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ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT I29
work reveals true genius, and for this reason they have put him under contract to direct further pictures for them.
I have a great respect for Milestone's ability, but I would not as yet call his talent genius. He is a very competent director with a sound knowledge of cinema; he knows what he is about and he succeeds in obtaining his effects, but he is not yet fitted to rank with directors of the calibre of Pabst, Eisenstein, Pudovkin or Dovjenko. He has considerable technical accomplishment, but I am not certain whether he possesses the creative instinct of a great film director. There is much in All Quiet on the Western Front that does not rise above the level of ordinary direction. The film has not, for example, the compelling dovetailing of shots that distinguishes Pabst's genius in Westfront 1 9 1 8. It has not the deep, human intimacy that makes Pabst's film so powerful. It is a picture of the War as we expect a picture of the War to be from a popular point of view. It is the bigness of Remarque's theme rather than the drive of Milestone's direction that carries All Quiet on the Western Front forward in its triumphant stride. But it would be uncharitable to strip Milestone of all honour, and churlish to deny his achievement. He has done what many other American directors could not have done. Whatever its faults, he has made a remarkable film out of a difficult subject. He has put the War on the screen better than any other American director has done. He has been sincere in his effort, and that is sufficient in itself to deserve acknowledgment.
The two most important factors, therefore, arising
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