There are some redeeming features of this movie, made a little over a decade after WWI ended. It tries to show the cruelty of war and the transience of our little lives, and makes a case for grabbing now for the brass ring, not taking anything for granted. In doing so, it also tries to weave in war-time romance, and I think therein lies its weakness, especially in the first half of the film, where that takes too much of the emphasis. You'll also have to get through some pretty silly scenes early on, such as water getting spilled on one of the nurses a couple of times while they're all cleaning up a building which will be used as a hospital.June Walker turns in a decent performance and Anita Page has a nice scene when she loses out while the hospital is being shelled, but Robert Montgomery and Robert Ames are smarmy and seriously annoying for most of the movie. It's irritating to see their characters continue to pursue the nurses even when it's clear their attentions are unwanted, and it rings false to see them so chipper doing so when, for example, when Montgomery hears of a friend having just died. In another scene, Montgomery ties a rope around Walker's bicycle so that he can give her a fast tow with his motorcycle, and turns around and smiles when she crashes.It gets a little better when Montgomery makes his case for being up-front about his desire for a night of pleasure since he may die on a mission the following day, and when Ames lies wounded on a hospital bed and has to express his true emotions. For me, though, it's too little too late. The film needed more gravitas and grit given the setting, and Montgomery and director Edgar Selwyn failed to set the right tone.

I watch a lot of obscure movies, films which 99.9% of people will never watch. It's like discovering a world that only I know about. Occasionally I will come across a hidden gem which I absolutely love usually because it meets my personal preferences. But then there are movies like War Nurse in which I'm in disbelief that a movie of such quality on many levels could fall tough the cracks of obscurity.War Nurse follows a group of women who volunteer for nursing duties in France at the outbreak of the First World War. The film is a perfect companion piece to All Quiet on the Western Front, released the same year. Similar to how the young army recruits in All Quiet... have a distorted, glamorised view of what war will be like, so do the nurses at the beginning of War Nurse (some of them are barely into adulthood) expecting to be "holding hands all night with good looking sick officers" and to spend "Moonlight nights up on no man's land, with a general in each arm". Little do they expect the extremely strenuous work, horrendous conditions, the lack of supplies and the near insanity caused by the constant firing of shells.One scene in which the nurses retreat to bed for night only to be woken up shortly afterwards by the arrival of injured troops during the middle of the night, I can feel just how tired and physically exhausted these people must be. War Nurse is full of powerful moments both big and subtle such as when a soldier played Robert Montgomery asks a nurse played by Anita Page out on a date, literally seconds after she told him one of his close comrades just died; death is that common of an occurrence The copy of War Nurse I watched was not of the greatest of quality so I couldn't always distinguish the cast members apart. Yet I was still fully engaged and can say the production values are superb. I don't have any information on the film making locations for War Nurse but the exteriors feature lush countryside backdrops to large scale recreations of baron no man's land with shells constantly exploding.Get this baby onto the Warner Achieve Collection!

Sound quality is a little iffy in this early talkie from MGM. Anita Paige and Robert Montgomery. Even Zasu Pitts and Hedda Hopper. Also some STRONG regional accents that really come out now and then. Nurses date the soldiers in between surgical procedures during the war. They have daily adventures, and spout clever aphorisms to each other. At one point, the pilots are shown landing with mountains in the background... probably Burbank or Orange county. Palm Springs landing strip wasn't built yet. Directed by Edgar Selwyn, whose early life was full of strife and adventure, if the bio on IMDb is accurate. Apparently, the "wyn" from his name is part of the "Goldwyn" studio name. On IMDb, it is said he was considering going for a ride on the titanic, but couldn't make the trip. Some fun life stories, with the war as a serious backdrop. Because its such an early talkie, they still use a title card at the very end with a tribute to the "War Nurses". Not bad. Fun to watch. Some serious moments of loss, but it does take place during wartime, so that is expected.

This film tells the tale of a group of young "war nurses". The opening scenes show them drinking and thinking that being a war nurse will be relatively easy. This is especially apparent with the character played by Anita Page. Most of these girls are unprepared and have no idea of what they are about to go through. Soon enough, the harsh realities of war hits them in the face. War Nurse doesn't rank up there with The Big Parade or All Quiet on the Western Front but it does have several points in it's favor. The performances are all good. Anita Page is perfectly cast and she convincingly portrays the wide-eyed, innocent young girl. Helene Jerome Eddy, a popular silent player who also had a long career in talkies, is especially good, as is Marie Prevost. The war atmosphere is well presented. And these nurses are portrayed as valiant, selfless and always ready to do their share. Not a major motion picture but still a pretty good one.