L'ennemie bien-aimée

I admit it. I gave this film a 10 for purely subjective reasons. I love the sound, the look and the emotional content of the two stars. Brian Aherne was so very beautiful that he is quite literally stunning. Merle Oberon was never lovelier. The sound, the dialog, the vocabulary. Wow. They had faces and voices then and they had grace. If one compares the sheer heart of these performances, these scripts with the current crop, one could weep. A profound thank you for this film, even with the fictionalized ending. Lovely. Truly memorable in every meaning of that word even if the 10 is a bit of an exaggeration, it is only a very slight one. Lovely.

Leave it to Sam Goldlwyn (and associates) to turn the Troubles of 1920 into a typical Hollywood melodrama and soapy love story. This is truly a curiosity, right up there with John Howard Lawson's BLOCKADE—the one about the Spanish Civil War. Whenever Hollywood touched controversial political subjects like this one there was always a chance that one side or other of the box-office might be offended. Therefore, we are never quite certain what the Irish want, other than Brian Aherne wanting Merle Oberon (and who can blame him), but somehow the message is clear that if an Irish rebel Romeo and an English lady Juliet had managed to wiggle themselves into a peace conference things might have worked out better for both sides. This is a lavish production, lit glamorously by the great Greg Toland with lots of moody sets build on the Goldwyn Formosa Street lot, and the usual collection of expatriated English and Irish character actors. The great Irish actor and Abbey Theater member, Dennis O'Dea, has a small part as one of the rebels. He was later to seen in a similar role in ODD MAN OUT. All-American Jerome Cowan, best remembered as a wise-cracking best friend or reporter, makes his screen appearance here wearing a cap cocked on his head as he uses an odd Irish accent.

I haven't seen this film myself but I've just come across a comment on it by my father, after seeing it in 1938:

I did not enjoy it as much as I might have had I not been studying the actual facts and happenings of that particular year (1921). After what I had read and pondered so much to retain in my memory I could hardly even endure to look at the picture at all, it was so different from what was in my mind. The human touch in it was the only thing that appealed to me, otherwise the picture was empty. Probably I would have thought it a great picture had I not read so much about that particular period, recently.

If only the problems of Irish independence and how much of it would be granted could have been solved by Michael Collins falling in love with say David Lloyd George's daughter. It might have made for some interesting tales of romance.

Which is what we have here in Beloved Enemy. The Collins character is renamed Dennis Riordan and it seems that the sight of the beautiful Merle Oberon, daughter of British envoy Henry Stephenson is enough to almost make him forget about the cause of Irish independence. Riordan is played by Brian Aherne and he's a dashing sort of rebel. No wonder Merle decides he's for her.

Although Beloved Enemy is a nice romantic story, I feel it cheapens what Michael Collins was all about. He and Arthur Griffiths in signing the treaty with the British and getting Dominion status and six Protestant counties opting for inclusion in the United Kingdom, settled for 5/6 of a loaf so to speak. Collins paid with his life for thinking of the widows and orphans and a chance for Ireland to heal. He died and many more died in the Civil War that followed before Ireland just had a peace of sheer exhaustion.

There's a good character in the film played by Karen Morley who is the widow of an IRA man now trying to support her son Ronald Sinclair. The real Michael Collins was thinking about the thousands like her when he signed the treaty.

Jerome Cowan made his film debut in Beloved Enemy and David Niven has one of his earliest roles as Henry Stephenson's secretary. Beloved Enemy is historical romance, but hardly history. See both John Ford films, The Informer and The Plough and the Stars for a better idea about Ireland during the Rebellion.

What happens when the leader of the Irish rebellion meets the daughter of an English nobleman? Well, when it's the passionate Merle Oberon and the ridiculously handsome Brian Aherne, they fall in love. In Beloved Enemy, you'll find a forbidden romance among the turmoil of war, similar to Romeo and Juliet. Just as in all classic romances, you can probably guess what will happen, but if you choose to watch this one, you won't be watching it for the plot twists. You'll be watching it for the eye candy, ladies, or because your girlfriend is forcing you to, gents. It is very fun, though, for voluntary watchers, because it has all the elements of a doomed, classic romance.

As you might suspect, since this is a movie about Irish people, Donald Crisp is one of the supporting characters, adding responsibility and gravity to the Irish cause. A young Jerome Cowan shines as one of the Irish rebels, and David Niven is the "designated friend" of Merle. I'd recommend this one, although it doesn't reach the heights of Duel in the Sun, because sometimes, us ladies just can't get enough dramatic love. And when you get to watch Brian's gorgeous face for ninety minutes, you're in for a great time!