War/Drama + Despair + A hand reaching for a butterfly amidst the mud. An unvarnished, harrowing descent into the trenches of WWI where the idealism of youth is systematically ground into dust by the machinery of death, leaving only a haunting silence.
All Quiet on the Western Front
"They left for war as boys never to return as men."
Director:
Lewis Milestone
Cast:
Louis Wolheim, Lew Ayres, John Wray, Arnold Lucy, Ben Alexander
Drama
War
Budget:
$1,448,864
Box Office:
$3,270,000
All Quiet on the Western Front - Easter Eggs & Hidden Details
Easter Eggs
Blackboard Text
The blackboard in Kantorek's classroom features the opening line of Homer's Odyssey in Greek ('Tell me, O Muse, of the man of many devices...'). This ironically foreshadows a long, perilous journey from which many will not return, contrasting the epic hero Odysseus with the doomed schoolboys.
Milestone's Hand
The hand reaching for the butterfly in the final shot belongs to director Lewis Milestone, not the main actor. This unintentional 'cameo' became one of the most famous shots in cinema history.