Underground

This top rate production from Warners Bros., tells the story of the anti-Nazi underground and its attempts to sway the German people to reject the Nazi regime and put an end to its war machine. This film is far better than many other later anti-Nazi films cranked out by Hollywood during WW2. The cast all give top rate performances. Martin Koslec is effectively slimey as the Nazi secret police leader who is out to crush the underground. After seeing him here, no wonder he made a career portraying evil Nazi leaders. Perhaps the most memorable performance is by Wolfgang Zilzer as the sad, pathetic former underground leader who becomes a traitor in exchange for release from the hellish torture he is undergoing in a Nazi concentration camp. The scene where he is confronted by underground leaders and forced to commit suicide has real power. The lighting and the music are perfect. Seen today, this film might seem a bit optimistically naive. It gives the viewer the impression the Nazi regime would soon fall from power. None the less the film effectively portrays the terror inflicted on the German people to assure obedience to its corrupt and evil regime.

Note; One odd idea thrown in, is a suggestion about why Rudolph Hess fled Germany and flew into London. During one of the underground broadcasts, Philip Dorn states that Hess fled to escape the gestapo and tell the world the truth. This sounds a bit naive, since everything suggests in real life Hess was always a staunch supporter of the Nazi regime. Of course the whole Hess affair is still to this day shrouded in mystery, and we may never know the real reason why Hess flew into London. That, however is a matter of discussion for another forum.

Watching Underground makes me wish that TCM would do an anthology of great B-movies. Limited budgets imposed constraints on production values -- sound stages and back lots instead of locations, black & white instead of color, character actors in leading roles. What budgets didn't constrain was acting, directing and writing. And what's cool is that there were lots of them, especially from the studio system, where great talent was on staff.

I don't think I've seen a wartime propaganda flick that pulls out all the stops quite like this one. Vile Nazis in their spiffy Nazi uniforms, sadism, torture, whips, dungeons, betrayal, sabotage, righteous rants by old professors...all here! Tight production and right casting make this a delicious grand guignol. Despite the grim theme, there are some pretty funny Hogan's Heroes moments. Example: a thuggish Gestapo underling is bragging to his secretary about a ghastly new torture method he's invented and complaining about Himmler's taking the credit. The secretary, who's in the underground, replies, barely containing her sarcasm, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get a promotion."

And then, there's the ending, when one must face an excruciating dilemma -- to do something horrible and cruel for the greater good. It's something I don't know if I'd have the courage to do. Would you?

When I saw this as a kid I found it a grim.vivid & gripping introduction to the wartime "underground" movement in an occupied territory courtesy Warner Bros as did Martin Kosleck's ruthless Gestapo officer and the silent struggle of one German brother to stick to his convictions in direct opposition to the other,an enemy where discovery meant certain torture & death. It has never been shown on UK TV - certainly not by TCM. I distinctly still recall the relief when this feature in the cinema was quickly followed by the next week's trailer in contrasting brilliant technicolour for Greer Garson in "Blossoms In The Dust"! Only a few years ago I finally tracked down the video which I believed never existed in the States & did not hesitate to have it sent over. It is in pretty good condition & brought back those memories. Barely a year later,(1941), 2 Cities Films in Britain released its blander & lighter version, "Freedom Radio" which starred two of Britain's then leading stage stars, Clive Brook ("Cavalcade") and Diana Wynyard which has had TV showings. In this version the ethical differences & attitudes in defying the gestapo were between husband & wife and various Nazis played(as was then usually the case)by other well known British faces with English accents.

The Warner Bros. trademarks--fast pacing, good photography, tight editing, a cast of veteran character actors--are in full bloom in this well-made thriller from Vincent Sherman, soon to be one of Warners' top directors. Philip Dorn (who was actually Dutch, not German) and Jeffrey Lynn are two brothers, Dorn the leader of an underground German anti-Nazi movement and Lynn a crippled German soldier unaware of his brother's activities. Martin Kosleck is fine as a reptilian Nazi officer eager to destroy the resistance, and Dorn and Lynn have seldom been better. Sherman even manages to throw in a little humor as he satirizes the paranoia of the regime--Mona Maris, an aide to Kosleck who is actually a member of the Resistance, starts a rumor at work about Himmler that builds to the point that when Kosleck eventually repeats it back to her a short time later it bears little resemblance to the one she started. Although it is a first-rate propaganda piece, it unfortunately bears little resemblance to the real conditions in Germany; there was actually very little resistance to Hitler and Naziism among the populace. What little resistance there was came mainly from Catholic priests and Protestant ministers, who were quickly arrested and thrown into concentration camps, where many of them died. There was a small student movement known as the White Rose that engaged in some anti-Nazi activities, but they were soon captured (many of them turned in by their parents!) and executed. In any event, this is a well made little piece and really deserves to be better known than it is. Check it out.

Vincent Sherman was on his way up as a film director at Warner Bros. when he was assigned to 'Underground', a low-budget feature without stars to bolster its box-office appeal. Nevertheless, he managed to weave an interesting, fast-paced tale of intrigue and suspense with the Nazi menace hanging like a heavy shadow over the whole film. Basically, it's the story of two brothers torn apart by their beliefs--one (Philip Dorn) is involved in an underground movement, an announcer for a resistance radio program. The other (Jeffrey Lynn) is a loyal German soldier who eventually joins his brother's cause when he realizes what Hitler is doing. This did fairly well at the box-office despite not having big names and deserves to be seen as the forceful war melodrama that it is.

Martin Kosleck does his usual turn as a vicious Nazi officer and Mona Maris is convincing as a woman not exactly loyal to the German cause. May not be an "A" feature but it certainly is worth viewing.