This is a superb anti-war film, filmed in 1933, but not released in Great Britain until late 1934 and directed by Frank Borzage. I've been thinking how I could describe, to those who haven't seen it, how wonderful this film is and I've decided to paste in this 1934 British film magazine review, the sentiments of which I agree with entirely.
"NO GREATER GLORY" (Columbia Pictures, 1933).
From Film Pictorial dated December 15th, 1934.
This week's honours to: GEORGE BREAKSTON.
We have had film children smart and clever, showing skill and ability above their years. But in "No Greater Glory" we get from George Breakston not cleverness or smartness, but sheer acting ability and naturalness. This from a boy of such tender years is an achievement indeed. He is only eleven: he has never acted before. Yet in this plea for greater understanding among men, in a picture that needed so much courage to produce, he lives. He plays the part of a weakling boy with the heart of a lion. Throughout the film he will play havoc with your emotions and at the end you will shed a tear for him. But you will want to see this lad again. And you will.
REVIEW.
It needed courage in abundance to make this film. Whether the director has succeeded in what he set out to achieve will probably be a subject for warm discussion. But there can be no two opinions about the sincerity of this ambitious effort. And in these days, when war talk is so much in the air, the moral he tries to point will inevitably have its effect in many places.
Showing, first of all, the terrors of battle, in 1917, with a private screaming a tirade against war, its horror, its pain, its suffering, and being obviously afraid to die, the scene is then switched to 1934. A professor is lecturing his class on the glory of dying for one's country - and then we see two rival schoolboy gangs, or armies, if you prefer it. There are the two leaders struggling for supremacy, culminating in a pitched battle for a playground. Throughout, the seemingly weak character of the boy, Nemecsek, is thrust to the foreground; frail in body though he is, he tries so hard to be courageous. He would do anything for his leader; anything for the cause he loves. The end is inevitable.
Grim though the production is, it is brilliantly acted by the boys, with George Breakston giving a performance that is supreme. Here is a mere child of eleven, playing his first part, who lives on the screen as few actors have ever lived. His terror, his forced bravado in moments of battle - every scene, in fact, is perfect. Unless you are the type of filmgoer who must be amused every time you go to a cinema, you really should see this film. It points a moral, but it is so vividly and beautifully done, that it should appeal to every person who seeks the "different" in his filmgoing."
THE SONY DVD. This is an excellent transfer of an obviously remastered print of the film. The image and sound quality are amazing, taking into consideration that fact that this 85 years old picture is an early sound film and the sound is as loud and clear as you would wish it to be. Highly Recommended!
"NO GREATER GLORY" (Columbia Pictures, 1933).
From Film Pictorial dated December 15th, 1934.
This week's honours to: GEORGE BREAKSTON.
We have had film children smart and clever, showing skill and ability above their years. But in "No Greater Glory" we get from George Breakston not cleverness or smartness, but sheer acting ability and naturalness. This from a boy of such tender years is an achievement indeed. He is only eleven: he has never acted before. Yet in this plea for greater understanding among men, in a picture that needed so much courage to produce, he lives. He plays the part of a weakling boy with the heart of a lion. Throughout the film he will play havoc with your emotions and at the end you will shed a tear for him. But you will want to see this lad again. And you will.
REVIEW.
It needed courage in abundance to make this film. Whether the director has succeeded in what he set out to achieve will probably be a subject for warm discussion. But there can be no two opinions about the sincerity of this ambitious effort. And in these days, when war talk is so much in the air, the moral he tries to point will inevitably have its effect in many places.
Showing, first of all, the terrors of battle, in 1917, with a private screaming a tirade against war, its horror, its pain, its suffering, and being obviously afraid to die, the scene is then switched to 1934. A professor is lecturing his class on the glory of dying for one's country - and then we see two rival schoolboy gangs, or armies, if you prefer it. There are the two leaders struggling for supremacy, culminating in a pitched battle for a playground. Throughout, the seemingly weak character of the boy, Nemecsek, is thrust to the foreground; frail in body though he is, he tries so hard to be courageous. He would do anything for his leader; anything for the cause he loves. The end is inevitable.
Grim though the production is, it is brilliantly acted by the boys, with George Breakston giving a performance that is supreme. Here is a mere child of eleven, playing his first part, who lives on the screen as few actors have ever lived. His terror, his forced bravado in moments of battle - every scene, in fact, is perfect. Unless you are the type of filmgoer who must be amused every time you go to a cinema, you really should see this film. It points a moral, but it is so vividly and beautifully done, that it should appeal to every person who seeks the "different" in his filmgoing."
THE SONY DVD. This is an excellent transfer of an obviously remastered print of the film. The image and sound quality are amazing, taking into consideration that fact that this 85 years old picture is an early sound film and the sound is as loud and clear as you would wish it to be. Highly Recommended!