 Between 1935 and 1937, L'Herbier directed seven features, including a trio which were characterised by their patriotic spirit, "Veille d'armes" (1935) (depicting the French navy), "Les Hommes nouveaux" (1936) (Maréchal Lyautey's pacification of Morocco), and "La Porte du large" (1936) (the navy again).Made during a period of intense political conflict between the left and the right in France, these films, by L'Herbier's own admission, represented a split in his own politics, which set his socialist sympathies against his impatience with the anti-militarism of the Front Populaire.After trying to revive his own production company, this time under the name Cinéphonic, to produce some short documentaries, l'Herbier tried to develop more satisfactory material for himself in a series of dramatised histories which he called "chroniques filmées".