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Filmography - War Movies: World War I

Films on DVD as of June 2011. Includes films with combat and/or wartime settings

War Movies Filmography - World War I

Titles available on DVD as of June 2011. 

Includes films with combat and/or wartime settings.

This is a selective list of video holdings in the American University Library. Filmographies are created by doing multiple keyword searches in the ALADIN catalog to capture as many titles on a topic as possible. For complete up-to-date holdings (including VHS tapes) please refer to the library ALADIN catalog (www.catalog.wrlc.org)

 

 

The African Queen. 2010. 1 videodisc (105 min.). At the start of World War I, German imperial troops burn down a mission in Africa. The mission's reverend was so overtaken with disappointment that he passes away. Shortly after his well-educated, snooty sister Rose buries her brother, she must leave on the only available transport, the 'African Queen' steamboat. The boat is manned by the ill-mannered bachelor, Charlie. Together they embark on a long difficult journey, without any comfort. Rose grows determined to assist in the British war effort and presses Charlie until he finally agrees and together they steam up the Ulana encountering an enemy fort, raging rapids, bloodthirsty parasites and an endlessly branching stream which always seems to lead them to what appear to be impenetrable swamps. Despite their opposing personalities, the two grow closer to each other and ultimately carry out their plan to take out a German warship. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 6973

All quiet on the western front. 1999. 1 videodisc (130 min.). A group of young World War I German recruits pass from idealism to disillusionment with war. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 853

The Cecil B. DeMille classics collection. 2007. 1 videodisc (288 min.). Joan the woman: A soldier in World War I uncovers Joan of Arc's sword, leading to her appearance in a vision and the telling of her life story. The little American: A young girl finds herself pursued by a German-American and a French-American during World War I, leading to international intrigue. The romance of the redwoods: A naive New England girl moves out West and winds up falling for a stagecoach robber. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3701 - 3705

Les croix de bois = Wooden crosses. Eclipse. Series 4, Raymond Bernard: Eclipse (Criterion Collection (Firm)). 2007. 1 videodisc (113 min.). Film adaptation of an anti-war novel that follows a French regiment in World War I as it trudges from patriotism to disillusionment. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 5150

The dawn patrol. Errol Flynn signature collection. 2007. 1 videodisc (103 min.). Errol Flynn and David Niven star as roustabout British flyboys who come face-to-face with the harsh realities of war. Basil Rathbone is outstanding as the Squadron Commander. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4559

A farewell to arms. 2002. 1 videodisc (80 min.). A love story between an ambulance driver and a nurse in Italy during the first World War. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4558

Gallipoli. 1999. 1 videodisc (111 min.). A story of how the irresistible lure of adventure and the unknown bring two young men together in the Australian army in 1915. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 294

La grande illusion = Grand illusion. The criterion collection. 1999. 1 videodisc (114 min.). In this classic tale of adventure duty and honor conflict in a German prisoner-of-war camp when an aristocratic French officer becomes friends with the commandant while cooperating with his comrades in a daring escape. DVD 213

Hell's angels. 2004. 1 videodisc (131 min.). Three Oxford buddies fight on opposite sides during World War I. Each is torn between obedience to his country and that of his conscience. The most expensive movie of its time, the film features extensive aerial photography of a dogfight between R.A.F and German fighter planes. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 7088

J'accuse! = I accuse. Blackhawk Films collection: Flicker Alley collection. 2008. 2 videodisc (166 min.). J"Accuse is a World War I drama considered to be one of the most technically advanced films of the era and the first major pacifist film. It was referred to by Gance as "a human cry against the bellicose din of armies." Stars Marise Dauvray as Edith, a young woman who is unhappily married to an older man, Franðcois (Sâeverin-Mars), but is actually in love with a young poet Jean Diaz (Romuald Joubâe). Both Jean and Franðcois end up on the front lines of World War I while Edith is captured by German forces and suffers atrocities at the hands of the soldiers. Gance contrasts individual human suffering with the larger horrors of was, depicted with stark realism. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4748

Johnny got his gun. 2009. 1 videodisc (106 min.). After a shell leaves his body mangled on the final day of World War I, young Joe Bonham lies trapped in a hospital bed. He is a fully conscious quadruple amputee who cannot speak, hear or see. He is left to wander within his own mind and goes between his harsh reality and memories of a happier life long gone.  Delve into the mind of a man lost somewhere on the edges of sanity and insanity, life and death. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 5654

Joyeux Noël = Merry Christmas. 2006. 1 videodisc (116 min.). Loosely based on true episodes, this film tells the story of German, French, and Scottish soldiers in the bloody trenches of World War I and the miraculous Christmas Eve truce they unexpectedly forge. Follows a French lieutenant, a Scottish priest, and a German tenor and his beloved Danish soprano as music and the spirit of Christmas create bonds between enemies. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3458

Lawrence of Arabia. 2000. 2 videodiscs (227 min.). Presents the story of T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole), the heroic and troubled man who organized the Arab nations to fight the Turks in World War I and then, having reached a pinnacle of power in Mideast politics, retired to postwar military obscurity. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3935

The life and death of Colonel Blimp. The Criterion collection: Criterion collection (DVD videodiscs). 2002. 1 videodisc (163 min.). Based on cartoonist David Low's parody of the old-fashioned British professional soldier, set in his ways and unable to adapt to the brutality of modern war. This story follows the career of Clive Candy, at first an idealistic, young Boer War hero, then a brigadier general, serving honorably in World War I. Finally, by World War II, he has become a bald, overweight, querulous old man, angry that his age and military experience are held in contempt, and bewildered that his lifelong code of gentlemanly conduct has become an anachronism in a world threatened by a monster like Hitler. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4225

The lost patrol. John Ford film collection. 2006. 1 videodisc (72 min.). A terse drama about British cavalryman lost in the Mesopotamian desert during World War I. They are pursued constantly by Arab sharpshooters. When the leader of the patrol is killed, McLaglen takes charge of the eleven ragged survivors. This film established John Ford's reputation as a director internationally. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 7281

La masseria delle allodole = The lark farm. 2010. 1 videodisc (120 min.). A stirring and stunning story of an aristocratic family who is unexpectedly swept into the ravages of World War I and a forbidden passion that may be the family's only hope. Nunik is a proud, headstrong Armenian woman whose indomitable spirit captures the heart of an enemy Turkish soldier. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 7249

Mata Hari. 2005. 1 videodisc (89 min.). Garbo is mesmerizing as the dancer-turned-German secret agent in a wartime Paris seething with secrets and betrayal. With the world at war, love was her weapon. The only men she couldn' t seduce were the 12 in the firing squad that ended her life. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3097

Oh! What a lovely war. 2006. 1 videodisc (144 min.). Follows the Smith family as they go off to fight World War I, and revolves around the songs and words of the soldiers. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 4149

Paths of glory. 1999. 1 videodisc (87 min.). The French General Staff, safely behind the lines, sends orders for what amounts to a suicide mission. To cover up their fatal blunder, three soldiers are arrested and made scapegoats. Captures the spirit of Humphrey Cobb's novel in presenting a harsh attack on the futility of war in general and World War I in particular. A blistering indictment  of military politics. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3271

Raymond Bernard. Eclipse. Series 4, Raymond Bernard: Raymond Bernard: Eclipse (Criterion Collection (Firm)). 2007. 3 videodiscs (394 min.). Les misérables: The story of Jean Valjean, the ex-convict who rises against all odds from galley slave to mayor, and the fanatical police inspector, Javert, who dedicates his life to recapturing Valjean. Wooden crosses: Film adaptation of an anti-war novel that follows a French regiment in World War I as it trudges from patriotism to disillusionment. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 5150-5151

Sergeant York. 2006. 2 videodiscs (134 min.). Story of a boy drafted into the military who begins his career as a pacifist and then soon sees the justification for fighting. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 3643

Un long dimanche de fiançailles = A very long engagement. 2005. 1 videodisc (133 min.). Set during WWI, Mathilde is waiting desperately for her fiance to return from the war. When bad news arrives she refuses to believe he is dead. Instead, she begins her own investigation into his infantry, hiring a private detective and piecing together his war stories. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 1318

La vie et rien d'autre = Life and nothing but. 2004. 1 videodisc (135 min.). Two years after World War I, Major Dellaplane helps two women search for the men they have lost in the war. HOME USE COLLECTION DVD 2075

Wings. 1998. 1 videocassette (139 min.). The story of two young men who join the Air Service during World War I and the girls they must leave behind. Jack Powell (Rogers)  and David Armstrong (Arlen) are both in love with Sylvia Lewis (Ralston) who really loves David while Mary Preston (Bow) loves Jack. Jack and David enlist together in the World War I Army Air Corps, become friends and are sent to France as pilots. In Paris Jack encounters Mary Preston (Bow) who has joined the Woman's Army Motor Corps. Later, David, shot down, is believed dead. Jack vows revenge, but mistakenly shoots down David piloting a stolen German plane. A reluctant hero, Jack returns home to faithful Mary Preston. VHS 5480