No Greater Glory

No Greater Glory (1934)

*** (out of 4)

A rather strange anti-war film that tells the story of two rival kid gangs who are planning to go to war in order to fight over a vacant playground that both sides want. Jimmy Butler plays Boka, a small child who is the only Private in his gang, because he's so small, yet he's the only one will to risk his neck for the greater good of the gang. I've heard people call this a Our Gang Goes to War film and perhaps that isn't too far off base but in the end this is a film I respected a lot more than enjoyed. I'm sure many, many people are going to watch this film and love it but I wouldn't go that far. I think the message is loud and clear but to me it's way too loud and clear. This is the second film I've seen from Borzage's career during this period, the other being Young America, and there's no doubt he wants to get his views across but I think in both films he goes a little overboard. The most impressive thing about this film are the child performances, which range from very good to downright excellent. I was very impressed with the young Butler not only because of his acting but because of his small structure and his ability to rise up and battle. It was a little sad and ironic when I read that he would die in WW2 fighting for his country. George P. Breakston, Jackie Searl and Frankie Darro also add nice work with future Dick Tracy Ralph Morgan having a small role. Another major plus was the cinematography, which looked extremely well and so focused that you couldn't help but feel as if you were there during all the action. The ending, which goes for emotions, certainly gets them and remains one of the most powerful scenes from this era.

Odd and often mawkish boys' adventure tale with a very vague anti-war message.

At times it feels quite Tom Sawyer-like, but the story doesn't offer any clear-enough parallels to adult warfare to justify the premise or give the audience anything useful to go away with. The little boy who tags along ruining everything early on is first incredibly annoying, then futilely brave, then finally an overwrought martyr. All pleasant enough, but it's not surprising the film is largely forgotten, and it's no great loss if you miss it.

I am 53 years old. When I was 12 my father told me to stay home from school to see this movie on television. The movie was a tearjerker classic that every boy, girl and adult should see. Unfortunately this was the last time I ever saw it. It is listed with 5 out of 5 stars in the blockbuster movie guide and I concur. There was reportedly a remake of this film, I believe in color, but not the same title. I would love to hear of anyone who knows if either film still exists and especially if it will be shown anywhere. I'm hoping that Ted Turner has it intact in his collection for TCM. If I never see it again I at least hope all of you see it at least once. Thank you

No Greater Glory is Frank Borzage's adaption of a biographical novel by Ferenc Molnar. It's set in the postwar depression that Germany had after World War I. As it opens we first see a veteran talking about the futility of war and then it cuts to a German school where the boys, there are no women in this film other than the lead character's mother, are being spoonfed the same militaristic propaganda that sent Lew Ayres and his friends off to the trenches.

These kids learn well and Lord of the Flies like they split into communities, rival communities that we call gangs. The gang we first meet is the Paul Street Boys and their leader Jimmy Butler. Another group of slightly older kids are trying to push these kids out of the vacant lot that the Paul Street kids play in. This means war and these kids have developed their own rules about it.

One kid, small and scrawny George Breakston wants so much to belong to the gang, but the others tease him and tell him he's too little. He spends the rest of the film trying to prove himself worthy.

No Greater Glory is a really heartbreaking film about kids with misplaced values, the kind who would later become good recruiting fodder for the Nazis. Breakston's performance will elicit tears from the stone lions at the New York Public Library. Frankie Darro and Butler as the rival gang leaders do well by their roles.

I'd love to know how Frank Borzage got Harry Cohn at Columbia Pictures to OK this project. It's a B film, no big stars involved at all, still it's not the most commercial of projects. Yet if you do see it, you will discover a classic.

Frank Borzage's films puzzle me in many respects. I can't figure out how he manages to move us but he does. I've seen all the often-quoted films - "Three Comrades", "Mortal Storm", "Man's Castle", "Seventh Heaven" - on more than one occasion and yet each time I am truly moved.

I first caught "No Greater Glory" at the Cinematheque in Paris with a friend when we were studying film. The audience was actually moved to tears! We're talking here about a French audience, a foreign language film not particularly well dubbed on film, an era never experienced by the young audience present at the time and performances by child actors unknown for the most part. Yes, the context in the film was European as were the names and places but the situation was Depression-era America, let there be no doubt about that, as were the actors and production staff. I'm still amazed why and how it worked its magic.

The young actors are never "cute", the lines in the film are more adult than child-like, the performances quite adequate but with no pulling-out-all-the-stops Academy Award-winning emoting. In short, it doesn't "feel" like a manipulative movie in any traditional sense of the word, yet we are manipulated by Borzage's hatred of war in general and his remarkable compassion and sincerity in translating his feelings onto the screen. This film is an absolute must!

Curtis Stotlar