La prima legione

After making a number of unremarkable movies in the 1940's, director Douglas Sirk a German immigrant in America, decided to return to his homeland. However it was not long before the disillusioned Sirk found himself back in Hollywood where he signed a contract with Universal for whom he made a number of movies, some of which proved their largest commercial successes of the decade. The irony of Sirk's career is that at the very pinnacle of his success he once again returned to Germany, this time for good.

Universal assigned him with scripts and actors which were often decidedly second league. With time, Sirk garnered a reputation for creating memorable movies despite these disadvantageous circumstances. This he achieved with an acute eye for imagery and an incisively critical eye as to American society.

Before signing with Universal, he managed to make one independent film, "The First Legion" and as such it's a work of much importance to anyone interested in Sirk's work. Here he clearly had far greater choice as to subject matter without the constraints of the studio. "The First Legion" is an essay on the nature of belief and perception of reality in the framework of a Jesuit monastry in small town America.

As with most of Sirk's work the camera is utilized with a beguiling subtlety. His sharp visual sense and his cunningly unobtrusive camera become the tools for the telling of the real story he chose to tell, even when lumbered with inferior scripts and performers. Thankfully, the script and the actors are far above the level that Universal afforded him. Charles Boyer, Leo G. Carroll, William Demarest and Lyle Bettger acquit themselves extremely well as does Barbara Rush, who worked with Sirk on four movies.

"The First Legion" has been called Sirk's first masterpiece. While not quite in the class of the movies he made in his prime, it's a fine piece of work by an intriguing and intelligent film maker.

For those who believe in God,no explanations in necessary .For those who don't ,no explanation is possible.("The Song of Bernadette" by Henry King).

Detlef Sierck alias Douglas Sirk was not reportedly a believer ."Traditional" religion does not play a prominent part in the rest of his movies;only the black servant Annie ("imitation of life" ) shows devotion -and the return of her prodigal daughter just to cry over her coffin can be seen as some kind of small miracle in itself.If "all that Heaven allows " begins with a shot of a steeple,one of the characters discovers something that "changed " his life , not in the Bible but a in Thoreau's work;"magnificent obsession" hints at Jesus ,but the late doctor (and Hudson's character) are secular saints -the religious side was more important in Stahl's first version of this melodrama.And Sirk's masterpieces such as "tarnished angels" ,"written on the wind" and the harrowing "A time to love and a time to die" (the title of which,from EM Remarque ,was slightly modified but was taken from the Book of the Ecclesiastes ) depict God-forsaken worlds.It's extraordinary that Sirk's most mediocre movie of these latter days ," Battle hymn" ,was the only one which had an important "religious" side:but it was a dubious philosophy as we learn that if war happened ,that's because God planned it.

That leaves us with "thunder on the hill" where a nun (Claudette Colbert) worked some kind of miracle by clearing a young girl of a murder.And "the first legion" ,which remains Sirk's most intriguing work ,coming from an atheist. Charles Boyer ,par excellence the French lover ,is cast against type and gives one of his finest performances.Barbara Rush ,one of Sirk's favorite actresses ("magnificent obsession" the rather weak "Taza"),shines in her part of a disabled girl who believes that faith can move mountains.The last scenes were certainly influenced by King's movie .In the small village of Lourdes,miracles did happen,like in "first legion" and the doctor,the scientist can no longer explain it.Sirk does not forget irony and a very short scene shows the moneychangers in the temple.

You wouldn't expect much excitement at a jesuit college, but the psychology and intrigue here is actually very interesting, as the matter of miracles is discussed on a serious level. The doctor knows that the recovery of an older priest was no miracle, although the old man experienced it as a miracle, but he may not reveal the truth, as he is bound by the same obligation of silence as the priests. This matter (of the obligation of silence) would also have been an interesting topic of discussion, but it is never questioned. The hysteria around the so called miracle has consequences, but the question of miracles is complicated by a girl in a wheelchair (Barbara Rush) with a spinal disorder who refuses to give up faith in her recovery, although the doctor knows it's hopeless. Charles Boyer makes a very earnest performance, he actually studied philosophy on a serious level long before he became an actor, and also Lyle Bettger as the doctor makes the film humanly rich and of lasting interest, perhaps the most important and interesting character of all.

"Dr. Morrell" (Lyle Bettger) is adamant that the ageing "Fr. Sierra" (H. B. Warner) will never walk again, until - well, he does. Is this a miracle? There are those amongst this priestly, Jesuit, brotherhood who are all too eager to have it declared one, but "Fr. Arnoux" (Charles Boyer) is a tad more sceptical. His concerns aren't exactly assuaged when the wheelchair-bound young "Terri" (Barbara Rush) hopes that this is but a precursor to her own healing. "Arnoux" is also determined to stop the disillusioned "Fr. Fulton" (Wesley Addy) from abandoning his faith, but with all these shenanigans going on, he perhaps isn't so certain of his own - a fact that hasn't escaped the sagely "Father Rector" (Leo G. Carroll) who has quite a few plates to juggle, or the visiting and rather jolly "Monsignor Carey" (William Demarest). It's quite easy to dismiss this as a dose of Christian hokum, but it's actually quite a bit more of a subtle look at hope and how ready people are to believe in just anything when it is absent. That's well exemplified here by a personable effort from Rush and also from both Boyer and Addy, too. We sense all along that the doctor knows a great deal more than he's letting on, and that also helps create a sense of the perplexing that does raise a few questions about the power of prayer (or not). The photography also adds a bit of richness to the drama, intimate but never intrusive, and complemented by a gently effective score from Hans Sommer that gives this an extra humanity. I haven't a religious bone in my body, and the first half hour did make me wonder what moralising I was to expect, but by the end it proved a more thought-provoking look at belief, instead.

"The First Legion" is an exceptionally obscure film that was made near the beginning of Douglas Sirk's long association with Universal International pictures. Sirk's insignia, a talent for walking a firm tightrope with high melodrama, was to be on display over the next 10 years with pictures such as "All That Heaven Allows", "Written on the Wind", and "Imitation of Life". His worthy reputation has been based upon that distinctive body of work, but here, he has created a film that deserves greater notice. "The First Legion" is my favorite Douglas Sirk movie.

This film doesn't match the overt intensity that characterized many of Sirk's more famous works, but it's none the less powerful. The story concerns a Jesuit seminary and a purported miracle involving a doctor and one of the priests. The seminary head, Father Arnoux, investigates the miracle and is forced to examine his own relationship with God in the process, as well as the charismatic effect of the miracle on his community, friends, and outsiders.

Blessed with a remarkable cast of well-known character actors, Sirk paces this film extremely well and handles the ensemble scenes masterfully. Charles Boyer delivers perhaps his best performance as Father Marc Arnoux - it's certainly worthy of an Oscar nomination. In general, all performances are uniformly excellent, with Lyle Bettger, best known for playing gangsters and low-lifes, in a standout role as the passionate but confused Dr. Peter Morrell. The compelling story finely illustrates the struggles of numerous well-meaning people as they grasp at the miracle's charisma for a sign of positive change in their own lives. With a particularly noteworthy ending that certainly provides an exclamation point to the proceedings, "The First Legion" is a well-above-average entry in a long list of 50's character examination dramas.

What makes "The First Legion" stand out as my favorite Douglas Sirk film? It's the movie's particularly esoteric nature, an approach seen far too infrequently in the plot lines that Sirk filled out and embellished so well over the next 10 years. With a transfer to DVD in the works, there will hopefully be a wider appreciation for this film as Sirk's complete body of work takes shape on DVD. As it is, it's 10 out of 10.