by Sam Juliano
The opening scene of Frank Borgaze’s pre-code era anti-war film No Greater Glory is a battle montage depicting a legion of soldiers, armed with bayonets engaging in combat. A man dressed in civilian clothes suddenly declares that war is a useless exercise and that he will fight no longer. The episode, taken from Lewis Milestone’s classic All Quiet on the Western Front, is a powerful one, and it wholly encapsulates the theme of Borzage’s film. The subsequent scene of a teacher reading the patriotic riot act to his students -which recalls both the Milestone and a much later German film The Bridge- illustrates the role of adults as instigators, prime motivators in the horrors that were to claim the lives of thousands of innocent European school children in the name of a foolhardy and unattainable status of patriotic glorification. Of course No Greater Glory like its celebrated predecessor offers up adults as symbols in the madness populated by kids who realize the horror of their aggression far too late. It is rather curious that the classic children’s novel The Paul Street Boys, by Ferenc Molnar, upon which No Greater Glory is based, was written seven years before the start of the First World War, though it is a generally known fact that the society of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was largely militaristic. Molnar wrote the famed Liliom and other acclaimed works that were adapted for the stage and cinema before fleeing to the United States in 1939 at the time anti-Semitism was growing in his country. The screenwriter of No Greater Glory was another Jew that took up residence stateside. As Borzage was a fervent anti-war advocate, he was a huge fan of both the aforementioned Western Front, released four years earlier and the 1925 silent classic The Big Parade, of which are powerful statements of disenchantment and lost innocence.
The film depicts two groups of boys who engage in a domestic feud over a vacant lumber yard, which serves as their private playground. The Paul Street Boys are the younger combatants, and they feign having a military organization. The youngest and seemingly frailest boy is named Nemecsak. He’s enthusiastic, loyal and determined to rise from his capacity as the sole “private” among a fraternity of officers. A unanimous vote confirms the election of Boka as President, but his closest friend Gereb enviously turns traitor, an act that paves the way for the old group -the Red Shirts’- commander Feri Ats to seize the Paul Street Boys’ flag. The fearless Nemecsak returns later in the evening to recapture the flag but falls out of a tree during a Red Shirts’ assembly. The boy remains firm and defiant -qualities that impress Feri Ats- but punishment in the form of a dunking is meted out. This seemingly innocuous castigation later has fateful consequences. In any event the boy’s resilience greatly impresses Feri Ats, who sets the boy free with a complete measure of obeisance. The Paul Street Boys are equally moved by Nemecsak’s valiance and award him an officer’s cap at the same time they disbar Gerab for his treachery. Shortly thereafter Feri Ata and Boka come to agreement on a full-scale brawl, with possession of the Paul Street Boys flag to determine the winner. Gereb’s father arrives at the lot, and insists on an explanation for his son’s ejection from the group. Despite Gereb’s treason, Nemecsak stands by his friend, keeping the truth hidden. Gereb rejoins the group and volunteers to take up position on the front line. (more…)
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