June 28th of this year marked one of the most important centenaries in our lifetimes. On that day back in 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, leading to the outbreak of one of the most cataclysmic events of all time–World War I.
The Great War changed lives, claimed lives, and shook ideologies to their core. It was the defining period of the 20th century, and life after it would never be the same.
Cinema was there to capture it all–whether literally, with actual footage from the battlegrounds, or figuratively, with the many films featuring a WWI setting.
Since 2014 is a year of many WWI anniversaries, it seemed appropriate that we film lovers commemorate this with an event of our own.
I am pleased to announce the World War I in Classic Film blogathon, co-hosted by Silent-ology and Movies Silently!
When: September 6-7, 2014 (trench warfare began in September 1914).
Where: I will be hosting here at Silent-ology on the 6th, while the wonderful Fritzi will host at Movies Silently on the 7th. You can either pick which day works best for you, or let us schedule you. (If you’ve never been in a blogathon before, Fritzi explains all about it here.)
How: To sign up, leave me a comment here or send me a message (don’t forget the name and address of your blog!). We will be keeping a roster of all the participants. I have banners at the bottom of this post that you can put on your sites. During the blogathon itself, when your post is ready to go simply leave me a comment with your link or send a message.
What to submit: We are looking for posts on films that were set during WWI, were actually made during the war (and relate to it in some way), or focus on the war’s aftermath. This is a broad but immensely important topic, and we are looking forward to getting as many participants as we can.
Details:
- Choose from films made before or during the year 1970–we’re looking at classic films, after all.
- All genres are welcome (even comedy).
- No duplicates, please. If you wanted to cover, say, All Quiet on the Western Front but you see that it’s already been claimed, consider a different film. We crave variety.
- You can, however, choose more than one film if you want to do a compare/contrast type of article.
- Speaking of variety…yes, you can write an article that’s not specifically about a film. Articles about the impact of WWI on the film industry, its impact on a certain stars or directors, etc. are also welcome.
Roster:
Silent-ology | Hearts of the World (1918)
Movies Silently | The Heart of Humanity (1918) and Barbed Wire (1927)
My Classic Movies | Doughboys (1930)
MovieMovieBlogBlog | Shoulder Arms (1918)
Once Upon a Screen | Paths of Glory (1957)
MovieFanFare | J’accuse (1919 and 1938 versions)
The Motion Pictures | Wings (1927)
Critica Retro | Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1938)
Wide Screen World | La Grande Illusion (1937)
Nitrate Glow | The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1920)
Cinematic Catharsis | The Little American (1918)
Coolsville | For Me and My Gal (1942)
The Hitless Wonder | I was a Spy (1933)
Moon in Gemini | South (1920)
The Cinematic Packrat | Article on Basil Rathbone’s service in the war
Hitchcock’s World | Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Rick’s Cafe Texan | The African Queen (1951)
Girls Do Film | Hell’s Angels (1930)
Mildred’s Fatburgers | The Dawn Patrol (1930 and 1938 versions)
Silver Screenings | Nurse Edith Cavell (1939)
Jeff Rapsis | The Strong Man (1926)
Sister Celluloid | The Road Back (1937)
100 Films in a Year | The Battle of the Somme (1916)
ImagineMDD | Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Immortal Ephemera | The Last Flight (1931)
A Shroud of Thoughts | Sergeant York (1941)
Spellbound by Movies | Dark Journey (1937)
Pre-Code.com | Sky Devils (1932)
Into the Beautiful New | Westfront 1918 (1930) and Outskirts aka The Patriots (Окраина) (1933)
The Movie Rat | Pack Up Your Troubles (1932)
Destroy All Fanboys | The Big Parade (1925) and The Blue Max (1966)
Cinema Monolith | The Fighting 69th (1940)
Feet of Mud | A Soldier’s Plaything (1930)
Portraits by Jenni | A Farewell to Arms (1932)
Caftan Woman | Ever in My Heart (1933)
At the Sovereign | Wooden Crosses (1932)
Big V Riot Squad | A selection of short propaganda movies including The Leopard’s Spots, Patriotic Porkers, British Effort and British and German newsreels.
Random Pictures | King & Country (1964)
Lit. and a Latte | Article on Mata Hari
Speakeasy | The Eagle and the Hawk (1933)
A Person in the Dark | Mata Hari (1931)
Silent Volume | What Price Glory? (1926) and All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)
Banners:
Silent-ology 
Doughboys! Please? If someone else takes it then I will take Yankee Doodle Dandy. If someone else takes that then I will take For Me and My Gal.
It’s yours! 🙂
Also, it doesn’t matter to me which day or time it posts. You tell me and I’ll have it ready!
Sounds like a plan! Just send me the link any time on Sept. 6th, or send it to Fritzi any time on the 7th. Whenever it’s ready–nice and flexible.
Posted already on Fritzi’s blog, but I’ll post here too: I’ll take The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It’s an interesting example of an early blockbuster and it’s depiction of WWI is interesting.
Fantastic–glad to have you on board!
Reblogged this on moviemovieblogblog and commented:
My WordPress “neighbor” and fellow film buff, the lovely Lea Stans, is co-heading a fascinating blogathon related to World War I-themed movies. Read all about it, and enter if you have a fave WWI film you want to write about.
Excellent, get those bloggers coming! 🙂 Glad you joined up Steve!
Love this blogathon idea. Please could I write about Hell’s Angels, and to post on the 7th?
You certainly can, thanks for joining!
Lea, I’d be honored to tackle THE STRONG MAN if it’s still available. Thank you!
Sadly, it looks like someone snatched it already–but perhaps you could cover another Langdon film? A blogathon could always use more Harry, I do declare.
Drat! No worries, it’s my fault, I waited too long. Well, I thought about his short ALL NIGHT LONG, but I decided on a later feature of his, A SOLDIER’S PLAYTHING, if that’s alright with you.
That would be awesome! It’s all yours Tim!
Shoulder Arms??????????
Never mind, someone has it!
Second choice? 🙂
Hi Lea! If ‘The Fighting 69th’ is still out there, I’ll take it! And I’ll post on the 6th if that’s cool!
You got it!
I’ll tackle Wooden Crosses if no one else will. Great excuse to finally sit down and watch it. Also an excuse to get back to writing about film again. Win-win.
Wonderful, glad you’ve joined!
May I write about Mata Hari? There were movies made about her throughout the classic film era, from 1921 onward.
Yes you can! Thanks for joining. 🙂
Am I too late to join in and write about Howard Hawks’ ‘The Road to Glory’ from 1936? I’ve looked through the lists both her and on Fritzi’s site, and doesn’t look as if it has been taken.
You certainly can! Thanks for joining.
I’m a bit late to the party, only just seen this via Twitter. It’s a late one but pertinent to the last couple of weeks, I’d like to review Oh What a Lovely War 1969. I recently started blogging focussing on Great War films at greatwarfilms.wordpress.com. Can I have a Sunday spot please . I’m looking forward to reading all the reviews.
Certainly, welcome to the blogathon!
Certainly you can join in, welcome to the blogathon! (What a perfect blog for this subject, too.)
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