This Land Is Mine

In an unnamed European town (it's a symbolic stand-in for France, but the characters are all British), the German army moves in and sets up occupation. Local school teacher Albert (Charles Laughton) is more concerned with his romantic feelings for co-worker Louise (Maureen O'Hara) and escaping from the clutches of his over-protective mother (Una O'Connor). However, when a resistance movement begins against the occupation, Albert may find himself drawn into it.

Director Renoir manages to inject some originality into well-trod territory. Laughton is very good as the weak-willed Albert, and he's ably matched by the strong and beautiful O'Hara. George Sanders seems a bit wasted in his role as a collaborator, but he gets one really good scene. The biggest surprise was Kent Smith, an actor who I usually regard as a waste of space. Here, playing a daring resistance fighter operating right under the Germans' noses, he's charismatic and exciting. The movie won an Oscar for Best Sound.

One last bit of comparative trivia: This Land Is Mine was a big hit, with a record-breaking opening weekend. This was because it opened on a then-unheard-of 72 screens. Today, the big superhero movies open on thousands of screens.

About half way through this film I became aware that I was in the presence of greatness. It may not be perfect but it is about as good films got during the war. Many films at the time were made that painted the Nazi occupation as a black and white issue. You will know after seeing this that that is wrong. All the characters here are in shades of gray. That is the films power. This should be a classic. Why it is not available on DVD in region 1 is a mystery to me.

The lead actors are all extremely good here, and of course a stand out performance by Charles Laughton. I have seen quite a few of Laughton's films and I am always amazed by his range of roles. He goes from heavy to hero and everything in between. He was, in my opinion, one of the very few really great actors of his time. I have seen him in some bad films but I have never seen him give a bad performance!

Speaking of heavies, did you notice that all the male leads have successfully played heavies? They all give very nuanced interpretations here that go way beyond black and white. Go see it.

One of greatest anti-war films with memorable acting from Charles Laughton , Maureen O'Hara and George Sanders . It's a moving reflexion about war , sacrifice and death . A mild-mannered schoolteacher (Charles Laughton) in a Nazi occupied town during WWII finds himself being torn between collaboration and resistance . He is quite friendly with his fellow teacher , Louise Martin (Maureen O'Hara) and her brother Paul (Kent Smith ) . Meanwhile , at school and street many prohibited books, considered "un-German," were broken or burned in the book-burning pile . Albert is charged with murder but the local Nazi commander, Major Erich Von Keller (Walter Slezak) , offers him a deal . At the end the teacher begins reading to his students "The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen" (French: Déclaration Des Droits l'Homme Et Du Citoyen), a fundamental document of the French Revolution.

This is an excellent classic anti-war movie and deals about sacrifice , collaboration , comradeship , human relations and in which a shy man is drawn into the actions of the resistance . A heart-breaker and elegiac movie in the way it shows war undercutting and qualities of a timid but good teacher . This is a well-paced , deliberate and magnetic drama set in WWII . It is a riveting film dealing with thought-provoking issues , wonderful acting and anti-Nazi denounce . Anyway, the film is very interesting , thematically intriguing and brooding . Time has not diminished its qualities nor its charming to the emotions . Interesting performances enhance an eloquent screenplay by Dudley Nichols . Impressive defense final speech , though propaganda , which is arousing the citizens in court . The film opened simultaneously at 72 theaters in 50 key cities on 7 May 1943, setting a box office record for gross receipts on an opening day. Excellent acting by the great Charles Laughton , giving a remarkable , self-effecting performance as a coward , mild-mannered teacher who is drawn into the actions of the resistance . Very good support cast includes extraordinary actors as George Sanders as George Lambert , Walter Slezak as Major Erich Von Keller , Kent Smith as Paul Martin and special mention to Una O'Connor as mother at a sympathetic though exaggerated interpretation .

The film is excellently screen-written and directed by Jean Renoir who approach the intensity and feel of his best works. Son of painter impressionist Auguste Renoir , was perhaps the best of French directors . At its initial French period he directed classics as ¨Boudu saved drowning, Rules of the game, Marseillaise, Day in the country¨ and of course ¨Grand Illusion¨ in which his optimism remains relentless . Renoir was in Hollywood for seven years, where he made ¨Swamp water, Southerner, Diary of chambermaid, This land is mine,and Woman on the beach¨. He returned France where directed other classic films as ¨Carrozza dóro, Testament Dr Cordelier, Picnic on the grass, Vanishing corporal¨ and several others. His films have influenced on Francois Truffaut, Luchino Visconti, Satyajit Ray , among them. Rating : above average, an extraordinary and sensational film.

Here is a film that everyone should see. It is real and sublime and

each character in the picture has a growth arc that is fascinating to

watch. Charles Laughton is the master in this as we see him as

the town coward a man afraid of everything. An older man who has

learned little of life and less about expressing his love for his

school teaching colleague played by O'Hara.

Laughton learns hard lessons as the film progresses. Walter Slezak's portrayal of a Nazi officer in

charge of the French town is marvelous. He captures the nature of

the will of Fascism and it's unrelenting and sinister application of

pure power using the minds of men. George Sanders, is the

businessman who makes sure things work for the Germans, who

doesn't strain over the matter of occupation by the Nazis until he is

forced to reveal his best friend is the saboteur fighting the

occupation. There is so much more in this film that deals with

oppression and the only way to fight it.

I love this film.

I can vaguely remember seeing this movie on television years ago, and recalled it as a movie with an anti-Nazi message. Seeing it again recently, and with a lifetime of reading behind me, I realize it has further depths of meaning.

Despite the pretense of being set "somewhere in Europe," it is beyond doubt that Renoir had France very specifically in mind. He was a French émigré, and it's clear that he has a message for his countrymen about the great number of them that chose to collaborate with the Germans. But the film is not a sledgehammer, in that the Germans are not portrayed as the stereotypical jackbooted thugs. Their official voice in the film, the officer played by Walter Slezak, has a silky sort of charm and shows how easy it can be to cooperate in the name of so many things - peace, order, stability, etc. etc. Laughton's final courtroom speech has so many specific references to the situation in France that it cannot be interpreted as other than such. And the final finishing touch is Laughton's last lesson to his students before being taken away - he reads from the "Declaration of the Rights of Man" from the French Revolution.

Aside from that it is an excellent story very well told, and the production values are extremely high - the print I saw looked excellent even after 60-some years. The cast, of course, is superb, with Laughton, Slezak, and Maureen O'Hara. Particularly good is George Sanders, in a role very different from his stereotype as the suave and debonair cynic. The whole "mama's boy" aspect of Laughton's character is a bit heavy-handed, but it's still to watch Una O'Connor as his mother (you just can't help recalling her tavern woman's part in "The Invisible Man").

Thsi is not just an excellent movie, but an interesting historical artifact as well.