Highly Overrated But Still Good

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This was one of two wartime films directed by the great cinematographer Mutz Greenbaum.He came to the UK as a refugee from Nazi Germany and photographed many famous films.His stylistic flourishes are evident throughout the film. Alas the story is thoroughly undistinguished.The film is far too long.At the beginning it starts with the Spanish civil war.It subsequently moves to Morocco and then finally on to London.It goes at a snail's pace and is generally unexciting. Given that by the time this film was released the war was nearly over it is difficult to understand what would have attracted an audience to this film. What little action there is does not relieve the tedium.

An enjoyable romantic adventure set in the period between the defeat of the Spanish Republic and just before America entered the war. One or two idealistic speeches hold up action occasionally, but the film is refreshingly free of jingoism.