L'étranger

THE DEMI-PARADISE (original title, UK 1943) is an opportunistic piece of propaganda, with the great Laurence Olivier playing a Russian engineer trying to build a propeller for an ice breaker to operate in the Baltic, with the assistance of obviously superior British engineers.

In the midst of the propaganda against the backdrop of a war that until 1942 had not gone in Great Britain's favor, you even get to see historic pageants, and an apology for the UK colonizing half of the planet.

This film is an interesting document of the mindset of the day, when Great Britain was still the empire on which the sun never set, but it does not really work from a cinematographic standpoint. Photography is average, acting so-so, and the screenplay carries some extremely cheesy holes.

Strikingly elegant Penelope Dudley-Ward conveniently represents Britain's openness to a loving relationship with the USSR, but there's really no chemistry spark between her and Olivier. It's as totally unconvincing a love affair as this is as piece of film-making.

Perhaps the most interesting comment to be made about THE DEMI-PARADISE is that by 1945 Winston Churchill was referring to the Soviet Union as the "iron curtain," and warning about the dangers of the USSR's occupation of Eastern Europe, and by 1948 the Cold War had started in earnest.

Really strange bedfellows, therefore. Thankfully, Dudley-Ward is very easy on the eye, especially when she smiles, but even her beautiful face cannot save this overlong piece of propaganda.

I suffered watching it because of Covid-prompted confinement but rest assured that I'll not watch it again.

During WWII, the American and British film industry made quite a few films that attempted to rehabilitate the perceptions about the Russian people. That's because before the war, they were the enemy, but now that the three countries were allies, the government pushed film makers to portray the Russians in very glowing terms. In the States, films like THE NORTH STAR gave a sickeningly sweet view of the Russians that were just too good to be true. THE DEMI-PARADISE is a British film that also seeks to made the Russians seem more human--more like our friends.

It's interesting to see the famous actor Laurence Olivier playing Ivan Kouznetsoff--a Russian who talks to some British seamen during the war about his visit to London before the war. His accent seemed okay to me, but who am I to judge?! Anyways, the film is all told in flashback form. For the most part, Olivier's character is a bit standoffish and seems to think everything Russian is better--though this improves a bit through the course of the film. As for the Brits, they range from a few suspicious idiots to those who keep pointing out how "they are just like us". A father even wonders out loud about what a great husband Kouznetsoff would make. Talk about over-idealizing the Russians. As a result, the people in the film seem more like caricatures than real people. And as for Olivier, he seemed a bit silly--very stereotypical and broad in his portrayal.

Now despite me not loving this film and disliking how unreal everyone seemed, it was a good bit better than the WWII Hollywood films that were pro-Russia. They went even further to idealize Russia--to such a point that the films are downright dumb, as no group of people is THAT wonderful and happy and full of spunk! Overall, it's an interesting curio but certainly not a film you should run out to rent.

Almost two hours long, D.P.starts out in Russia, with some British travelers meeting with a Russian; we quickly flash back to when one of the Russians had traveled to London on business. Laurence Olivier is Ivan Kouznetskoff, who recounts his experience in Britain many years ago, both pleasant and unpleasant. British "Ann" ( Penelope Dudley ) is his new love interest, and that is an on again/off again relationship. Viewers will recognize Margaret Rutherford (plays Rowena Ventnor) - Rutherford played Agatha Christie's Jane Marple during the 1960s. Olivier's accent is iffy, but they DO capture the proud complaining that is prevalent in some Russians (as well as some Americans, some Britains...) Of course, the story takes place deep in the middle of world war II now, and also about the time of the Haye's movie production period back in the U.S., so I'm guessing some parts of the original story were left out of the film. Writer Anatole de Grunwald had actually fled Russia as a young boy with his family during the Russian Revolution, so its interesting that his main character would extol the virtues of the common worker society. Entertaining two hours, but Ivan is so cold throughout, that we don't get too drawn into the story. The second half is more about their relationship, and less about comparing Great Britain to Russia, and what a snob Ivan is.

Good example of the type of movies made in England during the war, to keep spirits up. The Brits never seem to engage in gung-ho war stuff: which makes for more pleasant viewing.

While nowhere near the league of, say, "A Canterbury Tale", The Demi-Paradise has enough realism (of the British character) to while away a pleasant hour and a half.

In between making That Hamilton Woman and Henry V both of which could be argued were better contributions to the propaganda front of the British war effort, Laurence Olivier made this film about a Soviet engineer who designs a new type ship propeller and the government contracts with a British firm to build and install it on a ship. This is taking place in 1939 before any general war breaks out in Europe.

Two things I found interesting about The Demi-Paradise. Firstly the fact that the proper name of the country, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR, or the Soviet Union is never used once in the film. Olivier always refers to his country as Russia, as do the others in the cast. Secondly, you never hear one word about the German-Soviet non- aggression pact. I suppose that might have been better than the clumsy explanations given in the American film Mission to Moscow.

But whether Czarist or Marxist it's a different world that Olivier steps into when he arrives in the United Kingdom. He's pretty suspicious at first, but his interaction with British people in all walks of life gradually wins him over. Not the least of which is pretty Penelope Ward who's conducting a campaign of her own as far as Olivier is concerned.

Hardly the greatest film Olivier ever did. Then again he nor anyone else managed to get themselves blacklisted over it, did they?