"On the Firing Line with the Germans" (1915) Now Ready For Pordenone

Durborough meets a German General. Colorized reproduction from film frame On the Firing Line with the Germans (USA, 1915)

Link to original high res image

Word has reached us that the Library of Congress has finished the restored feature documentary World War I film On the  Firing Line with the Germans (1915) by Wilbur H. Durborough, the American camera correspondent who accompanied the German offensive on the eastern front in the summer of 1915.

Restored Digital Copy

Out of the original footage found at the Library of Congress and the National Archives, with additional input and film found by the authors during our research for our latest book American Cinematographers in the Great War, the staff of the Library of Congress has edited a restored digital copy running 1:48 minutes. The new film will be shipped to Pordenone, Italy, for a premiere exhibition during its Silent Film Festival in October 2015, one hundred years after the film was first shown in the United States.

More on the upcoming exhibition in this weblog!

Advertising the Great War on Screen

When the First World War broke out in 1914 American media responded with great interest. There was a substantial public demand for news about the war and newspapers were eager for stories. Film also was soon being used to promote the war coverage by American newspapers. As described in our book American Cinematographers in the Great War , it didn't take long before newspaper editors discovered the advantages of covering the Great War both in print and motion pictures. The way the Chicago Tribune handled this offers a prime example.

Advertisement for the Chicago Tribune's The German Side of the War, 29 August 1915

Cross-Media Approach

By using a cross-media approach, the Chicago Tribune took out a massive advertising campaign in 1914-1916 to promote its own war documentary films. The blazing publicity not only expanded the Tribune's money. Circulation of the newspaper was also stimulated this way. Art work was especially important in these advertisements. As cameramen soon found out when they filmed the First World War, from a photographic point of view the military conflict was very hard to cover. Lighting conditions were terrible at the western front. Also, as most of the activities took place in the trenches, there usually wasn't a trace of the enemy and No Man's Land seemed like a wasteland. As a result, most of the footage was taken behind the firing line and contained repetitive scenes of infantry marching and drilling, military inspections, artillery practice, etc. Gone were the days of the drummer boy, the bugle call and the charge of the Light Brigade. This was modern warfare. It was muddy. It was messy. It was something completely different.

To compensate for the lack of exciting documentary footage the publicity department of the Chicago Tribune relied heavily on professionally drawn illustrations of infantry charges, close-ups of soldiers going over the top and the like. The most interesting advertisements have been selected in these slide shows. Enjoy!

First Moving Pictures Jacobs and Addams Discovered

World War I cinematographer Wilbur H. Durborough recently made national headlines in Holland, when it was discovered that in his film On the Firing Line with the Germans (1915) there is a short historical scene showing suffragette leaders Aletta Jacobs and Jane Addams. This discovery made it to prime time news on Dutch TV and radio. Here's a link to this scene.

Durborough meets suffragette leaders Addams, Hamilton and Jacobs. Frame from his 1915 war film. Colorized image.

Link to original high res image

Historic Scene taken in Berlin

The film fragment, which was also described in our latest book shows the peace movement leaders Aletta Jacobs from Holland and Jane Addams (US) in front of the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin on May 21, 1915, on their way to visit the German Secretary of State and the Reichskanzler with a peace mediation proposal. In this scene Durborough can be seen talking with these ladies. The movie has the only known extant film of Jacobs who was a leading suffragette in the Netherlands. The film also shows Jane Addams who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. The discovery of this historical footage as well as the support of the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP) has contributed to the reconstruction of Durborough's film by the Library of Congress. The reconstructed Durborough World War I film is set for screening at the upcoming Pordenone Film Festival in October 2015. The Dutch Film Museum EYE has also expressed its interest in showing the Durborough film in Holland.

We will keep you posted on this special screening at Pordenone!

Update

In November 2016, the Library of Congress released the restored Durborough film online.

War in the Clouds Filmed by Edwin Weigle (1915)

When Italy entered World War I in 1915 the Alps became a scene of heavy fighting. On the spot was Edwin F. Weigle, cameraman for the Chicago Tribune and one of the first cinematographers to film this new type of mountain warfare. The films that he brought back to the United States were edited into his succesful movie The German Side of the War, described in our latest book American Cinematographers in the Great War

Weigle filming warfare in the Alps. Colorized official photograph in the collection of the Austrian State Archives

Link to original high res image

A remarkable picture of Weigle filming the First World War recently was discovered by the authors in the online archives of the Austrian State Archives. The picture was taken in June 1915 when Weigle was present in the opening rounds of the war between the Austrian and Italian army. Weigle traveled to the Trentino where he shot most of his scenes, and he also visited the area around Lake Garda. He had a close call when standing in a trench with four Austrian officers an Italian shell bursted nearby. Weigle's film demonstrated how the beautiful Alpine mountain landscape was rearranged and devastated by modern warfare. The scenes made quite an impression when his film was exhibited in the United States in August 1915. Here are some lines with Weigle's personal comments, taken from the theater program of his film The German Side of the War:

Edwin Weigle leaving Chicago. Scene from The German Side of the War (1915)

Embedded by the Austrian Military Press Office

The scene showing Captain Steiner taking off with his plane was found at the Library of Congress. Additional research for our latest book has shown that Weigle was accompanied by Captain Gschliesser - perhaps one of the officers in the picture above - of the Austrian military press office. They were at Lavarone, Folgara and the Ortler area. Gschliesser also censored Weigle's footage. When Weigle left Vienna, the Austrians supplied him with additional war scenes from their film archives. Despite all courtesies Weigle clearly was an "embedded" film correspondent.

Austrian anti-aircraft artillery, photographed by Weigle

Captain Steiner taking off for his ill-fated flight above the Alps

Finally, here is Weigle's own personal story on his experiences in the Alps with the Austrians, copied from the Chicago Tribune of August 5, 1915: