Good day Everyone:
As we approach Remembrance Season once more, November’s History on Film theme will be “The Great War ” focusing on the First World War on the Western Front. Our film will be “1917″ (2019).
Join us at Branch 314 Manotick Legion on Wednesday 04 November 2026 when we set the clock back to give you an experience of a night out at the theatre during the Second World War before the dawn of the television age. War Savings Certificates drives, Public Service Announcements about actions to take in the event of an Enemy air raid, Canadian Army or British Pathe Newsreels about our troops overseas, War Time Cartoons, Previews of Coming Attractions, Cigarette Ads encouraging you to buy a pack at the concession stand, an homage to King George VI, it’s all here in one glorious night. Come relive a great night out with your friends and family.
Doors open at 1815 Hrs. The bar will be open and popcorn will be available for a $2.00 donation to the Homeless Veterans fund. Come early to get the best seats.
MOVIE PLOT
The film takes place starting on 06 April 1917, 3 days before the Battle of Vimy Ridge, in the British sector of Arras south of Vimy. British Aerial reconnaissance has observed that the Imperial German Army, which has pulled back from a sector of the Western Front in northern France, is not in retreat—as had been supposed—but has made a strategic withdrawal to the new Hindenburg Line, where they are waiting to overwhelm the British with artillery. In the British trenches, with field telephone lines cut, two young British lance corporals, William Schofield, a veteran of the Somme, and Tom Blake, are ordered by General Erinmore to carry a message to Colonel Mackenzie of the 2nd Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment, calling off a scheduled attack the next morning that would jeopardise the lives of 1,600 men, including Blake’s brother Joseph, a Lieutenant in the Devonshire Regiment.
Because travelling behind their own lines would take longer, Schofield and Blake cut across no man’s land to reach the abandoned German trenches to reach the new British lines.
MOVIE & HISTORIC TRIVIA
- The film was partially inspired by stories told to Director Sam Mendes by his paternal grandfather Alfred, a Lance Corporal in The Kings Royal Rifle Corps, about his service during the Great War.
- Over 1.5 kilometres of trenches were dug for the film.
- The Cinematographer, Roger Deakins and editor Lee Smith, used long takes to have the entire film appear as two continuous shots.
- One of the biggest headaches for the film crew was a cigarette lighter that wouldn’t work on cue in one scene, leading to several retakes and wasting most of a day’s filming.
- The film was praised by the Western Front Association for its historical accuracy and attention to detail: “The level of detail in kit, activity, parlance, and customs of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) is admirable”.
- The filming of the film’s climax, called by many the “Schofield Run”, required extensive pre-production and took two days to shoot, with George MacKay as Schofield running about 300 metres amidst explosions and more than 500 extras as soldiers during every take. Crew members on set, including two grips, had to dress as soldiers and pass in front of the lens as the camera pulled back in order to get the “complex choreography” of the scene executed properly.
- Actor George MacKay knocked into two extras as soldiers mid-run and continued to run after doing so, a moment that was not scripted.
MOVIE TRAILER
(4) 1917 – Official Trailer [HD] – YouTube
Terry Hunter CD, KStG, B.A., B.Ed., M.Ed.
Event Organizer, The Ottawa Military History Club
RCL Branch 314 Archives and Historical Officer
The Ottawa Military History Club Website – https://canadianmilitaryhi.wixsite.com/omhc-history-club
Norm Christie’s Documentaries Online – The King and Empire Foundation %
If you can read this, thank a Teacher.
If you can read this in English, thank a Veteran.