Schicksal von gestern

A British romantic drama; A story set in London and the Far East about a Wren and a captain who meet by chance during an air raid in London, 1941. They eventually fall deeply in love and marry. Although they spend her short embarkation leave time together, their hopes are tragically destroyed after the fall of Singapore. The film has a promising beginning, builds the story well, but the second act goes from the plausible and realistic to the melodramatic and overplayed. The third act is mostly absorbing before it falls to sentimentality and a sharp resolution. The prologue and epilogue have a weighty tone, a legal flaw that brings some stark realities, and a provocative theme, but a problem remains unresolved. Anne Neagle's performance was first-rate. With Wilding, they had a chemistry despite the uninspiring dialogue. It had an admirable all-round cast nonetheless.

I do like an old British film to watch & I'd never seen this one, Anna Neagle & Micheal Wilding star & apparently a short glimpse of Roger Moore though I missed it.

Such a great topic, this has been used before & since (Move Over Darling) & it must have really happened during a war somewhere at sometime.

A partner is believed lost & then turns up sometime later after the other has moved on with their life.

Two people meet during an air raid in London & like so many, they married almost immediately, as life could be so short in those dark days.

War then separated them for a couple of years, as one was believed to have been lost & the one still living a 'normal' life, moves on with theirs.

I really enjoyed it though some bits were needlessly prolonged, the beginning especially with their courtship before marrying & then it was rushed at the end.

Without giving too much away, it would have been good to see more depth to their reaction on their reunion.

And can someone tell me, did some peolpe actually live like that? Out for lavish dinners, drinking champagne & generally not being affected by the deprivation & terror of nightly bombings & rationing?

Anna Neagle plays a WREN (equivalent of the American WAVE) who bumps into a recovering (he was at Dunkirk) Michael Wilding in Piccadilly, London during an air raid.Fortunately Michael has a flat nearby and Anna is convinced for safety it is better to spend the night there.After a whirlwind romance they marry but Anna has been on a secret radio course (cannot tell Michael - wartime discipline) and is bound for the Far East (Singapore).Before this Anna has a chance to show off her dancing pedigree and dances to a strange blend of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" and 1940s swing music.At her naval college she makes friends with a Canadian sailor who fancies her.Unfortunately her ship is torpedoed and Anna, along with her Canadian boyfriend, best girl friend (Brenda Bruce) and a few survivors, are shipwrecked on an uninhabited island.They decide to make a bid for survival and are rescued in the nick of time by an American ship before the sun, exhaustion and thirst can overtake them all.

Back in New York and after a decent hairdo, proper clothes, food etc. the survivors make their own way back home courtesy of our American allies.As they have all been missing for so long they have all been legally presumed lost and meanwhile Michael has made friends with then married an attractive American WAVE who has been picnicking along with some other U.S. personnel, outside Michael's grand country house.The WAVE loves England.She and Michael now have a son half English and half American.A bombshell is about to land on this idyll.Under English law at the time a child born out of wedlock cannot assume legal rights of inheritance and Anna is on the way back to reunite with Michael.She meets her American counterpart and the baby she had and when she realises they are married she flees in search of Michael.

Michael is giving a recital on piano of "Piccadilly" to the troops and when he has finished Anna makes herself known.I will not divulge more and invite readers to seek out how the film ends as it is surprising.This is another wonderful film from the Neagle/Wilding partnership which they produced under Herbert Wilcox.If you have seen some of their other films, this is well up to standard.I rated it 7/10

First can I say that I consider Mr Reids review to be spot on.I would add that the key to the mediocre production values is that it was made at Welwyn studios,a small studio run by ABPC,used when they had no space at ElstreeI believe that the legalities are fundamentally flawed.In any event this aspect cannot save what is a dull stilted melodrama,which is deservedly forgotten.

Very genteel British wartime romance in which Michael Wilding eventually remarries after believing his wife of only three days (Anna Neagle, looking incredibly good for 42) has died at sea, only for her to turn up alive and well. It's all very British - exaggerated politeness, stiff upper lips, chirpy working classes, etc - which makes the outlandish plot seem even more far-fetched than it probably is. Director Herbert Wilcox seemed to struggle to fit all that plot into the 103 minute running time, as some key events are glossed over.