MIXED RECEPTION

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 63, 8 December 1930, Page 11

MIXED RECEPTION

“All Quiet” in Berlin WILD WORDS AND ACTIONS (Rec. December 7, 5.5 p.m.) Berlin, December 0. It is curious tq note that although England received the film “All Quiet on the Western Front” as a war masterpiece, a fierce battle of opinion is proceeding in Germany. The Republicans regard the film as a true picture of war. To nearly everybody else, especially the Nationalists, it is a “grotesque caricature, and injurious to Germany in the eyes of the world.” . One Republican newspaper says: it Is astounding that this book by a German soldier should be filmed in such a way that nowhere can anything be seen that is offensive to Germans.” On the contrary, the great Catholic organ, “Germania,” says: “The picture presented of the German soldier is a libel in millions of dead. Remarque’s men are not men of body and soul, but soulless debauchees, thinking of nothing but guzzling and boozing, trembling in every limb when in the trenches or exposed to shell fire. The German soldier was not like that even in the autumn of 1913, when demoralisation had already made rapid progress.” The Monarchist and Fascist Press, of course, are furious and describe the exhibition of the film as a political scan dal. Throwing stink bombs and cat calling, Nazi spectators broke up the production of the film in Berlin. Free fights occurred all over the theatre. Attendants trying to pacify the audience were shouted down with cries of “Wake up, Germany! Down with the Jews!” Ex-soldiers shouted that the film was an insult to German soldiers. The police cleared the theatre with their truncheons.