Lewis Milestone
5 credits on HibingeTV
American film director, born Lev Milstein in 1895 in what is now Moldova. He emigrated to the United States before World War I and became one of Hollywood's most respected directors of the early sound era. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for Two Arabian Knights (1927) and again for All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), the first film to win both Best Picture and Best Director. His other films include The Front Page (1931), Of Mice and Men (1939), and the original Ocean's 11 (1960). He was known for his technical innovation in the transition from silent to sound filmmaking.
Directed
War, Drama
Based on Erich Maria Remarque's 1929 novel, the film follows a group of young German schoolboys who enlist in the army at the urging of their teacher and are ground down by the realities of trench warfare in World War I. Lewis Milestone directed with a documentary plainness that was unusual for its time, and the result is one of the first great anti-war films. Lew Ayres plays Paul Bäumer, the idealistic recruit whose patriotism is hollowed out by what he sees; Louis Wolheim is Katczinsky, the veteran who teaches the new men how to survive. The film won the Academy Awards for Outstanding Production and Best Director, the first picture to take both. Published in 1930, it entered the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2026.
War · Drama
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930 - War
Drama
A hard-living prostitute stranded by a quarantine on a South Seas island clashes with a self-righteous missionary determined to reform her, with tragic consequences for both. Joan Crawford and Walter Huston star in Lewis Milestone's adaptation of Somerset Maugham's story. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.
Drama
Rain
1932 - Drama
Comedy, Drama
A star reporter about to leave the newspaper business for marriage is roped back in by his wily editor for one last story, the execution of an anarchist. Lewis Milestone's fast-talking adaptation of the Hecht and MacArthur play defined the newspaper comedy and later inspired His Girl Friday. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.
Comedy · Drama
The Front Page
1931 - Comedy
Drama, War
Five young friends in a Ukrainian village set out on a walking trip to Kiev in June 1941 — and march straight into the first wave of the Nazi invasion. Dana Andrews, Anne Baxter, Walter Huston, and Walter Brennan star in Lewis Milestone's wartime drama from a Lillian Hellman screenplay, produced by Samuel Goldwyn with a score by Aaron Copland. A prestige Hollywood plea for the Soviet ally, released through RKO. It is in the public domain after its copyright was not renewed.
Drama · War
The North Star
1943 - Drama
Noir, Drama
A young woman with a dark childhood secret has grown into a powerful industrialist married to a weak, alcoholic district attorney. When a childhood friend returns to town, the past threatens to unravel. Kirk Douglas's film debut, alongside Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.
Noir · Drama
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
1946 - Noir