(1930) Krieg looks great for German schoolboy Lew Ayres and his idealistic schoolmates, but first there’s German Army discipline, then the trenches, and then actual killing, and then actual death — it’s World War I. Adapted from Erich Maria Remarque’s world-wide bestseller, All Quiet is the gut-wrenching grandaddy of all anti-war films, garnering both Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, and a triumph as well for the twenty-year old Ayres — hard to forget Ayres’ hand reaching for the butterfly, or the fast lateral camera track past the line of French falling en masse to machine gun fire. But after two reels were cut from Milestone’s original following the film’s prestigious East and West Coast premieres, it has been impossible to experience the director’s full vision. But now, curiously enough, with this silent version restored and preserved by the Library of Congress (complete with music score — it was intended for foreign markets), one can come considerably closer. Edited from the foreign negative (in silent and early sound days, major productions were often filmed with two cameras placed side by side, the second negative slated for foreign release), the silent version is longer, with more shots, more fluid camera movements, smoother editing transitions, more character details, even synch French dialogue missing from the talkie — putting what is already a cinema legend in a fresh, more complete, light. Print courtesy Library of Congress. Special thanks to James Cozart, Mike Mashon, Rob Stone, Pat Loughney (LoC), Ray Faiola, and Paul Ginsburg (Universal Pictures). Restored with funding provided by The Film Foundation. Approx. 133 minutes.
3:20, 6:50, 9:20

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