Reviews

This is without a doubt the best independent gay theme movie ever made. The last scene (I will not spoil it by giving away the ending) should bring tears to your eyes.The only drawbacks, minor ones, are the failure to resolve the relationship between the mother & her boyfriend is not resolved and there are times where one might wish for subtitles.

As Helen Joan Crawford gives her greatest performance and she should have been nominated for Best Actress that year. She certainly gave a better performance than Olivia De havilland gave in "To each His Own". John Garfield is also at top of his form and he certainly is a good match for Miss Crawford. What a shame that in a few short years he would be backlisted. Oscar Levant gives a typical Oscar Levant snide performance but he is a bit more serious in this role as the best friend of Mr. Garfield. the use of the "Liebestod" from "Tritan und Isolde" coupled with the waves rushing in might appear to some as camp but Miss crawford's handling of the scene is nothing short of magnificent. One usually overlooked performance is that of then billed Bobby Blake who has been much in the news lately. He portrayed Mr. Garfield's as a boy and did a good job of it without the ususal winey voice and mannerisms that made him so easy to hate in the "Our Gang" comedies. I have always thought that the adult robert Blake would have been an excellent choice to portray John Garfield in a biopic of his life. By all means see "Mildred Pearce" which won Miss Crawford the Oscar but don't miss "Humoresque".

Bette Davis began her slide downward with this over the top movie. She was almost 40 and pregnant at the time and it shows. Claude Rains comes off like some old queen who should be more interested in Paul Henreid rather than La Davis. Paul Henried is simply there to collect a paycheck. It is like Joan Crawford stuck pins in a Bette Davis doll to bring Miss Davis bad luck and it worked. The music by Erich Korngold-especially the Cello Concerto is the only saving grace unless one is a fan of tacky 1946 clothes, hairdos, and decor.

This is the best film Zarah Leander ever made. It is free of Nazi propaganda unlike Heimat and Grosse Lieb. Frau Leander is allowed to use all of her talents including singing and dancing. It is a shame that this was her last film for several years. She would have been wonderful in "The Merry Widow".

An interesting view of life in wartime Germany. Zarah Leander sings some great songs. The are a few dull stretches mostly with her agent. This is the film for which Frau Leander is most remembered. It even made the OKW unhappy because it showed an Air Force officer spends the night with the singer.