Enfermeiras de Guerra

Anita Page gets the chance to be someone other than the rich socialite or the poor girl from the lower east side. In WAR NURSE, she shines as the teenage social butterfly who signs on, one imagines on a whim, to be a nurse in WWI. She is shipped overseas with a group of other girls who are all anxious to be nurses. At first she is afraid and cries for the easy life she used to have, but quickly becomes a competent nurse. Hedda Hopper, in a role before she became a gossip queen, plays the matron of the nurses. Look for the marvelous wisecracking Marie Prevost, one of the 1920's favorite flappers, and Helen Jerome Eddy as two of the other nurses.

In this film, Anita loses her heart to an American soldier she meets, only to find herself bitterly disappointed later. Suave, sexy Robert Montgomery provides the love interest for a nurse named Babs. Look also for Edward Neugent, playing another of his many "best buddy" roles, as a friend of Montgomery. This movie looks like it's used stock WWI war footage to document the war, but that only adds to the realism. Things look dark, dirty and, well, like a war is going on! Contrast these scenes with one later in the picture of the wild party at the nightclub, and I imagine you have some idea of what things were like at some point during WWI.

Like WATERLOO BRIDGE (1930), this movie provides viewers of today with a look back at the WWI era--it's conventions, morals, worries, and fascinating stories. If you can find this movie, it's worth the time it takes to see it.

... as almost all films about WWI were by the year 1930, as nobody could seem to remember exactly what this war was about.

The film is about how the war brings together people from all walks of life - a society woman (Hedda Hopper credited only as "matron"), a homely schoolteacher interested in art not men (Helen Jerome Eddy as Kansas), an American girl in a French convent school forced to close because of the war (Anita Page as Joy, who thinks this is going to be far more glamorous than it is), etc. All of these come to France as war nurses for the Allies.

But after they've scrubbed enough latrines, run out of PPE, run out of morphine, dealt with enough death and men with their faces, arms, and legs blown off the nurses learn to emotionally distance themselves from the horror and sleep through the gunfire at night. As for the men, it makes them want to live for now because there may be no tomorrow. Apparently that explanation - given as part of the dialog between nurses - is supposed to be absolution for a French doctor accosting one of the nurses, and for all of the flyers/soldiers lying about marital intent or even current marital status.

Robert Montgomery plays a flier who relentlessly pursues Babs - one of the nurses and a plain spoken girl with a good head on her shoulders. She becomes good friends with Joy, who is going to need a friend before this film is over. Robert Ames plays a no good snake. My apology to snakes everywhere. Zasu Pitts is not playing her familiar dithering blithering persona, but is instead an assertive wise cracker that trades barbs with Marie Prevost's character.

The odd thing about this film? June Walker, mainly a stage actress, is playing the leading lady here and Robert Montgomery's love interest rather than the better known MGM star Anita Page. Walker had not made a movie since 1921. She did not make another until 1942, and yet her performance holds up.

Released in 1930, "War Nurse" is a story about women who volunteered to serve as nurses in WWI. Coming from varied backgrounds, they quickly find themselves manning a hospital in a small French town. Though the conditions are trying and supplies are somewhat scarce, they work long hours tending to a seemingly endless stream of wounded and dying soldiers. The women become a close knit group, sharing their fears and dreams with each other through some tough times.

There are also lighter moments in this film, especially regarding the soldiers and fliers who come to know the nurses. Chief among these is Wally (Robert Montgomery), who is a confident flier always looking to score with the ladies. He meets Babs (June Walker), a rather straitlaced girl who falls for his line in a big way. In a pivotal scene, he explains to Babs that his philosophy is to "take what you can get" from life, because the future is so uncertain in the midst of war. He also says that war makes people "cheap and rotten". Babs wonders if it might even be a girl's patriotic duty to play along, making a pilot "happy" before he's sent off on another mission.

Another young nurse, Joy (Anita Page) falls for a patient in her care, only to be heartbroken later. I thought her performance was mostly good, but when she had to cry it rang false for me.

In 1930, talkies were still a new phenomenon. Still, the sound quality in this film was fine. Obviously, sound effects was a new technical area, and some of the sound effects were amateurish. The visual effects were a mixed bag. The use of back screens and model planes--though state of the art for their time--were distracting. On the other hand, the explosion effects used in bombing scenes were excellent, and the shots of exploding buildings and collapsing ceilings were realistic enough to hold up in today's films!

The editing of "War Nurse" is sometimes choppy, especially near the end. But the film, overall, is a solid tribute to the women (and men) who put themselves in harm's way for a good cause. And it is a realistic enough depiction of war to demonstrate its tragic nature.

This movie really will tung at your heart strings and make you tear up. It really is a touching movie. Anita Page, one of Golden Era Hollywood beauties is one of the best actresses I have seen. Beautiful yet not self-contained. It seems she could play any role, drama seems to be her specialty, she could move you in any role but this one takes the cake. The whole cast plays their role beautifully. Anita Page plays Joy Meadows, the beautiful but naive young lady who ends up the worse of all of the ladies but don't deserve it. June Walker as Babs is a natural. Marie Prevost as Rosalie, add spice and sense of humor to the movie. All the ladies cry together, laugh, suffer, they really grow up together as well. I believe "Cry Havoc" starring Ann Sothern, Margarent Sullivan and Joan Blondell was a remake of War Nurses, even though it was a good try, War Nurses is better. War Nurses didn't hold back anything being made in the pre-code era. If your looking for a good movie, this it it. Turner Classic Movies run it often.

Although its style is clearly 'old school' or pre- pre-code, this has an almost modern feel with respect to its cynical attitudes and brutal realistic content. Its evocative depiction of WW1 is genuinely harrowing.

If you're a shallow voyeur who watched this just to see Anita Page bouncing around in her undies you'll feel very guilty and a little soiled because this is proper film. It's a hard hitting condemnation of war. It's a life affirming story of how amazing the human spirit is.

Veteran director Edgar Selwyn wasn't one of those experimental filmmakers pushing boundaries in the late twenties but neither was he one to make those appalling stodgy static filmed stage play types of thing. By focusing on how it affects real people, Selwyn evokes the never ending relentless horror and despair of war by making it personal.

It's based on a notorious anonymously written autobiography of an actual war nurse which caused quite a scandal with its no holds barred revelations of what life was like for those young amazing heroines. Although this was made in 'the pre-code era' the saucy story was heavily censored and sanitised - in terms of any sexual shenanigans anyway. The true mental and physical brutality of conflict however was left undiluted.

Like all the best stories this tells its tale through the eyes and experiences of real people. The acting style is a bit more 1920s than 1930s but once you acclimatise, the characters do feel authentic, like real people. It's a story about how war doesn't just change people but society. These volunteer girls, hundreds and in the case of the Americans, thousands of miles from home, like the men there, realise that have to live as though each day might be their last. Consequences and convention have no role in a world without a future. The only way to survive was to pretend it's just a nightmare and live in a sphere of self deception.

Overall it's a clever and engaging fast-moving film. It's professionally made and a lot more entertaining than you might imagine... and if you're still wondering, yes Anita Page does bounce around in her undies!