From the studio that gave us Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and Deanna Durbin comes a Universal issue that had been impacting most of the world for several years and within three days after its release (December 4, 1941!) would hit the United States as well. Nearly forgotten European actress Elisabeth Bergner, looking like a combination of Dietrich and Bankhead, made her sole American film appearance in this French resistance drama that shows the determination of the French people (or at least most of them) of every class to work together to undermine the German invasion. She is a concerto piano player from high society, left alone in an air raid after her mother dies of a heart attack during the strike. With her fiancee (Basil Rathbone) unable to be reached, Bergner takes a job in a cafe run by the modern Madame De Farge like Gale Sondergaard, and when they find out whom she's engaged to, they believe her to be on the side of the Nazi's. Rathbone, it seems, is in league with them, and to prove her innocence, Bergner must re-connect with him to find out the secrets he knows and put a stop to his nefarious traitorous activities. Along the way, she meets an American G.I. (Randolph Scott) whom she hides, and with his help strives to outwit suspicious German officers closely associated with the Gestapo whom she comically refers to as angry policemen.
This film takes a long time to really get its engines revving, and when it does, it seems to become too proud of itself in spreading the warning to American audiences of what could come. The lack of subtlety in its manner is what hurts it most, even though the performances are sincere. The highlight of the film is the lengthy reunion scene between Bergner and Rathbone, with Bergner underplaying her suspicions and growing hatred of Rathbone who hints that even though he believes in a new regime, he hates the people he has to deal with. Sondergaard, whose subtlety and cat like cunning always made her stand out, has a smile that always makes you wonder what she's up to. Eduardo Ciannelli, as her partner in the cafe, is certainly the Ernest DeFarge to her sequined, well coiffed variation of Terese DeFarge, although this time, there's no evil twist to her character even if you can see the wheels always turning in her desire to see the enemy not only captured, but destroyed viciously. This would rank a bit higher in my rating if it weren't for the ridiculous patriotic ending that took any dash of subtlety and smashed it off of the screen. This ends as if it was Jeanette MacDonald singing from the ruins of the earthquake that brought down San Francisco, completely inappropriate and far fetched in this film's case.
This film takes a long time to really get its engines revving, and when it does, it seems to become too proud of itself in spreading the warning to American audiences of what could come. The lack of subtlety in its manner is what hurts it most, even though the performances are sincere. The highlight of the film is the lengthy reunion scene between Bergner and Rathbone, with Bergner underplaying her suspicions and growing hatred of Rathbone who hints that even though he believes in a new regime, he hates the people he has to deal with. Sondergaard, whose subtlety and cat like cunning always made her stand out, has a smile that always makes you wonder what she's up to. Eduardo Ciannelli, as her partner in the cafe, is certainly the Ernest DeFarge to her sequined, well coiffed variation of Terese DeFarge, although this time, there's no evil twist to her character even if you can see the wheels always turning in her desire to see the enemy not only captured, but destroyed viciously. This would rank a bit higher in my rating if it weren't for the ridiculous patriotic ending that took any dash of subtlety and smashed it off of the screen. This ends as if it was Jeanette MacDonald singing from the ruins of the earthquake that brought down San Francisco, completely inappropriate and far fetched in this film's case.