The Better Ole, Warner Brothers Film Archive, Turner Television, 2009, $16.95 DVD. Slapstick silent film from 1925 starring Syd Chaplin, brother of Charlie. Cartoonist Bruce Bairnfather's Cockney British soldier Old Bill unmasks a traitor. Ninety-five minutes, sepiatone. A new release of a classic.

France, a 2008 Serge Bozon film, 98 minutes in color; Region 2 (PAL) format starring Sylvie Testud and Pascal Greggory. The story of a French wife who goes in search of her husband at the front assuming the identity of a soldier. Available from www.Amazon.fr.

Moscow Nights (I Stand Condemned), Dedham Films, UK, 1935, b&w, directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Laurence Oliver, Penelope Dudley and Harry Baur, with a cameo appearance by Anthony Quayle. A tale of espionage and love in WWI Russia. Mediocre plot, with good acting. Re-released on DVD by mediaoutlet.com in 2010.

Mozart's The Magic Flute, Revolver Entertainment, 2008, 134 minutes, color, on DVD Zone 2 (PAL not compatible with US Region One only players). Directed by Kenneth Branach with a new libretto by Stephen Fry, this adaptation of Mozart's classic opera opens on the eve or World War One.

Young Indiana Jones, Vol. 2, Paramount, 2007. Joins the earlier Young Indiana Jones, Part I. Seven feature-length films starring Jean Patrick Flanery recounting the fictional adventures of the young Indiana Jones during WWI. The nine-DVD set retails at $129.99, but is available at a discount from several outlets including Overstock.com. The set includes a documentary, Trenches of Hell, a lecture on WWI, an interactive timeline and a game.

Johnny Got His Gun, Roxbury Entertainment, color and b&w, 106 minutes, 2006, Dalton Trumbo's award-winning 1939 anti-war novel about quadruple amputee Joe Bonham (Timothy Bottoms), also stars Jason Robards and Donald Sutherland. This DVD, unavailable commercially for many years, is once again for sale by Turner Classic Movies and other distributors at reasonable prices ranging from 13 to 25 dollars.

The March of the Bonus Army, New Voyage Communications, 2006, 30 minutes b&w DVD. Story of the 1932 march on Washington by Doughboys seeking their promised bonus payment at the height of the Great Depression.

A Month in the Country, Euston Films, 1987, 93 minutes color starring Colin Firth, Natasha Richardson and Kenneth Branagh, Region 2 (PAP). Based on a 1978 novel by J. L. Carr, this is the story of a shell shocked WWI veterans who finds solace in restoring a fresco at an English countryside church.

A Bear Named Winnie, Monarch, color, 2005, based on A. A. Milne story about the mascot of the 34th Fort Gary Horse left behind at the London Zoo when the Canadian battalion is sent to fight in France during WWI.

A Very Long Engagement, starring Audrey Tautou with Jody Foster, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Warner Bros.-Tapioca Films, 2003, color. 127 minutes in French with English subtitles. From the prize-winning 1993 novel of the same title by Sabastien Japrisot, this is the story of a young French woman's search for her fiance soldier missing in World War I. It is a combination of war fiction, love story and detective novel which won a 2004 Edgar for its film plot and was nominated for an Academy Award for cinematography. Available on DVD from Barnes & Noble. The paperback translation of the novel, as well as on tape or cassette is also available from Barnes & Novel and other booksellers.

Random Harvest, MGM, 1942, b&w, produced and directed by Mervin LeRoy, starring Ronald Coleman and Greer Garson, released on DVD (Region 1) by Turner Entertainment in 2004, $14.98 from Barnes & Noble. Melodrama about a shell shocked British WWI officer (Coleman) who loses his memory and the loyalty of his wife (Garson). Based on a novel by James Hilton (Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Lost Horizon). Nominated for seven academy awards including best picture and best actor (Coleman). This movie came hard on the heels of Miss Garson's Academy Award for her 1942 performance as Mrs. Miniver, and at the height of her popularity and success in Hollywood.

Wilson, a 1944 bio pic the 28th President which won five academy awards, including a Best Actor for lead Alexander Knox. Fox, 154 minutes, b&w, produced by Darrell F. Zanick, with Geraldine Fitzgerald, Vincent Price, Charles Coburn and Cedric Hardwick. Still available on VHS from Amazon.com.

The Lost Patrol, RKO Pictures and Turner Entertainment, John Ford's classic 1934 production about the fate of a British patrol isolated in the Mesopotamian desert. Stars Victor McLaglen (Academy Award winner for his role in the 1935 film The Informer), Boris Karloff, Reginald Denny and Wallace Ford; black & white, 72 minutes. Available used on DVD and VHS from several booksellers.

The 1998 novel The Officers' Ward (La Chambre des Officiers), French with subtitles, in color, 138 minutes, directed by Francois Dupeyron, released by Optimum, 2002.

Adapted from the novel by Marc Dugain (in English translation from Soho Press, NY, 2001), the film tells the story of the recovery of French engineer lieutenant Adrien Fournier who is badly disfigured in World War One. Fournier is assigned to a hospital ward with other officers suffering from facial wounds, les guelles casses. Here, treated by skilled and sympathetic medical staff they slowly recover over many months their sense of identity and self-esteem. First class acting and direction from a master of French film making.

Available from Amazon.co.uk on Region 2 DVD for £15.95 plus postage. Most American PCs with DVD capability will play Region 2 format (PAL).

Two World War I filmographies are also available on line:

Bierhous: Classic films available on video

From Trenches on the Web

Commercial Films and Documentaries on the Doughboys and the AEF

From the Doughboy Center

Accidental Army: The Amazing True Story of the Czechoslovak Legion, The Czech Legion Project, 2009, directed by Bruce Bendinger, 47 minutes, NTSC, Zone 1 DVD. Available from Amazon.com for $22.50. A force recruited by Russia from among Austro-Hungarian POWs, the Legion became stranded in Russia after the November Bolshevik Revolution providing justification for Allied intervention in Siberia.

Finding the Fallen - Rediscovering the Battlefields of WWI, Simply Media, 2008, 250 minutes, Region 2 (UK, Europe) DVD. First season of the History Channel/Discovery Channel series including the battlefields of Loos, Passchendaele, Serre and Beaumont Hamel in which a team of archeologists, historians and forensics experts try to identify unnamed dead.

The National Archives British Trench Map Atlas: The Western Front 1914-1918, Peter Chasseaud, Naval & Military Press, 2008, DVD, ISBN 9 7818 4734 4m £145. Order from www.naval-military-press.com. Over 700 searchable maps. Not for Mac users.

The Search for The Stand: The Final Flight of Lt. Frank Luke, Jr. The story of the AEF's balloon-busting ace. I purchased this DVD at the September 2009 seminar of the League of WWI Aviation Historians. It is the companion DVD to Stephen Skinner's book The Stand: The Final Flight of Lt. Frank Luke, Jr. published by Schiffer in 2008. Color, 70 minutes with a second bonus disc containing background material.

Somme, 1st July 1916: An Interactive Tour of the Southern Somme Battlefield, Pen & Sword, DVD, 2009, ISBN 978 1 8441 5315 2, £15.99 from the publisher enquiries@pen-and-sword.co.uk. Panoramic views, map, and tour of key areas, archival and contemporary films with guidance on visiting the battlefield.

A new video, produced by Alison Davis Wood examines the Pilgrimage of Remembrance, the series of federal government funded trips for American mothers to visit their sons buried in France and Flanders after the Great War. WFA members will recall Lisa Budreau's talk on this subject at our September 2002 Seminar at the Liberty Memorial. The one-hour documentary to be shown on PBS is now available for purchase [$29.95] from WILL-TV; 300 North Goodwin Avenue; Urbana IL 61801-2316; (800) 528-7980.

World War One: American Legacy, documentary directed by Mark Bussler. Available from Amazon.com in December 2006 for $22.95. Go to www.inecom.com for details and a trailer.

Blood and Oil: The Middle East in World War I, written and produced by Marty Callaghan, 112 minutes, $24.95 from Amazon.com in December 2006. Documentary focussing on the breakup of the Ottoman Empire. Go to www.inecom.com for a trailer and details.

The Battle of the Somme, Imperial War Museum, Geoffrey Malins' 1916 documentary now available on all regions DVD from Amazon.co.uk for $25 including shipping. Digitally remastered with an orchestra score composed of the medley of light classics, folk tunes, popular songs and military music recommended as an accompaniment of the 1916 theatrical release. Black & white, 74 minutes with 54 minutes of extras. A classic; forerunner of the combat films and cameramen of WWII, Korea and Viet Nam.

The Return of Paul Jarrett, Clark Jarrett, director and producer, Rowman & Littlefield, 2006, 74 minutes, color, full screen, ISBN 0 8026 0139 1, $29.95. A 93-year-old veteran of the Rainbow Division returns to the 1917-1918 battlefields of his youth in France. Originally produced on tape and now available on DVD.

World War I: The Great War, Vejus Gabriel Liulevicius, The Teaching Company, 2006, available on DVD, videotape, audio CD or audiotape at prices ranging from $49.95 to $99.95 plus shipping. Thirty six half-hour lectures by the author of Land War on the Eastern Front. Dr. Liulevicius teaches at the University of Tennessee and spoke at a WFA regional seminar there. This is a survey history. Look for my review of this lecture series on DVD (which has maps and other visual aids) in a future edition Camaraderie.

The National Archives British Trench Map Atlas: The Western Front 1914-1918, Naval & Military Press, 2008, 700 maps, index, commentary, for Microsoft Vista and XP, £145 plus international postage from www.naval-military-press.com.

Paris 1919, National Film Board of Canada, 2009, 94 minutes, widescreen, color and b&w. Combines reenactments with archival footage to tell the story of the Paris peace conference leading to the Treaty of Versailles. Inspired by Margaret MacMillan's best-selling history.

World War I: the Great War and the World it Made, John Ramsden, The Modern Scholar, Recorded Books Direct, 270 Skipjack Road, Prince Frederick, MD 20768. A survey course in fourteen lectures on CD or cassette, $39.99. Dr. Ramsden teaches at Queen Mary University of London. Order on line from www.modernscholar.com or call (800) 636-3399, fax (419) 535-5499.

Somme, 1st July 1916 Southern Sector, Michael Stedman, Pen & Sword, 2008, interactive DVD with maps and narration, ISBN 978 1 8441 5315 2, £19.99. The second in a series. Order from enquires@pen-and-sword.co.uk or visit their website at www.pen-and-sword.co.uk.

National Archives British Trench Map Atlas: The Western Front, Peter Chasseaud (ed.), Naval and Military Press, 2008, CD-ROM with zoom-in features, no ISBN, $299.95, available from books@scholarsbookshelf.com/military. (Place under Odds & Ends, DVDs Mapping the Front)

--Ypres British Mapping 1914-1918, Imperial War Museum and The Western Front Association, two DVDs, £25 plus postage for non members, £20 plus postage for WFA members. These are the first in a new series produced by WFA-UK and the Imperial War Museum.

--General Haig's Artillery Maps and The Official History Maps of the War, two DVDs, £25 each plus postage for non members, £20 each plus postage for WFA members.

The Pictures and Diary of a Wartime Artist, David Mason (ed.), 369 pages, 360 b&w, watercolor illustrations, no ISBN, £9.98 from www.greatwarartist.com. The diary and sketches of a BEF front line artist assigned to sketch German positions on the Western Front.

World War I: 10th and 20th Forestry Engineers, American Forestry magazine, available at www.foresthistory.org/Research/WWI_ForestryEngineers.htm. Huge demands for timber for construction of barracks, warehouses, bridges, rail lines and trench revetments combined with shortages of ocean transport prompted creation of specialized forestry units to harvest timber from French forests. This is the story of these specialized AEF engineer regiments manned by experienced foresters, loggers and sawmill workers.

Lt. James Reese Europe

Lieut. Jim Europe's 369th US Infantry "Hell Fighters" Band, The Compete Recordings, Memphis Archives, 1996, P. O. Box 171282, Memphis, TN 38187.

World War 1 Songs Early Recordings from 1918 Victrola 2 CD Set [Tapes available] Produced by Mark Best Order at: http://www.besmark.com/ww1.html

Voie Sacree Marker

A Glint in the Sky: German First World War Air Attacks on Folkestone, Dover, Ramsgate, Margate and other Kentish Towns, Martin Easdown with Thomas Genth, Pen and Sword Military Books, 160 pages, photos, maps, ISBN 1-84415-119-0, $25.99 soft cover. Heavily illustrated with descriptions of the German bombing aircraft and crews, the damage inflicted and the British victims. Similar to the Pen & Sword Battlefield Europe Series; not a guide book, but rather an illustrated historical essay.

Casemate Publishers & Book Distributors 2114 Darby Road, 2nd Floor Havertown, PA 19083 Tel: (610) 853-9131 Fax: (610) 853-9146 Email: casemate@casematepublishing.com

Casemate distributes in America all Pen & Sword, Leo Cooper titles including the Battlefield Europe Series of guides.

CD-ROM On American Casualties in WWI World War One United States Army and Navy Casualties, a CD-ROM containing over 73,000 names of Army and Navy dead and wounded from all the states, including over 9,000 individual photographs. Also includes research guide for additional WWI records.

Contact: Bruce Cramer, Box 2062, Provo, Utah 84603, (801) 373-5711, e-mail b.cramer.com@juno.com

The United States Army in World War I, The United States Army Center for Military History, available on CD-ROM from the US Government Printing Office in Washington, DC on three discs. Includes the Order of Battle of United States Land Forces in the World War, American Armies and Battlefields in Europe (a battlefield guide), Learning Lessons in the American Expeditionary Forces, and Army Art of WWI (with prints). For Windows, Macintosh or Unix.

Contact Editor-in-Chief Len Shurtleff Return to Resources Index Back to the Western Front Association