Editing Lewis Milestone (section)

==Critical appraisal==
[[File:Md479.jpg|thumb|2003 stamp]]

Lewis Milestone's ''oeuvre'' spans thirty-seven years (1925–1962) and consists of 38 feature films. As such, according to Millichap (1981), he was one of the major contributors to screen art and entertainment during the [[Classical Hollywood cinema|Hollywood Golden Age]].<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 189</ref> Like most of his contemporary American filmmakers, Milestone's work includes the silent and sound eras, which is evident in his style, which blends the visual elements of [[German Expressionism (cinema)|Expressionism]] with the [[Realism (arts)|Realism]] that evolved with naturalistic sound.<ref>Millichap 1981 pp. 189&ndash;190<br />Baxter, 1970 pp. 132&ndash;133: "''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1930) [noted for] the battle scenes, with their endless tracking shots and artfully designed soundtracks"</ref> According to Sarris in ''American Cinema'' (1968) quoted in Walsh (2001), Milestone was "a formalist of the [[Left-wing politics|Left]]" who was "hailed as the American [Sergei] Eisenstein after ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1930) and ''The Front Page'' (1931)".<ref name=":1">Walsh, 2001</ref>

At the outset of talking pictures, the 29-year-old Milestone used his skill for an adaptation of [[Erich Maria Remarque]]'s anti-war novel ''[[All Quiet on the Western Front]]'', which is regarded as Milestone's ''magnum opus'' and the peak of his career; according to Baxter (1970), Milestone's subsequent work never achieved the same artistic or critical success.<ref>Baxter, 1970 p. 132 "Neither a consistent, nor a commercial director, he nevertheless began his Thirties career on a high point, with one of the acknowledged classics of the American cinema [All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)]" and p. 133: "Unfortunately, Milestone did not live up to the promise of his first major films" <br />Silver, 2010: "Like his fellow Russian émigré Rouben Mamoulian, however, Milestone's early promise was never truly fulfilled."<br />Koszarski, 1976 p. 317: "by the late 30s the innovative flair that had marked his earlier work had dampened"</ref> Biographer Kingsley Canham wrote: "The problem of making a classic film early in a career is that it sets a standard of comparison for all future work that is in some instances unfair".<ref>Canham, 1974 pp. 104&ndash;105</ref> Milestone's films occasionally exhibit the technical inventiveness and bravura of ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' but lack Milestone's commitments to a literary source or screenplay that informed that film.<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 144: "Milestone always needed a strong literary vehicle to create a successful film"<br />Barson, 2020: "An avid reader of literature, [Milestone] was especially known for his realistic dramas, many of which were literary adaptations."<br />Canham, 1974 p. 81: "above all it was the technique of Milestone's film that rightly led to his fame. The [camera] movement became the message"</ref>

According to Millichap (1981), Milestone's subsequent work in Hollywood includes outstanding and mediocre films that are characterized by their eclecticism but often lack any clear artistic purpose. The most predictable feature may have been an application of his technical talents.<ref>Millichap, 1981 p. 189: "the technical expertise he acquired from years of editing evolved into an eclectic cinema style which enlivened even his dullest efforts and made possible the artistry of his classic works."<br />Canham, 1974 p. 71: "[Milestone] has perhaps over-used the lateral tracking shot"</ref> Film critic [[Andrew Sarris]] said: "Milestone's fluid camera style has always been dissociated from any personal viewpoint. He is almost the classic example of the uncommitted director{{nbsp}}... his professionalism is as unyielding as it is meaningless."<ref>Walsh, 2001<br />Hoberman, 2014: Walsh and Hoberman forms a composite quote from Sarris in his American Cinema (1968).<br />Silver, 2010: "Andrew Sarris had it right when he said that Milestone 'is almost the classic example of the uncommitted director.'"<br />Millichap, 1981 Preface: "Milestone was somewhat overpraised in the early stages of his career, and a corresponding critical reaction set in during his later years{{nbsp}}... the negative judgements of Andrew Sarris set the tone."</ref> Kingsley Canham said, "time and again Milestone's career has been written off because of his lack of commitment or to involvement in his work".<ref>Canham, 1974 p. 71</ref> Millichap links Milestone's "profuse, eclectic, and uneven body of work" to the imperatives of the Hollywood film industry, saying:

{{blockquote| Milestone's creativity was rooted in the studio system. Both his best and worst movies resulted from his pragmatic commitment to the cinematic transformation of literary properties presented by the production system{{nbsp}}... both his strong points and his limitations were generated by that Hollywood system. When he applied his cinematic style to "strong literary matter" memorable films resulted; but when he was assigned weak, trivial material, the results were usually mediocre.<ref>Millichap, 1981 pp. 189&ndash;190 And:from author's Preface: "Milestone's{{nbsp}}... uneven body of work that defies easy categorization, analysis or evaluation." and Millichap, 1981 Editor's Foreword (Warren French), re: "was notably uneven" passage.</ref>}}

Film critic and biographer Richard Koszarski considers Milestone "one of the [1930s] more independent spirits{{nbsp}}... but like many of the pioneer directors{{nbsp}}... his relation to the studio system at the height of its [executive] powers was not a productive one".<ref>Koszarski, 1976 p. 317</ref> Koszarski offers a metaphor Milestone had applied to his own final works: "the latter part of [Milestone]'s career was marked by only sporadic flashes of creativity, a veritable forest of saplings graced by only one or two solitary oaks".<ref>Koszarski, 1976 p. 317: Note that Koszarsk's analogy is based on an essay, "The Reign of the Director", carried in ''New Theatre and Film'', March 1937, by Lewis Milestone, reprinted in the 1976 book. Milestone's theme concerns the decline of the artistic, independent and autonomous director (e.g. D. W. Griffith, James Cruze and Erich von Stroheim) and the rise of the Hollywood studio system. The saplings bend to the studio "storm"; the oaks resist and are uprooted.</ref>

===Academy Awards===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Award
! Film
! Result
|-
| [[1st Academy Awards|1927–28]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Director]] (Comedy)
| ''[[Two Arabian Knights]]''
| {{won}}
|-
| |[[3rd Academy Awards|1929–30]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Director]]
| ''[[All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 film)|All Quiet on the Western Front]]''
| {{won}}
|-
| [[4th Academy Awards|1930–31]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Director]]
| ''[[The Front Page (1931 film)|The Front Page]]''
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[12th Academy Awards|1939]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Picture]]
| ''[[Of Mice and Men (1939 film)|Of Mice and Men]]''
| {{nom}}
|-
|}