Ainsi finit notre nuit

Not best written (choppy) yet realistic melodrama depicting very real times during WWII. Movie is notable for Anna Sten's brief appearance (admittedly, one of my favorites) who was more or less done-in by Hollywood yet never failed to deliver superb performances. Either Glenn Ford's first or one of his first movies. Depressing yet worth seeing. Good luck, because I think I got one of the last VHS copies around.

The engaging,idiosyncratic genius of supporting players Leonid Kinskey, Sig Ruman ,et. al. is worth the viewing. The earnest, beseeching , concerned and compassionate soul of Margaret Sullavan is worth the viewing. The affable, unwontedly blithe and youthful Glenn Ford is worth the viewing. The fortitude , hope, courage ,and quiet valor of Frederick March is worth the viewing. The scene wherein March desperately seeks a last fleeting view of his wife, the ethereally beautiful Frances Dee ere the darkness of the Holocaust descends to engulf him beggars description.

If you had taken tenth grade world history in the early 60s and your teacher liked to show movies in class and was semi cool, as mine was, this is the anti Nazi film he or she would have shown. In other words, this is a thoughtful, admirable, well intentioned and ever so faintly dull work that I would gladly have traded for fifteen minutes of "Notorious" or ten of "Inglorious Bastards".

Best thing about it is William Daniels' cinematography and William C Menzies' production design which together create a dark, menacing Central Europe of the mind as the lights are starting to go out, literally and figuratively. Also, John Cromwell's direction, although sluggish at times, does manage to capture the sense of rootless, suspended animation in which many refugees find themselves. And Frederick March, as always, gives a most compelling performance.

Worst things about it are. Screenwriter Talbot Jennings' too florid, too philosophical, too Nobility Of Man dialogue and the incredibly dull pairing of Glenn Ford and Margaret Sullivan as Jews on the run. (These two are about as Hebraic as Carolina pork bbq).

Give it a generous B minus 'cause it had the courage to be not only anti Nazi during the height of isolationism but anti chief Hollywood anti semite and censor, Joe Breen, as well.

PS...A personal note. This is my 1000th review on IMDB and it's been a total blast. Love the edit feature (most of my thoughts are second and third ones) and the overall intelligence of my colleagues (with a couple exceptions, of course). Very few rabid right or left wingers or Kay Francis/Mickey Rooney nostalgists in evidence. Looking forward to the next couple thou.

It's 1937 Austria. Josef Steiner (Fredric March) and teenager Ludwig Kern (Glenn Ford) are picked up by the police. They and many others are on the run and in hiding from the Nazis. Josef is offered clemency to turn against the others including those who helped him escape the concentration camp. He had left behind his wife Marie (Frances Dee). Ludwig falls for fellow Jewish exile Ruth Holland (Margaret Sullavan). After Austria is taken over by the Nazis, Josef becomes a hunted man.

This is a fine wartime film with one Oscar nomination under its belt. March and Ford are good. March has some powerful scenes while this is an early breakout role for Ford. I still think that the movie would be more powerful if it kept only one main character. More than anything, these journeys feel real and that's important during this time. It shows the oppressiveness of the police state and the callous cruelty of the Nazis.

Stateless refugees from Hitler's Germany must move from one country to the next in this realistic film from 1941. The realism is in the cast of actors other than the well known Glenn Ford, Frederic March, Frances Dee, and Margaret Sullavan, those playing the smaller but important parts of spies, sympathizers, officials, restaurateurs, nurses, etc...all with a keen eye for authenticity and details. As well, one of the best parts in the film is played by Erich Von Stroheim as an intelligent, sympathetic, and cunning SS officer who's out to arrest the non-conformist played in a terrific part by Frederic March. So while we follow the main characters and a touching love story and a biting role for March, the real value of the picture is the portrait it paints in its portrayals of the other people caught up in the pre-war manoeuvrings.