Journeys End (1930) 720p Colin Clive, David Manners

War | Drama | Pre-Code | UK/USA | B&W | 116min | Director: James Whale Cast: Colin Clive, Ian Maclaren, David Manners, Billy Bevan, Anthony Bushell, Robert Adair, Charles K. Gerrard Based on the 1928 play of the same name by R. C. Sherriff, the film tells the story of several British army officers involved in trench warfare during the First World War. On the eve of a battle in 1918, a new officer, Second Lieutenant Raleigh (David Manners), joins Captain Stanhope's (Colin Clive) company in the British trench lines in France. The two men knew each other at school: the younger Raleigh hero-worshipping Stanhope, while Stanhope has come to love Raleigh's sister. But the Stanhope whom Raleigh encounters now is a changed man who, after three years at the front, has turned to drink and seems close to a breakdown. Stanhope is terrified that Raleigh will betray his decline to his sister, whom he hopes to marry after the war. An older officer, the avuncular Lieutenant Osborne (Ian Maclaren), desperately tries to keep Stanhope from cracking. The film, like the play before it, was an enormous critical and commercial success and launched the film careers of Whale and several of its stars. A young Laurence Olivier starred in the stageplay version, but was unavailable for the movie. Film debuts of Colin Clive, David Manners and Robert Adair. Directorial debut of James Whale. This was the first American-British co-production of the sound era.