Voice in the Wind

After playing Smetna's Maldau in Czechoslovakia, and accused of inciting anti-German feelings, pianist Jan Volny finds himself running from the Nazis in "Voice in the Wind" from 1944. This is a rarity - it's an independent film at a time when very few were made, due to the power of the movie studios.

Volny is tortured by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp; however, he overpowers his captors and later boards a ship for Guadalupe. There he is known as El Hombre -- he has amnesia and remembers nothing of his past.

His wife, whom he left in the care of a friend in Czechoslovakia, finally lands in Guadalupe as well, but she is quite ill. She hears El Hombre playing the piano and realizes that it is Jan.

Very sad and depressing but full of heart and the human spirit.

I tried to get some interest in this movie, very atmospheric but so boring, talkative, a film where you wonder what the story leads to without having any satisfaction. It's not Francis Lederer's fault, just the overall story and maybe directing too. Art Ripley made something far better fourteen years later with THUNDER ROAD, a real must see, cult movie, starring Bob Mitchum. You can try it anyway.

As a teenager I rarely saw a movie I didn't like, but this was the first one I actually hated. I saw it in 1944 at a naval base in Newfoundland after months of isolation in the North Atlantic, so what few critical facilities I had were numbed and I was ready to enjoy any junk Hollywood threw my way. But this... I walked out of the theater actually angry!

So how come it still sticks in my memory? Nothing could be that memorably bad. I suspect from reading other reviews that it had many haunting, persistent film-noir images unlike anything the major studios were grinding out then.

If it ever shows up on Turner Classic Movies I'll certainly watch it with an eager, open mind.

I saw this film at least six times. I grew up a fan of Francis Lederer and I am also a musician. This film was premiered by my uncle at the Hawaii Theater in Hollywood. It was unique in more than one way: Not only was it an intensive dramatic story of a pianist who tries to recover from abuse by the Nazis, but elegantly portrays nationalism. The Moldau by Smetana is the background music which holds the film together. Keep in mind that I saw the film in the 1940s, and not since; perhaps no one has since. Another uniqueness: my uncle managed to bring a pianist on stage; he began playing the Moldau and it bled into the film music. The pianist, as I recall, was Vladimir Brenner, who sought to restore a career after the war. I do not know if other theaters included an on-stage pianist. Critics suggest the film was moody, even dull, but I found it then, as I remember it now, a film classic.

Rare that an independent film could be made of such maturity in a time of studio run films. Arthur Ripley helped create the character of Harry Langdon in the 20s. A skilled writer, he had a keen eye and his direction of him own screenplay for Voice in the Wind is tight, powerful and direct. I believe Francis Lederer gives one of his finest performances, with Sigrid Gurie as the wife he cannot remember. Best of all, keep your eyes on two character actors: Alexander Granach and J. Carol Naish. Both give in-depth character studies that are the backbone of this unusual film. Done on a shoestring budget during the powerful days of the major studios, the film is a character study in depth. If you can pick up a copy of it, it's more than worth it.

I wish I had more room to comment on this film, as I do know a few personal stories about how it came about. I knew Arthur Ripley when he was near the end of his career. Get a copy of this film.