The Big Parade

"The epic of the American doughboy!"

1925 2h 31m EN

🙌

7.6

BANGER

🔥

100%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.9

IMDB

★7.6TMDB · 133🍅100%Rotten Tomatoes★7.9IMDB · 7,452

RomanceWarDrama

Synopsis

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The story of an idle rich boy who joins the US Army's Rainbow Division and is sent to France to fight in World War I, becomes friends with two working class men, experiences the horrors of trench warfare, and finds love with a French girl.

“The epic of the American doughboy!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

John Gilbert
James 'Jim' Apperson
Renée Adorée
Melisande
Hobart Bosworth
Mr. Apperson
Claire McDowell
Mrs. Apperson
Claire Adams
Justyn Reed
Robert Ober
Harry Apperson
Tom O'Brien
Michael Olysius 'Bull' O'Hara
Karl Dane
'Slim' Jensen

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: King Vidor
Writers: Harry Behn
Languages: No Language
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 151 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $20M — a 52.4× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

101 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Directed by King Vidor, shot by John Arnold. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Hugh Wynn shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

John Gilbert and Renée Adorée and Hobart Bosworth carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

King Vidor directs. John Arnold behind the camera. Hugh Wynn cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in No Language.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 151 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Shot for just $0.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Grossed $20M — a 52.4× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
4101 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
5Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
6Directed by King Vidor, shot by John Arnold. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Editor Hugh Wynn shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8John Gilbert and Renée Adorée and Hobart Bosworth carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "The epic of the American doughboy!".
10IMDB entry: tt0015624 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 26 themes, including "france", "world war i", "patriotism", "battlefield".

The technical file

Cinematography: John Arnold
Editing: Hugh Wynn
Runtime: 151 min · 2h 31m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $382,000
Box office: $20,000,000
Return: 5236% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Big Parade (1925)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.9/10 · 7,452 votes
MPAA: Not Rated

Awards

6 wins

Also by

King Vidor

Stills · wallpapers

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

talisencrw2016-08-04
★ 10/10
Recently in approaching the milestone of seeing my 5,000th film (at least by my IMDb list of my shoddy recollections), I wanted to make it a very special film, so it was between the blus of this and 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'. That was a very special work too, but in retrospect, I felt this was an even finer film. I haven't seen much of Vidor's work (only 'The Champ', 'Hallelujah' and 'The Fountainhead'--all of which I greatly admired), but I knew he was a great American director to be reckoned with, for any cinephile worth his salt. Plus, I had always been intrigued by the then-sex symbol status of ill-starred John Gilbert (especially since my favourite actress ever, Great Garbo, was so enraptured by him). This was remarkable. I was astounded by how Vidor (who said beforehand he wanted to finally make a film that wouldn't simply be gone from theatres in a week, but would play on for years, and that he would put forth a much greater effort if that could be the case, especially if either about steel, wheat or war) mixed elements, emotions and atmosphere so expertly. Even though it was a first-watch, since it was a silent film I thought it would be all right to throw on the Jeffrey Vance commentary, which contained four interview snippets from Vidor, late in his life in the 1970's. It was a wonderful cinephilic experience, and the book that enclosed the blu ray release was even more telling, with tons of pictures and essays about the American landmark of silent cinema.

Production companies