Uma Voz na Tormenta

This film is quite atmospheric. It certainly captures the essence of the nazis bouncing a Czech from his native land (but he does have the pleasure of killing two of them). He migrates to Guadaloupe with two thugs from Portugal. The film is decidedly overdramatic and maudlin; however, the situation was overdramatic and maudlin at the time. Francis Lederer gives it his best wide-eyed try, and we are taken in by the beautiful music the film evokes. However, a real nazi would not have sent him to prison; he would have merely smashed his hands to bits, so he would never have been able to play again. That part of the film is a bit unbelievable. The rest is rather depressing, but an accurate account of thousands of lives ruined by WW2. Interesting.

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.

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.

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.

Jan Volny (Francis Lederer) is a concert pianist who has ended up on the island of Guadelupe. He had a lover Marya (Sigrid Gurie) and they both fled the Nazi occupation of their homeland and have ended up in Guadelupe unaware of each other's presence there. Jan has lost his memory and can't speak and lives as a vagrant. He still plays the piano, in particular, a tune that was banned by the Nazis and is a symbol of Czech patriotism. Marya is living a few doors away from him and is dying of pneumonia. She hears him playing this particular tune and is drawn towards the sound. However, she collapses and dies in the street - he finds her and slowly begins to remember who she is...... meanwhile, there are a couple of smuggler brothers Angelo (Alexander Granach) and Luigi (J Carrol Naish) who have fallen out over Jan as they blame him for setting fire to their boat......

The quality of this film is poor and the pace is slow. Its an atmospheric film that is told in flashback and its basically a depressing melodrama. The music score is very good and the moments when Jan plays the piano are the best moments in the film. Another good moment comes when Jan tells the Nazi interrogating officer what he thinks of him. Unfortunately, this leads to his head injury and subsequent amnesia. I'm not sure whether its a good film or not.