BY DOUG OSWALD

Told from the point of view of an idealistic and patriotic German boy from high school graduation and military basic training to the trenches of WWI battlefields, “All Quiet on the Western Front” is a classic tale of the horrors of war. Written by Erich Maria Remarque and published in 1929, the German WWI veteran based the novel on his own experiences in the trenches of WWI. A Hollywood movie quickly followed staring Lew Ayres as Paul. Produced and released in Hollywood by Universal, it was awarded the Best Picture and Best Director Oscars for 1930, a few short years before the rise of Adolf Hitler who banned the book and movie.

Fifty years after the novel’s release, a made-for TV movie was broadcast on American TV in November 1979. It starred Richard Thomas as Paul Baumer, who was fresh off the hit TV series “The Waltons” when he went to work on this movie which is not so much a remake as it is a new adaptation of the classic book. The wide-eyed innocence of Thomas, who was in his late twenties at the time, works well in his interpretation of Paul as he transforms from German patriot seeking adventure to disillusioned soldier tired of war.

The movie follows Paul, a thoughtful and likable student who enjoys art, literature and intellectual conversations; as he joins his friends who become soldiers at the outbreak of the war. His school teacher, Donald Pleasence as Kantorek, is an outspoken patriot who urges Paul to join the army. Paul and his friends, the local postman, Himmelstoss (Ian Holm), as they bully him and knock him to the ground for not serving in the army. We also meet Paul’s mother, played by Patricia Neal (Thomas’ mother in the TV pilot for “The Waltons” TV series - the Christmas classic, “The Homecoming”) saying his goodbyes to his family before heading off with his friends to their military training.

When Paul and his friends arrive at basic training, they’re met by now Army Corporal Himmelstoss who has not forgotten their cruelty toward him and returns it to them during their training. I never got the sense that Himmelstoss was overtly cruel during the training sequences. All basic trainees wish they were elsewhere during boot camp, but we are led to believe that he is over-the-top in his cruelty. Holm does sport a menacing mustache and he has harsh words for the recruits, but its typical stuff and the scenes are too brief to get a sense that anything cruel is occurring apart from what we learn from the characters.

The movie moves along at a predictable pace and finally settles into the meat of the story when Paul and his friends arrive at the front and meet up with their mentor, Stanislaus Katczinsky, played by Ernest Borgnine. He’s the old soldier who advises the inexperienced recruits and tells them to forget everything they learned in basic training because he’s going to tell them the correct way of doing things in order to survive.

Paul and his friends become seasoned soldiers after months of fighting in the trenches. Friends are killed and wounded and Paul ends up in the hospital after he is wounded where we see soldiers suffering from shell shock, commonly known today as PostTtraumatic Stress Disorder. After his recovery, Paul is allowed a brief visit home where he visits with his mother and Kantorek. Himmelstoss ends up being transferred to the front with the boys, but he disappears from the story without explanation shortly after his arrival. It was good to see Holm, Pleasence and Neal once more, but they have too little screen time.

Thomas does a good job as Paul, but it felt like something was missing. I never got the sense Paul was truly transformed in the end of that any of them were experiencing the horrors of war. Thomas and the actors playing his friends are credible, but are not quite up to the screen presence of the more seasoned actors in this movie. Borgnine carries much of the water in the film and he is a welcome part of the production in every scene he appears, but the movie is not about him.

The production is very good television and it is an impressive version of a classic tale that benefits from the cast of great actors and by the on-location filming in Yugoslavia. Perhaps I’m simply jaded after the superior production values in similarly themed television projects like “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific” which depicted warfare in graphic detail as well as combat related post traumatic stress. This production touches on it in a way that was acceptable on 1979 television, but which appears dated today.

The movie was directed by Delbert Mann who moved very successfully from Emmy winning TV director to Oscar winning movie director in the 1950s and returned to TV in the early 1970s after directing a string of dramas and light comedies during the 50s and 60s including the Oscar winning best picture “Marty,” his motion picture debut, which also starred Ernest Borgnine. Pleasence, Neal and Holm’s scenes are welcome, but all too brief and little more than cameo roles. Borgnine is wonderful in every scene and works well with Thomas.

The movie is presented in widescreen 1.78:1 aspect ratio, although I doubt it was originally broadcast in that format in 1979. Its possible the movie was filmed in widescreen with the safety area left open when broadcast on television and on early home video releases. The run time is also longer here on the Blu-ray than in the original CBS broadcast of 131 minutes clocking in at 156 minutes on this Shout! Factory release. The Blu-ray looks and sounds terrific and includes the trailer and a photo gallery as extras. The movie is an entertaining and welcome release.

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