# Big Parade, The (1925)

### reviewed by
Brian Koller

    The Big Parade (1925)

    Grade: 60

"The Big Parade" is a silent film about an American soldier's involvement in World War I. There are some chilling depictions of trench warfare, but for the most part, the film is part romance and part comedy, and lacks the focus and intensity that is necessary for a great film.

John Gilbert stars as the lazy son of a wealthy businessman (Hobart Bosworth). Under pressure from Bosworth and sweetheart Claire Adams, Gilbert volunteers for the Army. Gilbert is sent to France to fight World War I. There, he becomes friends with two comic-relief soldiers (Tom O'Brien and Karl Dane), and romances Rene Adore. The soldiers are sent to the front, where they performs heroic deeds while under fire from fortified German positions.

"The Big Parade" has several problems. The most obvious is a lack of focus: at first the film appears to a comedy, as Gilbert has various misadventures in France with Dane and O'Brien. After Gilbert wooes Adore, the film has become a love story. Gilbert gets to prove his manhood in the trenches, and "The Big Parade" becomes a war movie. Finally, it becomes a love story again.

"The Big Parade" works best as a war movie. Trench warfare is credibly depicted as grisly and monotonous. Still, the battle scenes lack the scale and impact found in later films such as "All Quiet on The Western Front", and are handicapped by a desire to portray the American soldiers as valiant heroes.

The film partly succeeds as a comedy. The scenes with Gilbert trying to move a barrel work, and Dane in particular is a good comic actor. Other scenes aren't as effective, such as the three soldiers making moves on a protesting, but stationary Adore.

"The Big Parade" is weakest as a soap opera. The characters lack definition, and appear to change personalities to suit the story. Bosworth is the very stereotype of a successful but overly stern family patriarch. Gilbert makes an immediate and easy transition from smug idler to innocent soldier. Adore does not appear to be deeply in love with Gilbert, until her laughably dramatic parting from him as he leaves for the front.

"The Big Parade" was a commercial and critical success, and made John Gilbert a star. His career faded with the arrival of talkies. Gilbert and co-star Adore both died in their thirties. The Director, King Vidor, had a lengthy and successful career, picking up five Oscar nominations along the way.

kollers@mpsi.net http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html

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