Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison

This movie stands out as my favorite WW2 film. It not only explores the nature of honor, but also male female relations and faith in such things. I give it my highest marks with the caveat that it is NOT an action film. This is primarily a drama.

During WWW II in a Pacific tropical island that might be a paradise in other circunstances , there a ship-wrecked , two-fisted American soldier : Robert Mitchum and a nun : Deborah Kerr's favourite film make an unlikely friendship and eventually falling in love . But then the island is invaded , appearing a Japanese detachment overrun the lonely place and the duo hide out during the day and forage for food by night , gradually revealing their pasts to each other . Meanwhile , they struggle to stay alive until USA forces invade the island.

Terrific double studio character on two interesting roles finds a tough soldier , and a sensitive nun , along the way he falls hard while she resists his advances . An enjoyable and good movie with plenty of action , entertainment , high pathos, excitement and tenderness . Perfectly cast Deborah Kerr as kind nun and Robert Mitchum as Marine Sergeant Allison , both of whom providing top-notch interpretations . Based on the novel by Charles Shaw and cleverly written script from John Lee Mahin and John Huston himself . It follows in the wake of The African Queen , instead of a riverboat skipper : Bogart and a missionary : Hepburn here there is a soldier and a nun , delivering virtually duologue between the two .

It packs colorful cinematography by Oswald Morris , providing the exquisite , humid and lush atmosphere of a small tropical island. As well as rousing and stirring musical score by George Auric. This decently made picture results to be one of John Huston's best . Being skillfully made by conveying a moving drama , adventure and battles to hold the interest enough . Huston made films of all kinds of genres , directing some masterpieces , outstanding the following ones : The Maltese Falcon , Key Largo, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Moulin Rouge , Beat the Devil, Moby Dick , The Unforgiven, The Misfits , Freud, The Night of the Iguana , Fat City , Roy Bean , Victory , Wise Blood , Under the Volcano , and his last feature film : The Dead . Rating : 7.5/10 . Better than average . The movie will appeal to Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr fans .

It's always interesting to hear what movie directors think of their own work, and John Huston once made a very insightful comment about this 1957 film which he made for 20th Century Fox:- "Allison is seldom referred to. But I think it was one of the best things I ever made". Huston has hit the nail squarely on the head with this comment. It is - just as he states - a film that has faded into obscurity as the years have passed. It is also paradoxically one of his great works. Perhaps The African Queen, The Red Badge Of Courage, The Asphalt Jungle and Treasure Of The Sierra Madre rank in the director's very top tier of work, but Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison is definitely among the front-runners in the second tier.

The story is extremely simple, but absorbing. American marine Allison (Robert Mitchum) is washed ashore on a Pacific island during WWII. The only other person on the island is a nun named Sister Angela (Deborah Kerr). Although they are totally different types of people - and in other circumstances might well have looked down their noses at each other - they find that their mutual plight draws them together and creates a very close friendship. Their situations worsens, however, when a Japanese force arrives and stations a garrison on the island. Allison and Sister Angela find themselves in genuinely grave danger now. Initially, they were merely shipwrecked.... but the arrival of the Japanese soldiers places them in the very midst of the enemy, with nowhere to run and almost nowhere to hide.

As it was made in 1957, the filming was fraught with difficulties, because at that time the Catholic church imposed strict censorship laws on films dealing with religious situations or characters. In the original Charles Shaw book which provided the inspiration for the film, the marine and the nun fell in love.... but it would have been deemed offensive if that were to happen in a 1957 film, so Huston had to create a revised resolution in which the marine and nun gain strength, hope and determination from each other without ever physically consummating their relationship. The performances are meticulous, with Mitchum showing what depth and sensitivity he could bring to a part when asked to do more than his usual man-of-action thing. Kerr is, if anything, even better and earned a thoroughly worthy Oscar nomination (she was eventually beaten - probably undeservedly - by Joanne Woodward). Oswald Morris shoots the film splendidly, ensuring that it is always pleasing to the eye, while Huston expertly juggles the suspense and the sensitivity. Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison is a really first-rate film and how sad it is that such a likable motion picture has become virtually forgotten.

This film is among the best of my collection, when I like to see a good film, this is always in the first line. Robert Mitchum acted here extremely well as a marine with a very poor, not to say vulgar, background in his life. He confessed he was born orphan, he never knew who were his parents, and after 14 years old he escaped from the orphanage and was put in jail several times. His life changed once he was recruited by the US Marine. The always brilliant Deborah Kerr is here a nun with a very character and humor, always able to understand the behavior of Mr. Allison (Mitchum). It is normal that when two persons of opposite sex are together some strange feelings may appear, the mariner obviously may some hints in his favor, but the nun politely said no. In conclusion, excellent film with an interesting plot and wonderful acting, a real good film forever.

John Huston virtually remade "The African Queen" as a two-hander but set during the Second World War and on a Pacific island occupied by the Japanese and on which are hiding an American marine, (Robert Mitchum), and a nun, (Deborah Kerr), the only other sole occupants. Dextrously moving between scenes of genuine suspense, (will they be discovered), and real intimacy in which the comic as well as the dramatic potentials of the story are beautifully played out by both actors, Huston creates a film that works on a number of levels and shows real flair for the use of the widescreen imposed on him by 20th Century Fox. Indeed Kerr wears her habit as if to the manor born, (she's a much more relaxed nun than her Sister Clodagh in "Black Narcissus"), while Mitchum, with only Kerr to react to, has probably never been better. In this film he refined his laconic style to a fine art. Although popular with those who have seen it the film has never really acquired much of a reputation even if it is one of Huston's finest and certainly most undervalued films.