Film Forum

(1925, King Vidor) John Gilbert teaches French peasant girl Renée Adorée proper gum-chewing technique before taking on the Huns, in Vidor’s blockbuster WWI epic — the biggest hit of the decade. 35mm print, preserved by the Library of Congress. Approx. 130 mins.

Reviews

“Every war movie since owes it an irredeemable debt… Vidor energizes The Big Parade by smashing together two atoms, a nation’s pride and a mother's sorrow, the combination refracting the audience’s emotions into an unsettling tangle. It all concludes on a decisive note of despair and regret, but audiences carry from the film a heart so full, so torn by elation and the abyss, that they won't know if they're coming or going.”
– Jaime N. Christley, The Village Voice 

“A SUPERLATIVE WAR PICTURE.” 
– The New York Times 

“Among the many standout qualities of King Vidor’s 1925 epic The Big Parade, with its foundational narrative, thematic, and aesthetic approaches to the war film, the most surprising is its patient, almost naturalistic sense of observation… For all its grandeur, The Big Parade concerns the individual response to forces bigger than any one person, be it war or its attendant clichés, and if so many films have copped various elements since the film’s release, few have managed to replicate its soft touch.” 
– Jake Cole, Slant 

“Gilbert’s performance ranks as one of the finest of the entire silent period.” 
– Kevin Brownlow 

“Remains one of the very finest works of its prolific producer-director Vidor, and one of the artistic as well as box office landmarks of the 20s.”
– William K. Everson