#the big parade

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[celebratetheclassics]

John Gilbert and Renée Adorée in The Big Parade (King Vidor, 1925)

[newyorkthegoldenage]

The Astor Theater, Broadway at 45th Street, when it was showing King Vidor's The Big Parade, starring John Gilbert and Renee Adoree, 1925.

Photo: Grranger/Fine Art America

[littlehorrorshop]

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JOHN GILBERT & RENÉE ADORÉE in THE BIG PARADE — 1925, dir. King Vidor

[John Gilbert] wrote of Vidor: “In directing the picture [King Vidor] seems to convey some of his ideas through his silence better than they could be explained by most producers. “Renée Adorée, for instance, never knew she was even going to chew gum when we sat down in one of the most famous scenes from the movie. I had the gum and as we looked at each other I pulled it out and gave her some... She didn’t beforehand think of swallowing it, but we discovered afterward that she was expected to by Mr. Vidor.” After that chewing-gum scene, in which the American boy gives the French girl her first stick of gum and she eats it, Vidor leaped to his feet shouting, “I’ll be damned if I ever saw a scene as good as that!” — Dark Star by Leatrice Gilbert Fountain

[lajoiedefrancoise]

The Big Parade (1925)

[jeannemoreau]

Renée Adorée in — the big parade (1925) dir. King Vidor

[jasonsutekh]

The Big Parade (1925)

An American soldier leaves his life behind to fight a war in France.

 There appears to be some attempt at a balanced representation of war in this film. Many points could be considered inaccurate but it isn’t a piece of pro-war propaganda which makes it notable as an early example of realism in a war film. Neither is it exclusively anti-war since it doesn’t seem to push a specific agenda or place a message or judgement on the war itself.

 The romances were well depicted in terms of framing and performance, however they were all unhealthy relationships involving hasty promises and mutual cheating, which makes it feels somewhat less than idyllic. It format makes it almost like two films that are linked since the first hour and a half are more of a comedy in which the protagonist chases girls and has fun with his fellow soldiers, whereas the second installment is a great deal darker and more in keeping with the war genre.

 Some of the cinematography was rather striking; almost all examples of this taking place during the battle sequences where the lighting was more provocative and the gas transformed the soldiers into nebulous silhouettes. A particularly good feature of the movie was that the human cost of war was represented on-screen in an objective way.

 Despite this being a move forward in terms of war realism, it’s not the more effective or realistic depiction. Many films would come later that better depict how dark and fearful trench life was. Naturally this is mainly due to the censorship of what could have been shown to audiences at the time but in reducing the content to what is acceptable for an audience, it reduces the real experience of the victims of the war.

 3/10 -This one’s bad but it’s got some good in it, just there-

 -Believed to be the first film to include the word “damn” from a character.

-The US army allegedly loaned the production 200 trucks, 4000 soldiers, and over 100 planes for filming.

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Picture Play, January 1932

[celebratetheclassics]

John Gilbert and Renée Adorée in The Big Parade (King Vidor, 1925)

[covergirlsanddancingcavaliers]

Renée Adorée and John Gilbert in The Big Parade (1925)

[littlehorrorshop]

Renée Adorée in The Big Parade (1925)

[brandonleedizuncan]

[lajoiedefrancoise]

The Big Parade (1925)