L'anima e la carne

This movie stands out as my favorite WW2 film. It not only explores the nature of honor, but also male female relations and faith in such things. I give it my highest marks with the caveat that it is NOT an action film. This is primarily a drama.

Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr give beautiful performances in this touching study of a Marine and a young nun who find themselves stranded on a Pacific island during WWII. Their platonic relationship deepens when the Japanese return to occupy the island, and Cpl. Allison and Sister Angela take refuge in a cave, surviving by his wits, her prayers, and the saving grace of their mutual respect and affection. Mitchum gives one of the finest performances of his career as the proud Marine who finds himself falling in love with his companion, and Deborah Kerr is unaffectedly enchanting as Sister Angela. Quiet moments of compelling character study are interspersed with suspenseful action sequences set amid ruggedly beautiful scenery.

One of Huston's buried treasures,this offbeat tale of a nun and a marine stuck on an island.They say it was to be directed by Wyler,but he turned it down and went to make "desperate hours".

Deborah Kerr had already played a nun in Powell-Pressburger's excellent "Black narcissus",and the part was tailor-made for her.The same goes for Robert Mitchum as a crude,simple,but with a golden heart marine.People cannot help but be struck with the analogies between "heaven" and "African queen" :both feature an odd couple,in jeopardy;that's why the former is overlooked today which is totally unfair.

The two characters are extremely endearing and,when the movie is over,it seems we've always known Sister Angela and Corporal Allison.I dig the line:"it's a gourmet's dish" when the nun is eating turtle soup.I love the way the scenarists show the analogies between a nun's and a marine's lives.The Garden of Eden metaphor is obvious,but the story subtly progresses,and the Snake's temptation happens late in the movie.

The cinematography is splendid,with a superb use of cinemascope,and Georges Delerue's score deserves admiration.Yes "heaven knows..." is certainly one of Huston's sleepers.But I wonder what Luis Bunuel would have done with such a screenplay.

One of the great injustices of Hollywood history is the fact that Deborah Kerr was nominated for Best Actress while Robert Mitchum got nary a mention for Best Actor in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison. Kerr had several nominations, but never came up a winner. Mitchum was nominated once at the beginning of his career in the Best Supporting Actor category in The Story of GI Joe and then never again.

In Mitchum's case I think that some of his irreverent comments offended a few people. Sometimes Bob was a bit too candid about what he thought of the film industry and his chosen profession. Otherwise he might well have gotten nominations for this, Night of the Hunter, Cape Fear, Ryan's Daughter, The Sundowners, The Friends of Eddie Coyle and a few others.

This film is always and rightly compared to The African Queen with a female in the religious missionary profession and a hell-raising outsider thrown together in war time. The African Queen was in World War I and this film is set on a backwater Pacific island in World War II.

Corporal Allison, USMC arrives on a rubber raft after the Japanese opened fire on a submarine he was on. The only other person on the island is a nun who has seen all the others die or flee the island. It's a small island, but apparently strategically located.

The film is about these two mismatched people thrown together and what they have to do to survive. Deborah Kerr is a nun who hasn't yet taken her final vows and being alone on the island with Mitchum is a temptation no doubt.

Mitchum though has his own code. He's a foundling kid who took the name of Allison because that was the street in Milwaukee he was dropped off on. He was a juvenile delinquent until he joined the Marines and they gave his life a meaning. The Marine Corps manual is his Bible as much as the Scripture is Kerr's.

I can identify with that because in fact I had a cousin who was in the Marines who did in fact straighten him out. He was a hell raising kid in his youth and he became if not a solid citizen after his service, at least a respectable one.

John Huston got unforgettable performances out of his credited cast of two. Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison has not dated one single bit since its release.

We all need something to believe in to get us through in this world.

In 1944, in South Pacific, the castaway Marine Corporal Allison (Robert Mitchum) drifts in a raft to the Tuasiva Island, where he meets Sister Angela (Deborah Kerr). She tells him that she is the only person in the island and was left behind by the runaway boat to Fiji Island while seeking the local priest. Stranded in the island, but with water, fish and fruits, their paradisiacal life ends when the Japanese arrive to build a base, forcing Allison and the nun to hide in a cave. The crude marine provides the necessary supply for their survival and falls in love for the nun.

"Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison" is not a masterpiece, but it is one of my favorite movies ever. The beautiful story is a kind of Robison Crusoe in times of World War II, without Friday, cannibals or pirates, but a hardened marine, a gorgeous nun and Japanese. The story has war, adventure, romance and drama, and is supported by the awesome direction of John Huston and the stunning performances of Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr in the roles of endearing characters. Deborah Kerr deserved her nomination to the Oscar, but Robert Mitchum was forgotten by the Academy in spite of having a top-notch performance. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Céu Por Testemunha" ("The Heaven as Witness")