack include “I’m Gonna Tramp Tramp Tramp” by B. G. DeSylva and Harry Woods, “Sweet Little Woman of Mine” by Frank Stanton (words) and Floy Little Bartlett (music), “My Pal Jerry” by Fred Rose and “Douce Fievre (Whisper That You Love Me)” by Louis Weslyn (words) and Y. Ener (music).

Reception

''The Big Parade'' was one of the great hits of the 1920s earning

gross rental A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is frequ ...

s of $4,990,000 in the United States and $1,141,000 overseas on a budget of $382,000 during its initial release, with MGM recording a profit of $3.4 million, its biggest of the silent era.Scott Eyman, ''Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer'', Robson, 2005 p 112 The domestic earnings were MGM's biggest until the release of ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

'' (1939). It played in some larger cities continually for a year or more, boosting Gilbert's career and made Renée Adorée a major star, although Adorée would soon be diagnosed with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and die only a few years later. Its release in some nations of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

was initially delayed to resolve claims that the film, in focusing only on America's part in the war, was

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

. The film ultimately grossed $18–$22 million in worldwide rentals and is sometimes proclaimed as the most successful film of the silent era, although it is most likely this record falls to ''

The Birth of a Nation ''The Birth of a Nation'' is a 1915 American Silent film, silent Epic film, epic Drama (film and television), drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and ...

'' (1915). The film won the ''Photoplay'' Magazine Medal for best film of the year in 1925. The medal is considered the first significant annual movie award, prior to the establishment of the Oscars. After the film's producers found a clause in Vidor's contract that entitled the director to 20% of the net profits, studio lawyers called for a meeting with him. At the meeting, accountants upgraded the costs of the picture and downgraded their forecast of its potential success. Vidor was thus persuaded to sell his stake in the film before he could receive his percentage. However, the film's tremendous success established Vidor as one of MGM's top directors.

Legacy

''The Big Parade'' survives in a print of the 1930 sound version. The original silent version is now lost. In 1992, ''The Big Parade'' was selected for preservation in the United States

by the

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Although the surviving print had the original 1930 soundtrack consisting of

William Axt William Axt (April 19, 1888 – February 13, 1959) was an American composer of nearly two hundred film scores. Life and career Born in New York City, Axt graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bronx and studied at the National Conservat ...

's musical score, the version released to the public had the score replaced with a modern one. Composer

Carl Davis Carl Davis (October 28, 1936 – August 3, 2023) was an American-born British conductor and composer. He wrote music for more than 100 television programmes, notably the landmark ITV series '' The World at War'' (1973) and BBC's '' Pride and P ...

created a new orchestral score for the film in the 1980s (quoting the theme associated with Melisande in Axt's original setting), and it was added to the film and released on video in the late 1980s as part of the MGM and British television Thames Silents project. The original 1930 35mm negative was subsequently discovered intact, and has been the source for theatrical showings and the DVD and Blu-ray editions (Blu-ray was released October 1, 2013). In spite of the fact that William Axt's synchronzied score survives the film was again released with a modern score that bears no resemblance to the original score. The 2013 DVD and Blu-ray

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

release of ''The Big Parade'' features the most complete TCM print of running time 151 minutes. It also contains an audio commentary track by film historian

Jeffrey Vance Jeffrey Vance (born May 21, 1970) is an American film historian and author who has published books on movie stars including Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Career While working as an archivist for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists he met El ...

(with excerpts from King Vidor's oral history with the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...

). In February 2020, the film was shown at the

70th Berlin International Film Festival The 70th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 20 February to 1 March 2020. It was the first under the leadership of new Berlin Film Festival board: business administration director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director ...

, as part of a retrospective dedicated to King Vidor's career.

Gallery

The-Big-Parade-Adoree-Gilbert.jpg, Renée Adorée and John Gilbert The Big Parade (1925 film). Directed by King Vidor, M-G-M studios.jpg, ''The Big Parade'', Lower right front (R to L): Renée Adorée, John Gilbert, Karl Dane, Tom O'Brien The Big Parade, 1925 film. Director King Vidor. L to R Tom O'Brien, John Gilbert, Karl Dane.jpg, L to R Tom O'Brien, John Gilbert, Karl Dane

Footnotes

References

External links

* * * * *
''The Big Parade''
program booklet on

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

''The Big Parade''
at Virtual History * ''The Big Parade'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 , pages 105–10

{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Parade, The 1925 films 1925 drama films 1925 war films 1920s American films 1920s color films 1920s English-language films 1920s war drama films American black-and-white films American silent feature films Articles containing video clips English-language war drama films Films directed by King Vidor Films produced by Irving Thalberg Films scored by William Axt Films set in 1917 Films set in 1918 Films shot in San Antonio Films with screenplays by Harry Behn Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Photoplay Awards film of the year winners Silent American war drama films Surviving American silent films United States National Film Registry films Western Front (World War I) films