"They Shall Not Grow Old," Peter Jackson's restoration of film from World War I, compellingly demonstrated how a relatively new medium was widely used and adapted to depict combat. Posters from the period, also "colorized," help us better understand Jackson's source material.
AC0433-0001489Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Coming late to the front allowed the U.S. to learn from and adapt the lessons learned by its allies, including the creation of official film units.
AC0433-0000643Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Evidently this film was destined for an Italian speaking audience, with the epigram in the right hand corner:"uniti per una pace vittoriosa."
AC0300-temp-01Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Some of the most famous filmmakers of the time also got into the action: D. W Griffith visited the front to include some action sequences in "Hearts of the World."
AC0300-temp-02Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
Griffith was not shy of superlatives, but basically transposed a fairly familiar set of tropes to the battlefield: virginal heroine, boy hero, beastly Hun.
AC0433-0000644Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
As such, "Hearts of the World" echoed and reinforced the messages of the official film units, iconic soldiers in scenes of strife and triumph.
AC0433-0001275Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
After the War, filmmakers told very different stories, focusing not on the heroism, but the butchery, misery and despair of seemingly interminable trench warfare
AC0433-0001290Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
In "Tender is the Night," F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, "This western-front business couldn’t be done again, not for a long time. The young men think they could do it but they couldn’t. They could fight the first Marne again but not this. This took religion and years of plenty and tremendous sureties and the exact relation that existed between the classes."
