With All Quiet on the Western Front, Universal had a lot of success with a German-focused anti war tale based on an Erich Maria Remarque novel starring an unknown... so almost thirty years later they tried to recapture the magic by repeating those elements.
It was a lesser regarded novel, and focused on the Germans in World War Two who are less highly regarded, shall we say, than the ones from World War One. "Good Germans" were a feature of many British and Hollywood movies of the fifties (Cold War influence no doubt)... but it was rare to focus on one.
John Gavin was the unknown, surely selected in part because of his similar appearance to Rock Hudson. He's actually quite good in this - better than he would be in later movies. Maybe more confident. It helps he's the lead.
I liked this movie. It was beautifully shot. Very American for a tale set in Germany - but once I got used to that I adjusted. Keenan Wynn and Don Defore are Germans. And a young Jim Hutton who is effective as a fellow soldier early on.
The film is dark because it's set in Germany and on the Eastern Front. And you guess Gavin is going to die and he does - shot by a traumatised Russian who he's set free.
I had low expectations but this was good.
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