Tödlicher Sturm

Sincere, moving story about the Nazi takeover in Germany and its affect on one family in particular. The father (Frank Morgan) is sent to a concentration camp. His stepsons become ardent Nazis, as does the man who was supposed to marry his daughter (Margaret Sullavan). This also drives a wedge between the sons and a lifelong friend (James Stewart), who is in love with Sullavan.

Beautifully acted with fine performances from all. Stewart and Sullavan are amazing. Robert Young, usually playing good guy parts, here plays a Nazi. Bonita Granville does well, as does Ward Bond in a villainous part. Maria Ouspenskaya is brilliant as usual. But the best kudos would have to go to Frank Morgan for his sensitive, intelligent performance. Possibly the finest of his career. Robert Stack also appears as one of the Nazi stepsons and plays a part in the film's powerful final scene.

This is truly a classic in every sense of the word. It's a movie that should be seen by everybody, both for its content as well as its historical value.

This film is nothing short of a masterpiece ! For its time. Although the world situation has changed completely today, and the film may have little or no relevance to the current world situation, at the time in 1940, this was a very very powerful work indeed ! I had always been curious about this film, having read the book when I was young ( in the 1960's ) and was shocked by it ! It's not a war film and it's not the war aspect that frightened me. No, its the way a happily united family can become so disunited because of politics which sent shivers up my spine !! Suddenly, a peaceful and harmonious situation changes dramatically, and you are obliged to take sides, even fighting against your own blood. It really is awesome. Acting is first-rate and image, though in black and white is more than passable for the period ! I can well imagine the film to have been a very powerful piece of anti-Nazi propaganda ! I'm sorry to have to complain about this again but here we have yet another film which should have been out on DVD for several years but ........ there's no sign of it !

Quite honestly, I found this quite unnerving to watch and felt ill at ease observing the gradual breakdown within the family. It certainly isn't a film for the faint hearted and I won't go any further than mention briefly that AWFUL final scene ........!!

Things we take for granted such as freedom to think as we believe and to express those thoughts were snatched away abruptly from the German people in 1933 when Adolph Hitler was "elected" chancellor of Germany. Freedom was replaced by the New Order and as most people know, millions of people were murdered simply because they didn't fit the racial "norms" or accept the dictates of what the government said one should believe,

It's 1933 and Professor Viktor Roth (Frank Morgan) lives with his wife, 2 step sons, daughter and young son in a comfortable home in a university town in the Alps. Although the word is never mentioned, it is clear Professor Roth is Jewish and his life becomes endangered when the Nazis take over. While his 2 stepsons join the party, as does Fritz, his daughter's fiance (played by Robert Young), his daughter and their old family friend Martin (played by Jimmy Stewart) defy the common tide and resist joining the party. And it is Jimmy Stewart who expresses it best - by saying freedom to believe as a person wants to is food and drink to him. And it turns out, it's food and drink to Freya Roth (played by Margaret Sullavan), the young daughter to whom he is attracted. She breaks her engagement to Fritz and escapes -- or tries to -- with Martin. He had already fled to still free Austria while helping a Jewish school teacher escape.

This movie says much about what we take for granted - the sacredness of the right to act, believe, speak and think as a person wishes to, unencumbered by government dictates or threats. These gifts are precious and we have no idea just how precious until they are threatened. If, God forbid, that should ever happen, it is only hoped we have the same courage as young Freya and Martin.

This movie is compelling in a quiet way. There are no shoot 'em ups, no gory prison or execution scenes, no barbarity is shown. But it is there nevertheless and perhaps that is what makes the viewer keep watching. The only drawback is that it was written in 1940 so viewers back then don't really know the ending because the war had another 4 y ears to go and victory was by no means certain in 1940. The U.S. hadn't entered the war yet but word was leaking out as to what was really going on in Germany at the time. It's a shame more people didn't listen and that more people didn't pay attention to the message delivered in such a subtle way in this movie.

This was certainly one of the most dramatic, stirring and memorable movies I have seen, and I watch A LOT of movies. It cuts deep by hitting close to home...the family, subtly inferring how even strong families with great values can be divided by changing ideas in politics or even religion. Before this movie, I wondered how Hitler could make everyone blindly follow him SO obsessively. What magic did Hitler have over these people? We saw MILLIONS in news clips with their arm in the air claiming "HEIL (sp?) Hitler!" After seeing this movie, I understand more. Not everyone agreed with Hitler's beliefs, but those who didn't were ostracized, imprisoned, beaten, or tortured. MANY WERE FORCED TO COMPLY, and immediately attacked if they didn't comply with the songs, the salute, or even spoke against Hitler. Europeans in the 30's didn't have the opportunity to move and get away from a dangerous environment the way we do now, and people then did trust the words of leaders more and follow more blindly. It was a different age; a different way of thinking, and someone was brave enough to make this movie to show how deep beliefs CAN tear families apart. Hitler had influence over a lot of the people, but promoted ideas such as violently cleansing the country of anyone who was different or who thought differently, so those who did follow Hitler bullied those who didn't. Some stayed strong with their own values and paid with their lives, others stayed strong by just faking submission, knowing that soon it would pass and they would live through it. There is not as much violence or other atrocities like new movies, but I would say "not for the (emotionally tender) faint of heart". It's a story of the Germans and how they were affected; no scenes of the holocaust here. Maybe because in 1940 so few people realized the horrors that were really going on, or maybe the filmmaker wanted to show the effect this had on the Germans, since little has been produced from that angle. If we don't study history, history will repeat itself, and I can easily see this situation happening again with other groups of people in the next few years. I actually feel privileged to have seen it, in order to understand politics and human nature and how Nazism could have affected people in WWII.

I've often thought that the best way to see The Mortal Storm is back to back with Three Comrades. Both films are about post World War I Germany, both films from MGM, both films have Margaret Sullavan, and Robert Young in them and both directed by Frank Borzage. Three Comrades has its story take place during the Weimar Republic with the beginning of the rise of Nazism and The Mortal Storm takes place as the Nazis are solidifying their control over Germany.

Both films are about how the political changes affect some very ordinary people. This film deals with the Roth family, Frank Morgan and Irene Rich, their children Margaret Sullavan and Gene Reynolds and Irene's sons by a first marriage, William T. Orr and Robert Stack. And of course Robert Young and James Stewart who are rivals for Sullavan.

The stepsons and Young are confirmed Nazis, they see Hitler's rise to power as a great thing, that Germany will take her place among the first rank of nations. Morgan, Stewart and Sullavan are appalled by the excesses and brutality in stamping out any contrary opinions that think the Third Reich is not a good thing.

It's hard to believe, but before World War II, Jimmy Stewart was cast in a few roles that are foreign types. Later on Stewart was the quintessential American character and the public would never have accepted him. He played non-Americans in Seventh Heaven, The Shop Around the Corner, and The Mortal Storm. The last two were done to critical and commercial success. Stewart's character of Martin Breitner, a farmer who wants to be a veterinarian, is as idealistic and decent as the very American Jefferson Smith. Probably why the public accepted Stewart in this role.

Also because the entire cast is American with the notable exception of Maria Ouspenskaya as Stewart's mother. So no foreign speech pattern stood out.

Frank Morgan was usually cast at MGM as a comic befuddled buffoon. Here in The Mortal Storm he shows his great skill as a player going completely against how he was usually typed. He's a college science professor who will not teach any Nazi pseudo-science about racial superiority of the Germans. His non-Aryan, read Jewish, name is carefully noted several times though the word 'Jew' is never used.

Margaret Sullavan once again is a tragic heroine. Considering the limited amount of films she did, I think Margaret Sullavan had more screen deaths per film than any other female player. She carried an aura of tragedy about her, probably a carry over from her real life. She and Stewart make a pair of tender lovers, just as she did in Three Comrades with Robert Taylor. Their life and happiness together are sacrificed by a brutal political regime.

Note the performances of Ward Bond as the local brownshirt, storm trooper leader and Dan Dailey as the young local head of the Hitler youth. Good studies in the kind of people the regime attracted and who could rise to the top in that kind of society.

The Mortal Storm still holds up well after over 60 years, a great study in the early days of a regime that made the world suffer.