La tempête qui tue

There are two things about THE MORTAL STORM that make it unusual. First, it comes from MGM, primarily known as the studio that produced glossy technicolor musicals. Secondly, the entire cast have roles that are unusual for their persona.

Take, for example, all American Robert Young and Robert Stack as dedicated Nazis. Or Frank Morgan as a German professor in a highly dramatic role. Or Bonita Granville in one of her first near-adult dramatic roles. Or Dan Dailey before he became known principally as a musical star. Like several other films of this period (Escape, Nazi Agent, To Be Or Not To Be, The Great Dictator, Berlin Correspondent), it treats the subject of the approaching storm of Nazism with both conviction and emotional power.

Tension builds once it becomes apparent that Margaret Sullavan (as Morgan's daughter) and James Stewart must leave their homeland to escape the Nazi menace that has slowly penetrated their village. The finale with the ski scenes of the two escaping down a mountain slope is played for maximum suspense as they flee to freedom in Austria.

Produced on a handsome scale with realistic looking winter locations and featuring splendid performances from Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Robert Young, Frank Morgan, Robert Stack, Bonita Granville and Maria Ouspenskaya, it is guaranteed to keep you absorbed until the very end.

Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart give their usual earnest performances but it's the superior script and Frank Borzage's expert direction that really counts here. Well worth viewing.

I've often thought that the best way to see The Mortal Storm is back to back with Three Comrades. Both films are about post World War I Germany, both films from MGM, both films have Margaret Sullavan, and Robert Young in them and both directed by Frank Borzage. Three Comrades has its story take place during the Weimar Republic with the beginning of the rise of Nazism and The Mortal Storm takes place as the Nazis are solidifying their control over Germany.

Both films are about how the political changes affect some very ordinary people. This film deals with the Roth family, Frank Morgan and Irene Rich, their children Margaret Sullavan and Gene Reynolds and Irene's sons by a first marriage, William T. Orr and Robert Stack. And of course Robert Young and James Stewart who are rivals for Sullavan.

The stepsons and Young are confirmed Nazis, they see Hitler's rise to power as a great thing, that Germany will take her place among the first rank of nations. Morgan, Stewart and Sullavan are appalled by the excesses and brutality in stamping out any contrary opinions that think the Third Reich is not a good thing.

It's hard to believe, but before World War II, Jimmy Stewart was cast in a few roles that are foreign types. Later on Stewart was the quintessential American character and the public would never have accepted him. He played non-Americans in Seventh Heaven, The Shop Around the Corner, and The Mortal Storm. The last two were done to critical and commercial success. Stewart's character of Martin Breitner, a farmer who wants to be a veterinarian, is as idealistic and decent as the very American Jefferson Smith. Probably why the public accepted Stewart in this role.

Also because the entire cast is American with the notable exception of Maria Ouspenskaya as Stewart's mother. So no foreign speech pattern stood out.

Frank Morgan was usually cast at MGM as a comic befuddled buffoon. Here in The Mortal Storm he shows his great skill as a player going completely against how he was usually typed. He's a college science professor who will not teach any Nazi pseudo-science about racial superiority of the Germans. His non-Aryan, read Jewish, name is carefully noted several times though the word 'Jew' is never used.

Margaret Sullavan once again is a tragic heroine. Considering the limited amount of films she did, I think Margaret Sullavan had more screen deaths per film than any other female player. She carried an aura of tragedy about her, probably a carry over from her real life. She and Stewart make a pair of tender lovers, just as she did in Three Comrades with Robert Taylor. Their life and happiness together are sacrificed by a brutal political regime.

Note the performances of Ward Bond as the local brownshirt, storm trooper leader and Dan Dailey as the young local head of the Hitler youth. Good studies in the kind of people the regime attracted and who could rise to the top in that kind of society.

The Mortal Storm still holds up well after over 60 years, a great study in the early days of a regime that made the world suffer.

The Roth family lead a quiet life in a small village in the German Alps during the early 1930's. When the Nazi's come to power, the family is divided and Martin Brietner (James Stewart), a family friend is caught up in the turmoil.

This is a hard film to find -- I checked in multiple libraries throughout the state of Wisconsin, and every considered buying it. And even then, a good copy is hard to track down. Why? The story is excellent, and it is early James Stewart... this should be a classic, but instead remains almost completely unknown.

I want this film to see a resurgence (or maybe just a surge). I want it to get a decent transfer, released on a nice DVD with features, and I want people to have actually heard of it. Few films had the courage to stand up to Hitler before the war, and I doubt any of the few others did so as forcefully as this one did.

If you are a true fan of human drama and don't need high-tech or low-brow eye candy to entertain and move you than this film is a must see. Although it's hard to believe Jimmy Stewart as a German, (he makes no attempt at an accent) the story is utterly compelling. The movie is ell balanced with moments of suspense, romance, tension brutality, and levity. The most refreshing aspect is the lack of gratuitous sex and violence. I love watching a film that conveys violence, love and hatred without excessive or graphic images. It's set in a university town in the German Alps along the Austrian border. It chronicles the rise of the Nazi ethic as seen through the eyes of a Professor, his children and their friends. It gives raw insight into the indoctrination of Nazi youth. It is a great story of love, suffering and cruelty. You will not be disappointed.

This was certainly one of the most dramatic, stirring and memorable movies I have seen, and I watch A LOT of movies. It cuts deep by hitting close to home...the family, subtly inferring how even strong families with great values can be divided by changing ideas in politics or even religion. Before this movie, I wondered how Hitler could make everyone blindly follow him SO obsessively. What magic did Hitler have over these people? We saw MILLIONS in news clips with their arm in the air claiming "HEIL (sp?) Hitler!" After seeing this movie, I understand more. Not everyone agreed with Hitler's beliefs, but those who didn't were ostracized, imprisoned, beaten, or tortured. MANY WERE FORCED TO COMPLY, and immediately attacked if they didn't comply with the songs, the salute, or even spoke against Hitler. Europeans in the 30's didn't have the opportunity to move and get away from a dangerous environment the way we do now, and people then did trust the words of leaders more and follow more blindly. It was a different age; a different way of thinking, and someone was brave enough to make this movie to show how deep beliefs CAN tear families apart. Hitler had influence over a lot of the people, but promoted ideas such as violently cleansing the country of anyone who was different or who thought differently, so those who did follow Hitler bullied those who didn't. Some stayed strong with their own values and paid with their lives, others stayed strong by just faking submission, knowing that soon it would pass and they would live through it. There is not as much violence or other atrocities like new movies, but I would say "not for the (emotionally tender) faint of heart". It's a story of the Germans and how they were affected; no scenes of the holocaust here. Maybe because in 1940 so few people realized the horrors that were really going on, or maybe the filmmaker wanted to show the effect this had on the Germans, since little has been produced from that angle. If we don't study history, history will repeat itself, and I can easily see this situation happening again with other groups of people in the next few years. I actually feel privileged to have seen it, in order to understand politics and human nature and how Nazism could have affected people in WWII.