Ep. 8: Somme, Early August 1916

Matinee Idyll

New member
Love this one. Likely the most overwhelmingly intense and gripping episode of the series. It hardly lets up.

While the trench battle sequences are perhaps less visceral and powerful than the 'Verdun' episode, they still pack an enormous punch to the gut. The gas attack and flamethrower sequence is simply horrific, ...unfathomable.

That sequence has been put up on youtube (in Dutch I believe);
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY-3BNnbV_o

Seigfried Sassoon and Robert Graves are two great historical figures in this episode, interwoven seamlessly into the flow of the episode. A stunning reminder of beauty and arts ability to flourish and thrive in the most dehumanizing of situations.

I wonder if the Flanders episode that's referred to by Indy and Jacques was ever going to be filmed. I quite like how we leave Indy in London, then pick up the story 3 months later... a very different character we encounter.

A stunning episode.
 

vf wing

New member
Indeed, this episode really underscored the horrors of war very effectively, despite the relative lack of blood. It's nice that the youtube clip has them speaking French. These were some perilous, sobering moments for our hero, to watch nearly everyone around him die and be forced to kill close up to ensure his own survival.

The beginning is slightly confusing, since we are dropped right into the middle of Indy's war experiences. But their references to the loss of their officers suggested an untold chapter that would have had a very similar structure to the one we get to see, so in a way not much was lost.

The scene where the French lieutenant teaches him to make his own cover struck me as a nice nod to the opening sequence of TOD in Club Obi-wan, where he cut the gong loose to allow his escape. So this is where he learned that trick!

This episode flows seamlessly into its second part, and was clearly designed from the beginning to work that way. Trenches of Hell might be a good introductory episode to folks on the fence about this series!
 

Stoo

Well-known member
vf wing said:
The beginning is slightly confusing, since we are dropped right into the middle of Indy's war experiences. But their references to the loss of their officers suggested an untold chapter that would have had a very similar structure to the one we get to see, so in a way not much was lost.!
Here's the synopsis of that missing chapter (from a Star Wars website):

Episode #38 "Le Havre, June 1916"
Indy's Age: 16
Subject: The Law
Character: Jean Renoir; Donald Thompson
Theme: Trust
Synopsis: Indy and Remy are at basic training in the Belgian Army at Le Havre, France. Their sergeant is a very tough, nefarious character who gives all the men a difficult time, but he is particularly abusive to Indy, which angers Remy. At the end of training, the men are celebrating and drinking at a bar, and the sergeant is later found dead. Remy is charged with his murder. Indy defends him at his court martial.

vf wing said:
This episode flows seamlessly into its second part, and was clearly designed from the beginning to work that way.
You are absolutely correct and the original version of "Germany, Mid-August 1916" starts with a few "flashback" shots from this episode.
Of all the stories that have been merged together to make a longer film, this is the only one that does not have any new linking segments.

I agree with both of you about the effectiveness of this tale. The flame-throwers/mustard gas sequence is terrifying and the haunting image
of the advancing German troops in gas masks on horseback is not an easy one to forget. Superb episode!
 

phantom train

New member
These YIJC WW I Trench warfare episodes (particularly the one mentioned, Somme Early August 1916) were excellent, and IMHO were the best, most realistic depiction of WW I in any other film/TV show, period. I agree that the Somme episode may be the best episode of the series. Extremely
well-done, and as has been said, very intense and disturbing.

I remember watching these episodes in 1992, and being amazed and pleasantly surprised that a show with this high level of quality was actually being broadcast on US network T.V.
 

fommes

Member
Those shots in the gas & flame thrower sequences, aren't they tracked in from another source? They look like the typical shots borrowed from other movies.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
fommes said:
Those shots in the gas & flame thrower sequences, aren't they tracked in from another source? They look like the typical shots borrowed from other movies.
There are a bunch of shots like that and in a couple of cases they added Fort Douamont in the background. Some of them might be from
the '79 TV version of "All Quiet on the Western Front" since a few bits of it were used in "Verdun/Demons of Deception". Other parts could
be colourized footage from an earlier b/w film. The flamethrower scene looks all original but I could be wrong. If not, it's extremely consistent.
I've picked out a fair number of "borrowed" shots from other episodes but can't place these. If anyone can figure out the source film/s,
please post it here (or in one of these threads):

Borrowed Footage - Young Indy
References to other films/TV shows in YI

The most chilling moments comes when all the men are standing frozen watching their comrade choke to death,
followed by the approach of the Flammenwerfers. Obscured by the smoke and accompanied by some truly, eerie music,
this scene is one of my favourites in the whole series. Flamethrowers were a new weapon in WW1 which is why I love this:

Remy to Indy: What in Hell'z name iz zat?

Then, of course, all the shots of the advancing German army with the horses wearing gas masks and riders carrying lances
look so terrifyingly evil. Even if this is borrowed footage, the editing and music make the whole sequence unforgettable.
phantom train said:
I remember watching these episodes in 1992, and being amazed and pleasantly surprised that a show with this high level of quality was actually being broadcast on US network T.V.
For a prime-time TV show in '92, this episode was mind-blowing!:dead:
 

fommes

Member
Stoo said:
Some of them might be from the '79 TV version of "All Quiet on the Western Front" since a few bits of it were used in "Verdun/Demons of Deception".
Oh, I've just got this one on my DVR from a broadcast last week. How coincidental is that!
I still need to sit down and watch it though.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
La Maisonette

In a doughnut shop, Indiana Jones once said, "It happened by a little river called, The Somme!" (and the opening title confirmed it). Unfortunately, "Trenches of Hell" (without the bookends) doesn't specify the location?unless you are a WW1 expert. So where, precisely, was Indiana Jones situated during this episode?:confused:

In a few days, on November 11th (Remembrance Day), I'll be at the Somme for the WW1 100th Anniversary ceremonies. While reading up on the battles, something caught my eye on a map in a magazine?a point called, "La Maisonette", which was the main objective for this chapter! The map is an old German one and shows the change in the German line from the beginning to the end of the Battle of the Somme (July-December 1916). La Maisonette is tucked right into the bend of the river.

Somme_Map_zps6feea6fe.jpg


Indy's story fits with the opening fight at the Somme, the "Battle of Albert" in early JULY (rather than early AUGUST, as the original title card says). The French 6th Army took La Maisonette on July 10?but German reinforcements squashed the advance soon after.

So this action was genuine but the 'Indy timeframe' is about a month later (probably even later because of the snowflakes). Nevertheless, this type of detail is testimony towards the meticulous research done for the series and it never ceases to amaze. More than 20 years later, the show is still blowing my mind!

Here is the location of La Maisonette and what it looks like 90+ years later:

Somme_Location_1_zpsd511f6dc.jpg

Somme_Location2_zpsddd23c82.jpg

Somme_Location3_zps915ec80d.jpg


QUESTION:
Were any Belgian regiments involved in the Battle of Albert?:confused:
 
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