Re: ''They shall not grow old''' film.
Well, the film threw me at first - it was in smallscreen black and white, so I had to check that I was watching the right channel .....
The change to fullscreen colour came after 20 mins and was, initially, not that dramatic. What was very different, though was that the film speed had been adjusted to "normality". As the colour deepened, so the "reality" increased, especially when the wounded and dead were shown.
Surprisingly, the mood was upbeat, with the old soldiers saying they were glad to go, it was the best time of their life, they got on well with the Bavarians but not the Prussians and they were rather at a loose end when the war finished.
There was next to nothing about battles, losses and gains, technological advances, etc., but I believe that this was deliberate in order to convey that the soldiers knew nothing except their immediate vicinity and their struggle to survive in appalling conditions.
Not quite what I expected but nevertheless illuminating.