Brendan Carroll I took the DVD of this famous film off the shelf the other evening and watched it again after 12 years, to see if it still held up or if I liked it an better. The answer is no. It is a typical well mounted Warner Bros "A" picture, with handsome production values and a good score from Steiner, but it has not worn very well as drama. Although attempts have been made to open out the original play with exterior scenes in Washington, at the Germam Embassy and also in the grounds of the Farrelly mansion (filmed at the old Busch Gardens) , the whole film is fairly set- bound, betraying its theatrical origins.Paul Lukas, a good actor if not a great one, repeats his much admired and very earnest Broadway portrayal as a German anti-Fascist and won the Best Actor Oscar, probably because of the times in which this film was shown. He has a few good moments but the performance is competent at best, not grippingly memorable.Bette Davis is woefully miscast as his wife. She took the role as a favour to Hal Wallis who needed a big name on the posters to ensure box office returns would justify the expense (the rights to the play had cost Jack Warner a whopping $150,000) She does her best to underplay and suppress her usual performance tricks, not entirely successfully (Interestingly, she does not smoke - along with DECEPTION, this is one of her few contemporary films where she does not),. But she is far too mannered and theatrical for the part, which was built up for her and expanded from the play. It is a pity that the great Mady Christians (who played the role on Broadway) was not asked to reprise her role.More pleasure is to be found in the supportng roles - especially Lucile Watson as the matriarch (also reprising her stage performance) and the superb English actor Henry Daniell as an icily cynical German Baron. Beulah Bondi is totally wasted as a French housekeeper.Much has been made by others reviewing this film on IMDB, of how it compares to Casablanca (released the same year) which is far superior in every respect. Comparisons are not really that relevant except that, while almost every line of dialogue in Casablanca is remembered and quoted, especially Humphrey Bogart's 'hill of beans' speech, not one line of Ms Hellmann's wordy, pompous screenplay is recalled today.It is a very wordy script indeed and there are many longeurs in the first half. Moreover, the world in which the Farrrelly's live seems almost like a Hollywood fantasy now, with a grand palladian mansion that would not look out of place in GONE WITH THE WIND, and a large staff of black servants all tugging their forelocks and saying 'Yes'm' at every opportunity. The only ingredient missing in all this is the great Hattie MacDaniel, who was under contact to Warners then and would surely have injected some much needed humour to the proceedings.At one point, the Nazi-sympathising Rumanian Count de Brancovis (George Coulouris) says to Kurt Muller (Lukas) that he cannot place his accent or from which part of Germany he comes. I am not surprised. Lukas was not German but Hungarian, born in Budapest. He was also Jewish, though no mention of his racial origins occur in the script.This film seems much longer than its 114 minutes running time, and I doubt it will get any better with the passing of time.

writers_reign There is, of course (and may well have been) a book to be written on fine Broadway actors who were ignored by movie moguls when plays became films on the grounds that their names were meaningless at the movie box office. This excellent adaptation of Lillian Hellman's critical if not popular Broadway play (it ran just short of a year) transferred with five actors plus director Herman Shumlin reminds me of yet another, Mady Christians, who not only lost out here to Bette Davis, but also, a couple of years later to Irene Dunn (I Remember Mama). Having said that I have no quarrel with Miss Davis whom I admire greatly and who is exceptionally selfless in the role and appears not only to relish supporting Paul Lukas but to do so sincerely. Viewing it in 2015 I found myself totally gripped by all hands especially Mr. Lukas who thoroughly deserved his recognition at Oscar-time and I say that as a confirmed Bogie fan. To find Dashiel Hammett turning in the screenplay is as disconcerting - in the exact reverse way - of finding William Faulkner's screenplay credit on The Big Sleep and he tips his fish-out-of-water glove from the Fade In when he inserts a scene of the Mullers entering the US via Mexico and then cuts immediately to what was clearly the opening scene of the play, crammed with exposition in order to tell the audience that the daughter of the house married a German engineer some sixteen years previously, settled with him in Germany, bore three children and the family of late have travelled extensively. The point Hellman was making was that the DC-based and well-heeled family telling us this have no clue about conditions in Europe (even as audiences were watching this Anna Frank was hiding in an attic) and assume the Mullers have been on some sort of extended vacation rather than on the run. I could, of course, enter the debate about Lillian Hellman's left-wing sympathies but for every left-wing writer there is a right-wing writer (Ayn Rand, for example) so it all evens out and what matters surely is the given work be it novel, play, or film and the only question should be is it, irrespective of any 'message', worth reading and/or watching and in this case the answer is a resounding YES.

PWNYCNY The is a great movie. The passage of time has not lessened its dramatic impact. Although set during World War Two, this movie, which is an excellent adaptation of the Lillian Hellman play, deal with themes which are relevant today and would resonate with a contemporary audience. Paul Lukas's performance is tremendous; his Academy Award is well-deserved. As for Bette Davis, she successfully tackles a role that was not a typical one for her. Here she is cast in a supporting role, yet she still stars, so good is her performance. The other member of the cast are also excellent. Special mention must go to George Coulouris and Irene Watson, both of whom have key roles in the drama. This movie conveys the feeling of determination and commitment to the struggle against Nazism, yet avoids becoming a polemic, which is why the movie is so strong as a drama. For anyone who likes strong stories and excellent acting, this movie is for you.

inhonoredglory What a truly, truly rich, moving experience. I love those films made in the war years, as they mean so much and teach so much and have so much more depth and meaning. This movie is no exception. I can see why Bette Davis took the role "for its importance." It teaches so much to the American people of its time - and even now - how we don't really know what it means to be a European in an Old World so often used to the kinds of conflict that created World War II.The movie also strikingly doesn't feel like propaganda, even though the message was clearly to move its audience into action (aren't all worthwhile films aimed at personal change?). It presented a very enlightening, moving perspective on both the German menace and the Underground protagonists. Muller (Paul Lukas) explains how we will one day feel pity for those Germans who just "follow orders" and are really just fools, like De Brancovis (George Coulouris). And the perspective that Muller and the Underground may indeed be like the evil they fight - to see Muller admit he was bad. Situations like this are not black and white.The acting in this are also marvelous. Paul Lukas is an inspiration to watch. The children are so very precious, as is Lucile Watson's character.After seeing this, my sister wanted to learn more about WWII, the Underground, and the Holocaust. Through it, she's had the experience I've had so long ago.In that time, I see character, selflessness, and purpose greater than self. I love it so, and I am saddened by the blatant selfishness that defines today's society. Movies like this inspire me and make me see continually that ideals and convictions can be attained and are indeed beautiful.