World War I · Film · 1925
The Big Parade
A rich idler swept into the army by a patriotic parade falls for a French farm girl in a Marne village, until the order comes to march to the front with his two new friends.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 1 places.
Stop 1: Champillon, Marne
Key location
Billeted on a farm, Jim courts Melisande with chewing gum and gestures, until the column moves out and she runs after the trucks.
What really happened
King Vidor's silent epic was written from a story by Laurence Stallings, a US Marine who lost a leg after being wounded at Belleau Wood in June 1918. It became one of the most profitable films of the silent era and was among the first Hollywood films to show the war from the viewpoint of an ordinary American soldier.
The United States declared war in April 1917, and by the summer of 1918 more than a million American troops were in France, many billeted in villages behind the Marne front. In June and July 1918 they fought at Château-Thierry and Belleau Wood to stop the German drive on Paris, taking heavy losses in attacks through woods swept by machine guns, as the film shows.
Where to watch
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Full details
- Original title
- The Big Parade
- Directed by
- King Vidor
- Countries
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Released
- 1925
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Western Europe, The Americas
- Themes
- Combat
- Romance
