Because Charlie insistently desired it, Joe offers Charlie""s room at the head of the stairs to Uncle Charlie: "Emmie wanted to move Ann but Charlie thought you""d be more comfortable here.I""m a widow and a (pause).Funny, there""s no word.Lose your parents, you""re an orphan.Lose your only son and you are nothing.Mrs.Venable mentioned that her beloved, deceased son Sebastian - whom she idolized, had died in Europe during the previous summer (in the month of July).The young men who will soon become the central characters of the film are introduced.Seven naive boys (including Paul Baumer (21 year old Lew Ayres in a star-making role) and his friends Kropp, Leer, and Kemmerick), each young and impressionable, are recruited and trained to fight for the glory of the fatherland.They need to find time for another face-changing operation ("this time, I want the face of an absolute non-entity"), and to dispose of the "hot stiff" body of ""Mr.