Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Best movie of this year hands down!

best movie i've ever seen.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

What happens when the leader of the Irish rebellion meets the daughter of an English nobleman? Well, when it's the passionate Merle Oberon and the ridiculously handsome Brian Aherne, they fall in love. In Beloved Enemy, you'll find a forbidden romance among the turmoil of war, similar to Romeo and Juliet. Just as in all classic romances, you can probably guess what will happen, but if you choose to watch this one, you won't be watching it for the plot twists. You'll be watching it for the eye candy, ladies, or because your girlfriend is forcing you to, gents. It is very fun, though, for voluntary watchers, because it has all the elements of a doomed, classic romance. As you might suspect, since this is a movie about Irish people, Donald Crisp is one of the supporting characters, adding responsibility and gravity to the Irish cause. A young Jerome Cowan shines as one of the Irish rebels, and David Niven is the "designated friend" of Merle. I'd recommend this one, although it doesn't reach the heights of Duel in the Sun, because sometimes, us ladies just can't get enough dramatic love. And when you get to watch Brian's gorgeous face for ninety minutes, you're in for a great time!

I haven't seen this film myself but I've just come across a comment on it by my father, after seeing it in 1938: I did not enjoy it as much as I might have had I not been studying the actual facts and happenings of that particular year (1921). After what I had read and pondered so much to retain in my memory I could hardly even endure to look at the picture at all, it was so different from what was in my mind. The human touch in it was the only thing that appealed to me, otherwise the picture was empty. Probably I would have thought it a great picture had I not read so much about that particular period, recently.

A "Romeo and Juliet" story set against the backdrop of the Irish War of Independence in 1921, this is a hugely enjoyable romantic historical drama. Saying that the history of Anglo-Irish relations is contentious and often violent is a bit like saying that the Sun is hot but the film romanticises it in the wonderfully entertaining way that only 1930s Hollywood could. The film is well directed by H.C. Potter. The very strong script by John Balderston, Rose Franken and William Brown Meloney paints the war, which has never exactly been a particularly popular subject for the silver screen outside of the generally lacklustre Irish film industry, in broad strokes. That said, the depiction of the conflict is not overly simplistic as neither side is presented in black and white terms. As someone who knows a great deal about the Irish history of this period but is not terribly nationalistic about it, I appreciated that. Watching films about 1920s Ireland is a bit of a departure for me as my PhD concerns the period, albeit the drafting of statute post-1922 as opposed to the War of Independence, and I generally try not to think about my work while I am relaxing but I was prepared to make an exception in this case.The film stars the underrated Brian Aherne in an excellent performance as Dennis Riordan, a prominent Irish revolutionary and minister in the government of the unofficial and unrecognised Irish Republic. Riordan is essentially a nicer and more honourable version of Michael Collins. Like Collins, he is one of the leaders of the IRA - which is now called the Old IRA to distinguish it from its later incarnations - and a senior member of the Irish delegation sent over to London to negotiate the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. I was not surprised that, with the exception of a photograph of Padraig Pearse, none of the actual Irish revolutionaries of the 1916-22 period were alluded to or mentioned by name in the film. In fact, I would have been shocked if they had been since many of the surviving ones were ministers in the then Irish government or had been ministers in the previous one. Riordan loves Ireland with a passion and is certainly prepared to fight for his country's freedom but he harbours an old dream of retiring to a little farm in Galway where he can forget about the conflict and live a normal life. When it comes to the controversial provisions of the Treaty, he is conflicted between his oath that he will do everything possible to secure a republic and his desire for peace after almost three years of warfare. While most of the Irish characters in the film are played by Irish actors, Aherne is the major exception as he was English, though he was of Irish descent as his name would suggest. His Irish accent is pretty variable, sometimes sounding more Scottish, but the strength of his performance means that it was surprisingly easy for me to overlook that.Merle Oberon is great as his beloved enemy Helen Drummond, the daughter of the prominent British diplomat Lord Athleigh. At the beginning of the film, the British forces are unaware of what Riordan looks like and, after he is briefly arrested, he decides to have a little bit of fun with them by claiming to be Dennis Riordan, knowing that they will not believe. After running into each other again, Riordan and Helen spend the day together in the countryside and, as often happens in such films, fall madly in love in a flash. After Helen learns that the medical student Tom Casey is in fact Riordan, she alerts her father and the authorities in the Viceregal Lodge (now the President of Ireland's official residence Áras an Uachtaráin) and they unsuccessfully attempt to arrest him at a cattle market. Helen soon comes to regret her decision and goes to Riordan to apologise, telling him that she loves him. Aherne and Oberon have great chemistry and their scenes together are very romantic and occasionally moving, even if they are in no way realistic. While much is made of Riordan and Helen's different nationalities, this is no mention of the fact that he is almost certainly a Catholic and she is almost certainly a Protestant, which would have been a very pressing issue under the circumstances. Riordan's fellow Irish revolutionaries believe that his love affair with an English aristocrat is clouding his judgement and make him swear an oath that he will never see her again, at least in private. When Riordan - who holds the casting vote - decides to sign the Treaty, the more radical republicans in the movement believe that it is because of Helen's influence and attempt to assassinate him. However, the fictional Riordan fared better than the real Collins as he survives the attempt. In one of his first major roles, David Niven is very good as the charming Captain Gerald Preston. His feelings for Helen are not returned but he accepts the consistent rejection with grace and charm. It's a good thing that Niven wasn't cast as Riordan as he is so quintessentially English that I could never buy him as a Michael Collins stand-in! Henry Stephenson, the poor man's C. Aubrey Smith, is dull and forgettable as Lord Athleigh. The effortlessly fantastic character actor Donald Crisp is very good as Liam Burke, the most radical of the radicals. In contrast to Riordan, Burke is not based on any senior Irish revolutionary in particular but he has traces of Eamon de Valera and Cathal Brugha. He'd have been better as Lord Athleigh as well, come to think of it. Overall, this is a very entertaining film. It is far from an entirely accurate depiction of Ireland in 1921 but it was never supposed to be anything of the sort.

Leave it to Sam Goldlwyn (and associates) to turn the Troubles of 1920 into a typical Hollywood melodrama and soapy love story. This is truly a curiosity, right up there with John Howard Lawson's BLOCKADE—the one about the Spanish Civil War. Whenever Hollywood touched controversial political subjects like this one there was always a chance that one side or other of the box-office might be offended. Therefore, we are never quite certain what the Irish want, other than Brian Aherne wanting Merle Oberon (and who can blame him), but somehow the message is clear that if an Irish rebel Romeo and an English lady Juliet had managed to wiggle themselves into a peace conference things might have worked out better for both sides. This is a lavish production, lit glamorously by the great Greg Toland with lots of moody sets build on the Goldwyn Formosa Street lot, and the usual collection of expatriated English and Irish character actors. The great Irish actor and Abbey Theater member, Dennis O'Dea, has a small part as one of the rebels. He was later to seen in a similar role in ODD MAN OUT. All-American Jerome Cowan, best remembered as a wise-cracking best friend or reporter, makes his screen appearance here wearing a cap cocked on his head as he uses an odd Irish accent.