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Landships II -> Landships WW1 Forum -> References -> UFA-Movie (1930) "Westfront 1918" by G.W. Pabst
Post Info TOPIC: UFA-Movie (1930) "Westfront 1918" by G.W. Pabst
Paul


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UFA-Movie (1930) "Westfront 1918" by G.W. Pabst
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Gentlemen,
a very notable subject associated with a little question.Recently I bought a DVD with a very old (1930) but good German movie called Westfront 1918, made by a director called G.W. Pabst. Its a very impressing film, trapped by a poor sound-quality but so much better is the equipment. The fighting scenes appear very lifelike, if you compare it to old shots of the WW1-era. The actors were showered with dirt and mud, fall into shellholes and jump and run like the devil. It seems very realistic.The story is as simple as catchy: four infantrymen, first in the back area (one of them fall in love) than in the trench, followed by a great French attack. No one survives, except the lieutenant. Hes gone insane and the only thing he do furthermore till then is to salute, yelling Hooray!To take the technical equipment up on: in this movie there are two tanks. I have made some screenshots and attached them below. This odd vehicles look like a mixture of the char Schneider and the turret of the FT-17. Very strange is the climbing aid. I guess, the director didnt know, what this constructions are made for.Has anyone seen such a tank before? It isnt a real model, isnt it? And has anyone heard of a spotlight on a WW1-tank? (If there is a need, I can post some more pictures.)


-- Edited by Paul at 14:04, 2008-04-13

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zu Hause seyn ist mein Verdruß /
ich liebe den Canonen-Schuß
und Feuer-volle Bomben.
(J.G. Albinus "Obrister-Leutenant")
mad zeppelin


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Looks like a Hannomag WD tractor fitted with a lumber and canvas mock-up. From the size it may have been intended to represent a FT-17 although the turret reminds of a FCM.

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Ironsides


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Hi paul, heres a thread about this subject, I think there are other threads on this tank...

http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=63528&p=3&topicID=5427714

I do believe these tanks to be film props based on some form of tractor.......perhaps the designer was inspired by the Char 2c...
I must admit to be interested in getting a copy of this film....
Would it be this film on amazon.de....

Westfront 1918


Cheers


-- Edited by Ironsides at 15:11, 2008-04-13

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James H


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I came across this last year, much to my own surprise and Tim Rigsby's dismay. Roger Todd very kindly provided the screen grabs.

http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=63528&p=3&topicID=11790565

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Paul


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Yes, Ironsides, it is exactly this film. Like I say, a very poor sound-quality and there are no captions. You have to watch it in German.
Thanx for the advices, Gentlemen. Sorry that I don't know the thread.
By the way, this film is the adaption of the Book "Die Vier von der Infanterie" by Ernst Johannsen. A more or less known German historical novel with a small print run. (The antiquarian book is very expensive.)
I attach one more screenshot, that shows both tanks and first the original film poster and second an sketch for a poster.

-- Edited by Paul at 16:01, 2008-04-13

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zu Hause seyn ist mein Verdruß /
ich liebe den Canonen-Schuß
und Feuer-volle Bomben.
(J.G. Albinus "Obrister-Leutenant")
James H


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Hi, Paul. Westfront 1918 was considered defeatist and pacifist by some elements in post-War Germany, and a rival film called, I think, Stoßtrupp 1917 or something like it was made shortly afterwards. Obviously, it praises the German Army and concentrates on its successes, ignoring the inconvenient defeat in 1918. That's propaganda for you. I don't know if the film is available anywhere.

*I tell a lie. It appears to be very much available, and restored. There's 30" on Youtube but it's a night sequence and you can't really see anything. However, the enclosed stills are from the restored film. What is to be made of the British Tank Bobby? If Stoßtrupp 1917 was made in 1934, where did the Tank come from? I think the markings are a half-remembered mixture of British and French.


-- Edited by James H at 03:11, 2008-04-14

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Paul


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Dear James,

I know that this film is a pacifistic one. The "Stoßtrupp 1917" movie is an adaption of the Hans Zöberlein novel "Der Glaube an Deutschland." Yes indeed, this man ignores "inconvenient defeat in 1918." His biography is appropriate. Maybe I don't catch your drift, but what have this "propaganda" to do with me? What do you mean "for you"?

Below the movieposter. 

-- Edited by Paul at 08:32, 2008-04-14

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zu Hause seyn ist mein Verdruß /
ich liebe den Canonen-Schuß
und Feuer-volle Bomben.
(J.G. Albinus "Obrister-Leutenant")
Ironsides


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Hi James, Interesting shots.. they look like real tanks ,maybe they are beute panzer from WW1...

Paul, don't take it personal, its a way of speaking used commonly in english, you can apply the same phrase to almost anything........
It means rubbish, useless......

"Thats ford motor cars for you"

Help....

Cheers

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James H


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Es tut mir leid, Paul. Das ist nur eine englische Redensart. Es bedeutet nicht Das ist für Sie Propaganda sondern So geht's Propaganda. Entschuldigung.

I haven't seen the film, but I wonder if Bobby, which looks like a Mk V, is a hermaphrodite - 6pdr on the left, mgs on the right, so two Tanks for the price of one for the director. Maybe it was borrowed from the Soviets. I think they were on speaking terms in '34.

-- Edited by James H at 19:07, 2008-04-14

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Paul


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Nevermind, James. I'm glad that I know one figure of speech more. You see, I'm not a native speaker and so I don't catch your drift. But I didn't feel affronted.



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[...]
zu Hause seyn ist mein Verdruß /
ich liebe den Canonen-Schuß
und Feuer-volle Bomben.
(J.G. Albinus "Obrister-Leutenant")
mad zeppelin


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I've had a closer look on the "Stoßtrupp 1917" tank: It's a replica depicting a Mk.V Hermaphrodite, and it was a runner. - Has anyone seen the UFA movie "Unternehmen Michael" from 1937? There's a tank - this time a Beute-Tank - as well. Same one?

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James H


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That's a new one on me. This is a German language site about the film, with a not very clear still of the British Tank.

http://www.filmportal.de/df/a8/Uebersicht,,,,,,,,3D89624879B747A39D28D9806F3EACA4,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.html

Is it available on DVD?

And you reckon the Mk V is a replica?

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philthydirtyanimal


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There are two tanks that are seen quite often in documentaries, one called Bobby and the other Mary. They are supposed to be mark V tanks and they are shown in an assault which is obviously staged.

I have had the suspicion that Bobby is not right. If you watch it closely, the 6pdr gun wobbles around. That draws your attention! And then you notice that the gun doesnt look real. And the unditching rails look too small and frail. And from the back, the angles dont look right.

Judging from what is said in this thread, I think that a replica tank (Bobby) was made  for this film, and then over the years, because the film was made near to the time of the first world war, it has been confused with a real tank and is now used in documentaries.

I think I might have used it in one of my little films! Better go check...!

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mad zeppelin


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"Mary" and "Bobby" are the same "Stoßtrupp 1917" tank replica. They used "Mary" and the right hand MG sponson in some scenes, and "Bobby" and the left hand gun sponson in others. - Another decoration was a black - or red? - skull.
The replica is not bad but obvious on close investigation. - 12th Bn Tank Corps was in Köln/Cologne in the 1920ies. They were equipped with Mk.V Hermaphrodites. I suppose this is were the example came from. -
The "Unternehmen Michael" tank seems to lack the rear tower of a Mk.V. Another running replica? I need to find a copy of that film...

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Mark Hansen


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It's definitely a replica. The top of the male sponson above the gun is too deep, the unditching rails are too fine and the cab is too wide. Not a bad replica and better than most but a replica all the same.

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mad zeppelin


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Some more pictures of the "Stoßtrupp" replica.

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