Andrew Kelly, in his article All Quiet on the Western Front: “brutal cutting, stupid censors and bigoted politicos”(1930-1984) (Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, n. 2, 1999), examines good part of the troubled history of Milestone’s film. Despite being mutilated by the censors of different countries, in certain cases banned for many years, re-edited to different lengths in 1939 and in 1950 and finally recomposed in 1984 for ZDF Television, All Quiet on the Western Front remains one of the most famous films about the First World War. Little is said of the silent version that Milestone shot at the same time as the sound version. The version that Milestone had delivered to Universal consisted of 17 reels. Universal cut them down to 14 for the sound version. Milton Carruth, Milestone’s assistant, was given the job of editing the silent version. This version was truer to Milestone’s original idea, with more fluid camera movements and the inclusion of many shots that were discarded from the sound version. Andrew Kelly continues: “This version was also known as the European Version as it was released in Spain and France prior to the arrival of the sound version. A copy of the silent film still exists apparently; Universal in California is reputed to have a print and there is a private collector in Amsterdam who possesses a copy but it is unlikely it will ever be seen publicly”.

Fortunately Kelly’s prophecy was not fulfilled.