Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

It is a performances centric movie

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Yes, Paul Lucas deserved best actor for this film. Bette Davis and a fine supporting cast bring out a terrific performance. The film is very well constructed by one would come to expect that when the author of the Broadway play brings that play to the screen with the help of the author of The Thin Man.There are many subtle points in this movie younger viewers miss. For example, the kids act robotic and unreal at times. The reason for this is because these kids were according to the story-line, schooled in Nazi Germany and that is how kids were schooled by Nazis. The youngest son particularly is alarming scripted as a Nazi Brainwashed Programmed Child. This is an extremely intelligent point most viewers miss now, as it has been a long time since this was written. Lucas as the father speaks to the children late in the movie about saving all children their "childhood". That is what this speech is about, not being brainwashed on how to think.Meanwhile, PC people have cringed at this movie being shown, so for years it did not get a lot of air play. That is because the black cast here is shown as servants, just like many films in this era. That is hard for the politically correct person to accept, because we are not supposed to show them reality. It reminds me of another Liberal view which justifies racism - "Black Slaves who came to America were not immigrants, because they were slaves." Now here is the definition of -im·mi·grantˈiməɡrənt/noun- a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country. Sorry, it does not matter if someone chooses or is forced to come to another country, once they do, by definition they are an immigrant if they live in that country permanently. This movies author is considered Liberal and even Communist by some. They are also quite Racist, and that is an important point to remember. Regardless of the authors intentions in writing the play, and helping to convert it into a film, the film accurately portrays many views at the time. Yes, this film is very much war propaganda. Bette Davis added needed star power to an outstanding cast and a well written script. It is really war propaganda more than anything else as in 1943, there were several films from Warner Brothers that were. In fact, several members of the supporting cast were regulars in Warners films that year.The alarm that should be raised by this movie is it illustrates how political views can be drummed into people to the point of making society dangerous. It is still happening today, and this film should be shown as a base primer on how it was done then, and remind us of how it is being done today.The last scene with Davis and the oldest son is an interesting epilogue. It presents the oldest son as loving his dad so much, that he wants to follow in his footsteps in hopes of finding him, and contributing to the cause his father stood for - freedom from oppression. It is a telling message.

All the fine acting and "A picture" production values that Warner's had at the time this film was made can't save it from it's ponderous dialogue and message. It IS entertaining to a point but there are moments that are just excruciating. "That is good" is said about 100 times. "That is bad" another 100 times. It plays like a theater piece (from which it was based) and one can really feel like one is being clobbered over the head with the message of this film which is admirable (anti-Fascism) but handled with zero delicacy. The whole thing just seems very dated. Bette gives a fine performance as does Lucile Watson but Paul Lukas is like a block of wood and those kids are, well, as subtle as biting down on a jalapeno. My favorite moment I think is the car ride with Lucile and her friend who go out to shopping. "Messy candy, that's what I'll buy, my grandchildren would like messy candy!"

Once again, Lillian Hellman takes on the fight against Fascism as she did with the analytical "The Little Foxes". Here, it is modern day Washington D.C. and German born Nazi hater Paul Lukas comes to the capitol on a mission while visiting his American wife's family. He is recognized by a traitorous Nazi sympathizer, calling into question his own values and bringing on a sacrifice that was necessary during the second world war. Bette Davis takes second fiddle to Lukas's showier lead, realizing how important this would be not only to her career but to the war as well. Propaganda, certainly, but well-written, definitely.The villain of the story is George Coulouris, playing both sides against the middle as European Count with only one goal in mind: cash. He's the type of sleaze who would sell out his own mother in order to grab on to the green, and also the type that the Nazis would kill as soon as they got all of the information he possessed. He's there as a guest, married to Geraldind Fitzgerald who obviously loves Davis's brother. Lucille Watson, as Davis's regal mother, takes her lovable character through many different levels: demanding, bossy, opinionated, slightly meddlesome, cheery, worried, shocked and finally contrite. But never is she any less than practically perfect, in performance and character. In a smaller role, Beaulah Bondi is Watson's wise housekeeper who is amused by Davis's feisty younger son who declares to Watson's surprise, "Yes, I am not handsome."War is never just on the battlefield, in the skies or on water. It is in the cities where all seems peaceful, in the country where hate grows like corn, and especially in the heart where it expands like a tumor. All it takes is one person like Coulouris to start the thread of intolerance and fascism spreads like plague. That's where Lukas must battle his own moral structure, coming to terms with the difference between being a pacifist and ridding the world of evil, whether it be one man or millions. The script leaves the story open, as was appropriate, as the theme states that the plot line of the world will never be completed as long as evil is allowed to roam the earth.

For all these years I have avoided watching this film because, although it had one feature I really like (Bette Davis), it appeared to about WWII along the Rhine River...and I usually detest war movies. So, last evening, I was quite delighted to learn that the movie was completely different than I had expected, and although it was about WWII and Nazis, it takes place primarily in Virginia (or is it Maryland).In 1940, before the U.S. had gotten into WWII (although the film was produced in 1943, when the end of the war was approaching) German-born engineer Paul Lukas, his American wife Bette Davis, and their 3 children Joshua cross from Mexico into the United States to visit (or live with) Davis' mother in suburban Washington. For 17 years, the Lukas/Davis family has lived in Europe, with Lukas participating in anti-Fascist activities.Will they live in peace in America? Or will Lukas continue his anti-Nazi activities through trips abroad? Of will a house guest who secretly favors the Nazi turn Lukas in for money from the Nazis. Well, the house guest won't do that, because ultimately Lukas shots him to death! At the close of the movie, one of Davis' sons announces that is planning to return to war-time Europe to find his father (Lukas). Davis, though heartbroken agrees to be brave when that time comes.Davis is excellent here, perhaps all the more so because she is playing against type. In fact, this may be one of her better roles. Lukas, an actor from Austria-Hungary, did win the Oscar for Best Actor, and he turns in a decidedly different performance than would have been given by an American actor. Lucile Watson, as the mother, was excellent here...as she always was. Geraldine Fitzgerald turns in a good performance, as does Donald Woods as the son. George Coulouris is appropriately loathsome as the evil house guest. The one performance that disappointed me was from a character actress that I have the highest respect for -- the wonderful Beulah Bondi. Unfortunately, here she plays a French great aunt, and it just seems an unnatural role for her.I give this film high marks. It rises above typical war-time movie stories, and is a superb drama. This may very well be one for your DVD shelf...a war story with a difference.