Rich boy goes to war

The Big Parade (1925)

Directed by King Vidor this film based on the novel “Plumes” stars John Gilbert, Renee Adoree, Karl Dane and Tom O'Brien. As the US enters WW1 an idle rich boy enlists in the army and befriends two working class soldiers.

There is a lot to like about this films treatment of war and it is one of the first to do so in a more realistic light but largely all the good parts come from the second half of the film. The first hour spends too much time setting the scene and really could have been cut down in my opinion. All of the battle scenes are well made and this is one of the really watchable silent films.

4/5