Argonne Wood.mp4

VIDEO DESCRIPTION:

Play, download and edit the free video Argonne Wood.mp4.

“Argonne Wood” is my Memorial Day song about WW1's Meuse–Argonne offensive which was the largest & the second deadliest battle in U.S. military history. I use clips from 2 classic movies, "The Big Parade" & "All Quiet on the Western Front".

Lyrics: mikecraver.com/lyricsSD.html#...
For info about this recording: mikecraver.com/shiningdown.html
Digital distribution of "Argonne Wood" is available through iTunes, Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, & others.

The Meuse-Argonne battle was waged from September 26, 1918, until the Armistice of November 11, 1918, and was the largest in United States military history, involving 1.2 million American soldiers, and it is the second deadliest battle in American history, resulting in over 350,000 casualties including 28,000 German lives, 26,277 American lives and an unknown number of French lives. U.S. losses were worsened by the inexperience of many of the troops, the tactics used during the early phases of the operation and the widespread onset of the global influenza outbreak called the "Spanish flu".

As I said, my video is drawn from the footage of two classic American films which have recently entered the public domain: “The Big Parade”, a 1925 silent war drama directed by King Vidor, & featuring John Gilbert, with Tom O'Brien, Karl Dane, Claire Adams, and Claire McDowel, & with cinematography by John Arnold; and “All Quiet on the Western Front”, a 1931 anti-war film (based on the 1929 Erich Maria Remarque novel of the same name) which was directed by Lewis Milestone, & features Lew Ayres, with cinematography by Arthur Edeson. The two movies and their protagonists represent two points of view, that of the American soldier (Gilbert), and that of the German soldier (Ayres).

The title photo is “Overgrown craters in the early morning light on the World War One battlefield of Vimy Ridge, France” © Tim Gurney, ID 186963889 at Dreamstime.com.

The following three clips are from “The Big Parade”. The Gaumont newsreel clip “With Our Boys in France” was found at PeriscopeFilm.com

The clip of the troop ship is actually a clip of the RMS Mauretania, an ocean liner built for the British Cunard Line. Ocean liners were used for troop transports in both world wars, however it’s unlikely that the RMS Mauretania would have transported Americans, but I particularly liked this image, so I used it.

“A Trumpet Calls” was a recruiting poster by Norman Lindsay & printed by W.A. Gullick. It is in the Library of Congress, Australian War Memorial catalogue number ARTV00039. Public Domain (Wikimedia Commons)

“Supports going by after battle photo” is by the Australian photographer and adventurer Frank Hurley (1885 – 1962) source: Wikimedia Commons. Uploaded by mrjohncummings Permission details: National Science and Media Museum @ Flickr Commons

The next two action clips are from “All Quiet on the Western Front”. Then the three following clips are from “The Big Parade”. The next two clips are from “All Quiet on the Western Front”, and feature lead actor Lew Ayers. As far as I could ascertain, Yola d'Avril plays the pretty lady in the scene with Ayres.

The still with the 2 soldiers is ©Wisconsinart, ID 46031607, Dreamstime.com. The still after is from “Illinois in the World War”, featuring the 131st Infantry, winners of the Distinguished Service Cross. Top row: First Class Private Steve Zappa, Privates William A- Anderson Syen Carlson. Second row: Privates Hugh A. Deasey, Christopher C. Dunne Daniel S Flagg. Bottom row: Privates Leon M. Hanna, Harry W. Heacox, Edward Herter. The soldiers pictured in these two stills were not necessarily casualties of the Meuse-Argonne Battle, but here again, I really liked these images and so I have used them.

“The Tree of Life” is a 1905 painting by Gustav Klimt.

The remaining clips are drawn from both of the aforementioned movies.

I am profoundly indebted to these film makers, and the other artists involved, for my images. I would also like to thank Gart T. Westerhaut for help with the German translation.

I recorded “Argonne Wood” at home. I played all the keyboards and sang all the parts, and made the video too. It is from my album “Shining Down”, ©℗ Sapsucker Publishing BMI.

Download, play and edit free videos and free audios from Argonne Wood.mp4 using RedcoolMedia.net web apps