Adapted by Harry Behn from the play by Joseph Farnham and the autobiographical novel `` Plumes '' by Laurence Stallings , the film is about an idle rich boy who joins the US Army 's Rainbow Division and is sent to France to fight in World War I , becomes a friend of two working class men , experiences the horrors of trench warfare , and finds love with a French girl .
It was adapted by Harry Behn and King Vidor from the play by Joseph Farnham and the autobiographical novel `` Plumes '' by Laurence Stallings . It tells the story of an idle rich boy who joins the US Army 's Rainbow Division and is sent to France to fight in World War I .