This Above All

If you only think of Tyrone Power as a swashbuckling hero, you need to rent This Above All. I'd seen all of the wrong movies of his first, like Untamed, Alexander's Ragtime Band, and In Old Chicago, so I thought he was merely a nice-looking actor who wasn't very talented and always played jerks. If you're on the same page that I was, check out The Sun Also Rises, The Long Gray Line, and This Above All. Those three movies will make a Ty fan out of you.

Joan Fontaine plays a wealthy English woman who, disgusted with her family's aloof attitude about the war-in an impassioned monologue, she declares Gladys Cooper to be worse than the Nazis-joins the WAAFs. She's very excited to do her part for the war effort, and this part of the plot is riveting enough, but when she goes on a blind date and spends the evening with a moody, irritable man hidden in the shadows, the plot heats up. Her date is Tyrone Power, and once she sees his beautiful face and his perfectly adorable nose, she's anxious to see him again. As they date, it's clear he's hiding something. If you look up the movie online, you'll find out what his secret is, but I won't spoil it for you in case you want the movie to unfold by itself.

Handsomeness and romance aside, because you can see those in other Tyrone Power movies, Ty gives an excellent layered performance. There's so much turmoil written on his face, long before you find out what his secret is, and his interactions with his well-intentioned friend Thomas Mitchell and a neutral priest Alexander Knox show a simmering temper he never usually shows in his movies. Tyrone Power was never nominated for an Academy Award, and Hot Toasty Rag was proud to give him a nomination for his performance in this emotional drama. In the supporting cast, you can catch glimpses of Henry Stephenson, Sara Allgood, Miles Mander, and Nigel Bruce.

Both Tyrone Power and Joan Fontaine gave great performances in great films, especially Fontaine ('Rebecca' being a note-worthy example). Anatole Litvak is not a personal favourite director of mine, but he did make a lot of solid interesting films and it is hard to not appreciate him for making talented actors unknown early on into international stars (i.e. Charles Boyer) or making other actors more popular when they somewhat started to lose it (i.e. Ingrid Bergman with 'Anastasia').

Litvak may not be at his very best, though he does more than credibly here and deserves credit for maintaining Fontaine's popularity and stretching Power's acting ability, and 'This Above All' is not quite my definition of a great film. It is though very well done in a lot of areas, while Fontaine gives one of her better performances of this point of her career and Power excels in a different type of role for him. A personal favourite 'This Above All' may not be, but it was difficult to not appreciate it.

There is not an awful lot wrong with 'This Above All'. It is agreed though that some of the dialogue is on the preachy side, some of Fontaine's especially.

Some of the central relationship seemed a bit rushed with more time needed to develop and Prudence's decision making regarding what she still sees in Clive, considering how he behaves here, doesn't really ring true agreed.

Power though smolders in a difficult role that is tougher, darker sort of role and a completely different kettle of fish to his usual. Fontaine is touchingly noble and their chemistry scintillates and brings a lump to the throat at its best. The supporting cast also do well, Thomas Mitchell and Gladys Cooper always brought class to their roles and Nigel Bruce doesn't bumble or bluster about like he did in some of his other roles (such as his Dr Watson in the Sherlock Holmes films). Litvak's direction has style and atmosphere.

As does the photography, which is sumptuous and at other times eerie. The music is hauntingly beautiful, while enough of the script is intelligently written and the story poignant and with some tension to stop it from getting sudsy.

Concluding, not perfect but the cast particularly, and primarily the leads, make 'This Above All' worth seeing. 7/10

THIS ABOVE ALL succeeds as a romantic drama largely because of the two leading performances of TYRONE POWER and JOAN FONTAINE, both at their physical peak. Fontaine makes a radiant, spirited Prudence and Power has that sincere quality that makes Clive a real character.

On the debit side, it has the faults typical of many wartime films in the '40s--the propaganda attitude is full of flag-waving moments, such as Fontaine's monologue about England's brave fight for victory. Nevertheless, she gives one of her better performances as an aristocratic young British woman who enlists in the WAF, meets Power and quickly falls deeply in love. It's the romantic aspect of the tale that is a clear winner--but the preachy elements in the screenplay do considerable harm in dulling its merits as a motion picture.

The wartime scenes of bombings and air raids is extremely well handled, the B&W photography is excellent, but Alfred Newman's syrupy score used throughout never gets a chance to rest.

Power and Fontaine make a handsome couple and the cast includes Thomas Mitchell, always a welcome character actor, as a caring friend.

Anatole Litvak's direction is occasionally striking but this director has done much more dramatic and serious work (such as SORRY, WRONG NUMBER and THE SNAKE PIT) with greater effect.

It ends up being only mildly satisfying, mainly because of the chemistry of the two stars.

With the entry of England into WW2, upper class Prudence Cathaway (Joan Fontaine) joins the women's auxiliary force, much to the annoyance of her snobbish relatives. Prudence later meets working-class Clive Briggs (Tyrone Power) on a blind date, and the two fall in love, although Clive reveals little about his past, and Prudence can sense something heavy on his mind. Eventually she learns that not only was Clive recognized for bravery during the Dunkirk evacuation, but that he has subsequently gone AWOL. Will Clive change his mind and return to service, or is he destined to be a fugitive?

I don't often warm to Fontaine, but she's good here, sweetly human and beautiful. Power gets to stretch a bit with a darker character, and he's up to the challenge. The supporting players don't have a lot to do, but they're all memorable professionals, and help keep the movie interesting. Two scenes that struck me as especially noteworthy: the initial date between Fontaine and Power is held during a blackout, with very little light, and only the occasional match strike providing fleeting illumination of faces. The other scene is later in the film, as a frantic Power runs through the wrecked streets of a London neighborhood during an air raid. Bombs are falling, fires are burning, a plane even crashes into a nearby apartment house, all with panicked citizens and valiant firemen running to and fro. A very well executed sequence. The movie received Oscar nominations for Best B&W Cinematography, Best Sound, and Best Editing, and it won for Best B&W Art Direction.

Tyrone Power is completely deprived of all his Hollywood attributes here, he is shabby and unshaved like a bum, his good looks are purposely disposed of and as much altered as possible to the contrary, his character is doubtful, while Joan Fontaine outshines him all the way and constantly more and more, which makes it impossible not to burst out into tears when she does.

It's a chapter out of the most critical point of the war after Dunkirk at the beginning of the long nightmare blitz of London, and all the bombing scenes couldn't have been made more real and convincing. Tyrone is a veteran from Dunkirk, almost decorated, bitterly disillusioned about the war and its glory and finds no meaning in any aspect of the struggle, while Joan in bursts of impressing honesty gives him second thoughts. But there is much more to it than their epitomized romance.

Perhaps the most important ingredient is the other characters. Thomas Mitchell actually saves the show, Alexander Knox is the only one who immediately and thoroughly understands Tyrone's predicament of conscience, Gladys Cooper is gloriously superior as always, Nigel Bruce adds some vital Dickensian comedy, Philip Merivale as the doctor is another vital contribution, and there are others, some not even mentioned. On the whole, it's a perfect masterpiece of film pinpointing the very eye of the storm of the second world war.