The Road Back (1937)
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A handful of German soldiers readjust to civilian life in the bitter wake of World War I in this follow-up to the classic All Quiet On The Western Front, which like the first film was based on a novel by Erich Maria Remarque. After the signing of the armistice, Capt. Von Hagen (John Emery) dismisses… More A handful of German soldiers readjust to civilian life in the bitter wake of World War I in this follow-up to the classic All Quiet On The Western Front, which like the first film was based on a novel by Erich Maria Remarque. After the signing of the armistice, Capt. Von Hagen (John Emery) dismisses what is left of his troops, who march home to an uncertain future. Tjaden (Slim Summerville) finds himself helping to fend off rioters demanding food from a shop owned by the town's mayor (Etienne Girardot); the grateful mayor in turn offers Tjaden his daughter's hand in marriage. Weil (Larry Blake) becomes a political activist and finds himself acting as a spokesman for another group of citizens demanding precious food; this time, Weil is shot by troops led by his former commander, Capt. Von Hagen. Willy (Andy Devine) visits his former schoolteacher, who presents him with an ironic gift -- a toy gun he took away from Willy when he was a boy. And Albert (Maurice Murphy) comes home to discover his fiancée has wed another man, a man who avoided the war but found ways to profit from it at home. In a fit of rage, Albert kills the man, and finds himself on trial for his life. Combining a strong anti-war message with prescient warnings about the dangers of the rising Nazi regime, The Road Back was intended to be a powerful and controversial picture, and Universal entrusted it to their finest director, James Whale. However, by the time shooting was completed, new management had taken over the studio, and Nazi officials began applying pressure to Universal (as well as members of the film's cast) to delete the material critical of the Nazis, threatening to scuttle European distribution of future Universal product if their demands were not met. Universal bowed to their wishes, and the film was partially reshot with another director, and the remainder extensively re-edited, leaving the final product a pale shadow of what Whale had originally intended. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- James Whale
- Genres
- Drama
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Jun 1, 1937 Wide
- Studio
- MCA/Universal Pictures
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Cast
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Richard Cromwell
as Ludwig
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George "Slim" Summerville
as Tjaden
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Andy Devine
as Willy
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Barbara Read
as Lucy
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Louise Fazenda
as Angelina
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Noah Beery Jr.
as Wessling
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Maurice Murphy
as Albert
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John Emery
as Capt. Von Hagen
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Etienne Girardot
as Mayor
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Lionel Atwill
as Prosecutor
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Henry Hunter
as Bethke
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Larry J. Blake
as Weil
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Gene Garrick
as Giesicke
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Greta Gynt
as Maria
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Spring Byington
as Ernst's Mother
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Frank Reicher
as Ernst's Father
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Laura Hope Crewes
as Ernst's Aunt
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Arthur Hohl
as Heinrich
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William B. Davidson
as Bartscher
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Al Shean
as Mr. Markheim
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Edwin Maxwell
as Principal
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Samuel S. Hinds
as Defense Attorney
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Robert Warwick
as Judge
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Jean Rouverol
as Elsa
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Reginald Barlow
as Manager
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Clara Blandick
as Woman
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E.E. Clive
as General
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Dwight Frye
as Small Man
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Dorothy Granger
as French Girl
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Charles Halton
as Uncle Rudolph
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John "Dusty" King
as Ernst
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Tempe Piggott
as Woman
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Edward Van Sloan
as President
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Francis Ford
as Street Cleaner
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Stanley "Tiny" Sandford
as Door Keeper
