Start of World War 1
1915
- How Lieutenant Rose RN Spiked the
Enemy's Guns
(Imdb) - Britain's Naval
Secret (Imdb)
1916
-
the Hero of Submarine D-2 (Imdb) - The British
"D-2" was sunk on the 25th November 1914
off the German Ems Estuary; any connection I wonder?
End of World War 1
1919
- The Log of the U-35
(Imdb)
1921
- The Battle of Jutland - The greatest naval battle
ever. It took place in the North Sea off the
Skagerrak (the German name for the battle) on 31st
May-1st June 1916 - the British lost tactically, but
still held the battleground the next day. The 1944
Battle of Leyte Gulf, although involving more ships
was a series of battles.
1924
-
Zeebrugge - The
brilliant and incredibly heroic raid of April 1918.
It's aim, combined with a raid on Ostend, was to
block the Flanders U-boat and destroyer flotillas in
their Belgium bases
1926
- Mare
Nostrum - "Our
sea" - whose?
1927
- Battle
of the Coronel and Falkland Island - The two
battles between ships of the Royal Navy and the
German East Asiatic Squadron commanded by Admiral von
Spee. In Coronel, two old British armoured cruisers
were totally overwhelmed on the 1st November 1914 and
went down off the Chile coast. Five weeks later von
Spee's two armoured cruisers and two of his three
light cruisers were dispatched by a superior British
force off the Falkland Islands.
1927
- The Emden - Originally one of
von Spee's light cruisers, she was detached for
commerce raiding in the Indian Ocean. After a short
but spectacular career, sunk by Australian light
cruiser "Sydney", November 1914
1928
- Q
Ships (Imdb) -
I believe the famous Q-ship commander Captain Gordon
Campbell VC
was technical adviser during the making of the film.
Still photographs are included in the book "Q-ships" by Carson Ritchie.
(1933 - Adolph Hitler comes to
power)
1935
-
Brown of Resolution
(also Forever England) - I only know the
1953 version of the film based on the book by C S
Forester - the Hornblower author. It appears to be
loosely based on the one German light cruiser that
escaped destruction at the Battle of the Falklands.
The story is both heroic and poignant, although the
more recent version provided an alternative
"happy" ending.
1938
- Submarine Patrol
1939
- The Spy in
Black (also
U-boat 29 - Imdb). Conrad Veidt as the
German naval spy and Valerie Hobson as a double
agent. I enjoyed the atmosphere
(1939-45 - World War 2)
1951
- The African
Queen (Imdb)
- Humphrey Bogart and Katherine
Hepburn in their classic based loosely on the German
East Africa Lakes campaigns. On the British side this
included two armed steamboats named "Mimi"
and "Fifi" operating on Lake Tanganyika in
1915/16.
1953 - Sailor of the
King (also Brown on Resolution or Single
Handed - Imdb) - Enjoyable
remake of the the 1935 film
1990's - Battleships at
War, Pegasus CVB 1171 - Includes some good
footage of World War 2 battleships and other warships
- British and German (documentary)
1992
- The Battleships, U.S. News Video - Possibly
includes the World War 1 period (documentary)
1992
- Submarines, U.S. News Video - The review
suggests it covers submarines in World War 1 (documentary)
1996 -
Last Voyage of
the Lusitania,
National Geographic' Society - The British liner sunk
off the Irish coast in May 1915 with the loss of many
American lives and a major factor in eventually
bringing the United States into the war in April
1917. Still the subject of minor "conspiracy
theories" - for example, Churchill as First Lord
of the Admiralty ordered the sinking to alienate US
opinion against the Germans etc. (documentary)
MILITARY - DOCUMENTARIES
date? Battle Of
Verdun: Great Days
1964 -
The Guns of
August (Imdb)
- Based on American historian Barbara Tuchman's
best-selling and very readable book, it covers the
period from 1910 to the Armistice, November 1918.
Described as "competent" with lots of rare
combat footage
1964 -
The Finest Hours (Imdb), Le Vien
Films - An earlier TV production on the life
of Sir Winston Churchill (see 1991 following). I
re-watch it every year or so, and have to admit that
for me Winston Churchill for all his human failings
is one of the greatest men in history. If he had let
Britain fall in 1940/41, think of a world dominated
by totalitarian Nazi/Fascist and Communist militarist
powers with the US probably powerless to prevent
them.
1980's?
- World War I - 26 part US Public
Broadcasting Service production
1980's
- Soldiers, British television series - I
particularly remember the programme on artillery and
the absolutely horrifying account of the French
'poilu' under almost volcanic bombardment at Verdun
in 1916
1991 -
Biography: The
Complete Churchill - Written and presented by Martin
Gilbert, Churchill's official biographer. I haven't
seen this production, but Sir Winston Churchill was
First Lord of the Admiralty 1911-1915, resigned over
the Dardanelles campaign, served in the French
trenches as an infantry officer, and in 1917 became
Minister of Munitions and developed the tank. It
should cover some of World War 1
1995 - Doughboys, The:
Heroes of WWI - The US Army on the Western Front, late
1917 to November 1918
1996 -
Great War and
the Shaping of the 20th Century - Described by a
reviewer as "a truly superb documentary and
ranks alongside The World At War (World War 2) as a
'must see' production"
1997 - Aces - A Story
of the First Air War - US production
c
1998 - 1914-18, BBC Television -
Excellent six one-hour length series on the First
World War. Little if any naval coverage, but it
includes many fascinating quotes from those who took
part as well as rarely-seen film footage
MILITARY - FILMS/MOVIES
I know nothing about most of the
pre-World War 2 films, but they are listed for
interest
1914 - Start of World War 1
1914
- By
The Kaiser's Orders - Called To The Front - England
Expects - the German Spy Peril - the Fringe of Wall -
the Great European War - In the name of the Prince of
Peace (also Prince of Peace - Imdb) - It's a long
way to Tipperary - the Last Volunteer (Imdb) - One of
Millions (Imdb) - the Ordeal (also The
Mothers of Liberty 1918 reissue - Imdb) - Saving the
Colours - Shannon of the Sixth (Imdb) - The War Extra
(Imdb)
1915
- 1914
(Imdb) - the
Battle Cry of Peace - Brother Officers (Imdb) - the
Campbells Are Coming (Imdb) - Captain
Macklin (Imdb) - a
Continental Girl (also Daughter of the War 1918
reissue - Imdb) - the Coward (Imdb) - the
Crimson Wing (Imdb) - the
Despoiler (also War's Women, and The Awakening
1920 reissue - Imdb) - the Doorway
of Destruction (Imdb) - Friends
and Foes (Imdb) - From
Flower Girl to Red Cross Nurse (Imdb) - the
German side of the War (Imdb) - the
Gray Nun of Belgium (Imdb) - If
England Were Invaded (possibly also Britain Prepared
- Imdb) - I'm Glad My Boy Grew Up to
be a Soldier (Imdb) - On
the Russian Frontier (Imdb) - the
Outrage (Imdb) - the
Patriot and the Spy (Imdb) - the
Rights of Man: A Story of War's Red Blotch (Imdb) -
Somewhere in France (1916 - Imdb) - Tommy
Atkins (Imdb) - Under
the German Yoke (Imdb) - Unfit -
War is hell - Wenn Voelker streiten (Imdb) - the
White Sister
1916
- According
to the Code (Imdb) - the Battle
of the Somme (Imdb) - Behind the
Lines (Imdb) - the Bugler of
Algiers (also We Are French - Imdb) -
Civilizations - the Crisis (Imdb) - the Fall of
the Nation - the Great Red War (Imdb) - the Heart of
a Hero (Imdb) - War Brides -
the War Bride's secret - We French - Wien im Krieg (Imdb) - You (Imdb)
1917
- Arms
and the Girl - the Battle Of Arras (possibly also The Retreat of
the Germans or Retreat of the Germans at the Battle
of Arras - Imdb) - the Birth of
Patriotism (Imdb)
- Blood-Stained Russian (Imdb) - the Dark Road
(Imdb) - For France (Imdb) - For Liberty (Imdb) - For the
Freedom of the World (Imdb) - For Valour (Imdb) - the Gown of
Destiny (Imdb)
- the Greatest Power - the Hostage (remade in
1939? - Imdb) - How Britain Prepared (but see 1915, If England Were
Invaded - Imdb) - Joan the Woman
- the Little American - the Man Who Made Good (Imdb) - On Dangerous
Ground (Imdb)
- Over There (Imdb) - the Patriot (Imdb) - the Secret Game
- the Slacker - Shame - the Spy (Imdb) - Treason (Imdb) - a Trooper of
Troop K (Imdb) - War and the
Woman (Imdb) - the Warrior (Imdb) - Womanhood,
the Glory of the Nation (also Battle Cry of War or
Womanhood - Imdb) - the Woman's
Land Army
1918 - Good-bye,
Bill (also Gosh Darn the Kaiser - Imdb)
- Hearts of the
World (Imdb) - the
Hun Within (Imdb) - I'll Say So (Imdb) - the
Invasion of Britain - the Kaiser-Beast of Berlin -
Kaiser's Finish (Imdb) - the Kaiser's
Shadow (also The Triple Cross -
Imdb) - Kiddies in the Ruins -
Mrs.Slacker - My Four Years in Germany (Imdb) - the
Prussian Cur (Imdb) - Shoulder Arms
- Till I Come back to you (Imdb) - To Hell with
the Kaiser (Imdb) - the
Unbeliever (Imdb) - the Woman
the Germans Shot (also The Cavell Case - Imdb)
1918 - End of World War 1
1919
- Comradeship (also Comrades in Arms - Imdb)
- J'accuse!
- the
Unpardonable Sin (Imdb)
- Yankee-Doodle in Berlin
1920
- Humoresque
1921 - the Four
Horsemen of the Apocalypse - How Lord Kitchener Was Betrayed
1923
- Armageddon
- the Hero
1924
-
the Enchanted Cage - Reveille - the Sideshow of life
1925 -
The Big Parade (Imdb) - a reviewer
describes it as "one of the best WW1 films ever
..... and some of the most harrowingly realistic
battle scenes ever filmed. A gem."
also Ypres (also Wipers - Imdb)
1926 - Behind the
Front - Mademoiselle
from Armentieres - Mons (the great
British fighting retreat of 1914) - Roses
of Picardy (Imdb) - What Price
Glory? (remade in 1952 with same title? Imdb)
1927 - Blighty (Imdb) - Mademoiselle
Parley-voo - the
Somme (Battle of 1916 - the British had nearly
60,000 casualties on day one in a battle partly aimed
at relieving the pressure on Verdun) -
the Strong Man - Verdun, Visions d'Histoire (or 1929 (Imdb)
- the 1916 German attack aimed at bleeding the French
armies white, but both sides suffered hugely and
equally) - Wings (Imdb)
1928 - Captain
Swagger - Dawn - the Guns of Loos - the Legion of the
Damned (or Condemned?) - Lilac Time (also Love
Never Dies - Imdb) - Poppies of Flanders
1929 - the
Cock-Eyed World - the Burgomaster of Stilemonde
1930 -
All Quiet on
the Western Front (Imdb) -
Often described as the greatest of anti-war films,
whatever that means! Certainly a brilliant portrayal
of life and death amongst the horrors of the Western
Front trenches as an entire German 'Class of 1914'
goes to war and is steadily wiped out. The 1979
version starring Ernest Borgnine was possibly as good
as the original
Hell's
Angels (Imdb)
- A reviewer describes the action in this US
film as "unmatched for aerial
spectacle" but found the story slow-moving.
Stars Ben Lyon (is this the same Ben Lyon who
partnered Beebie Daniels at least on BBC radio?)
and Jean Harlow
The
Dawn Patrol
(also Flight Commander - Imdb) -
Another inter-war classic about the British Royal
Flying Corps losing pilots as fast as the German
"Class of 1914' lost soldiers.
Westfront
1918 (also Comrades of 1918 - Imdb) - German
stars and director
also Journey's
End (Imdb)
- the W Plan
1931
- Dishonored - starring Marlene Dietrich as
secret agent X-27!
also the Doomed
Battalion (also
Berge in Flammen, 1932 - Imdb)
- Hell on Earth (also No Man's land or Niemandsland
- Imdb) - Tell
England (also
Battle of Gallipoli - Imdb)
1932 - a Farewell to
Arms (Imdb) - the Man I
Killed - Pack Up Your
Troubles (Imdb
- Laurel & Hardy capture an entire regiment) -
Sky
Devils
(1933 - Adolph Hitler comes to
power)
1933 - Ace of Aces (Imdb) - the Eagle and
the Hawk (Imdb)
- I Was a Spy - Morgenrot (Imdb)
1936 - the Road to
Glory - Sons o' England
1937
-
Grand Illusion (La
Grande Illusion)
1938
- The Dawn Patrol (Imdb) - Excellent
remake of the 1930 film, starring Basil Rathbone,
Errol Flynn and David Niven. I believe it is this
version where a new pilot is asked how many hours he
had flown as he is about to go into combat -
something like "two or three" was the
reply!
(1939 - Start of World War 2)
1939 - Enemy Agent - the Hostages (also Les Otages, 1938 -
Imdb) - Nurse Edith Cavell (the British nurse shot in
Belgium for helping Allied escapees) - We're in the
Army Now (also
Pack Up Your Troubles - Imdb)
1941 - Sergeant York (Imdb) - Real-life
American backwoodsman and pacifist who became a
highly decorated US Army hero in the 1918 campaigns.
Gary Cooper stars
(1945 - End of World War 2)
1958 -
A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway's
account of his Italian service and the disastrous
1917 Battle of Caporetto when the Germans smashed
through the Italian front
Paths
of Glory (or
1957 - Imdb) - Kirk
Douglas as a convincing French officer defending
men who mutinied in 1917, partly as a result of
the appalling losses on the Western Front at
Verdun in 1916. Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Lafayette
Escadrille
- The Squadron of US volunteers formed in 1916 to
fly with the French Air Force. Clint Eastwood and
Tab Hunter star
1962 - Lawrence of
Arabia (Imdb)
- A magnificent film in all ways although the
importance of Captain Lawrence's role in the Arab
revolts and the impact of the Arab Army on the Turks
is still debated. Starring Peter O'Toole at his very
best, directed by David Lean.
also Lawrence of
Arabia - 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition
1964
- Thomas
L'Imposteur
1966 - The Blue Max, alias the "Pour la
Merite", the highest German decoration -
The aircraft are interesting and aerial photography
excellent.
1968
- 1917
1969 - Oh! What a
Lovely War
- Another "anti-war" film
1971 -
Zeppelin - Starring
Michael York, but the Zeppelins are interesting,
especially as they played a scouting role in German
High Seas Fleet operations.
1971 - Von Richthofen
and Brown (also
The Red Baron - Imdb) - These
aircraft were interesting too
1971 -
Johnny
Got His Gun (Imdb)
1979 - All Quiet on
the Western Front - Excellent remake of the1930 film with
Ernest Borgnine as the grizzled NCO trying to keep
his boys alive. He, his co-star and the film received
Emmy nominations
1981 - Gallipoli (Imdb)
- Excellent film, with brilliant but horrific
combat scenes. As in other accounts of this campaign,
it does seem to try too hard to show what
"butchers and bunglers" the Allied
leadership were. My reading is that the Dardanelles and
Gallipoli campaigns were brilliant strategic concepts that
failed for a number of reasons. Although a defining
point for the Australian and New Zealand nations and
their ANZAC forces, all the Allies suffered heavily -
7,600 Australian, 28,000 British, 10,000 French and
2,400 New Zealanders died.
1988 - The
Lighthorsemen
(or 1987 - Imdb) - An account of
the equally brave but this time successful Australian
cavalry in the battles to capture Palestine from the
Turks.
1997
- Battle
of Vimy Ridge (TV
Series - Imdb) - The Battles of
Vimy Ridge have, I understand, the same place in
Canada's history as Gallipoli does in Australia and
New Zealand's
