Erich Maria Remarque’s novel of post-World War I Germany was filmed in 1938 by Frank Borzage. Though it’s one of Borzage’s best-known films, the higher flights of his romantic sensibility seem cramped by the bright and glossy MGM house style. Against a background of loss and defeat, Borzage spins themes of emotional permanence: things vanish, people die, but feelings survive and revive. Margaret Sullavan is the spectral heroine; and three comrades—the old war buddies who love her—are Robert Taylor, Franchot Tone, and Robert Young. F. Scott Fitzgerald contributed to the screenplay, in one of the few projects of any importance the studio allowed him during his tenure. 98 min.