139. The Mortal Storm (1940)

Directed By Frank Borzage

Synopsis

Nazis are bad mm-kay? Only in 1940 no American were saying so ... Jews get rounded up and killed, friends stop being friends, books get burned, non-aryans live in fear.


Review

There's this myth that the US got into the war so late because people weren't really aware of what was going on in Germany, they were only aware after the pictures form the Death Camps were published... well it seems like some people were aware in 1940.

This film is of extreme historical importance for a number of reasons, firstly it got all of MGM banned from Germany, secondly and most importantly it shows a tremendous amount of balls. The US was pursuing a very cozy relationship with Nazi Germany, as long as the US wasn't being directly bothered they were fine with ignoring what was going on across the ocean. Now, this wasn't true of everyone and suddenly Hollywood took notice, maybe it is because there were so many refugees working in Hollywood, but MGM shows an amazing pair of balls in this film. Basically equating Nazi Germany with all that is evil.

The portrayal of Germany is actually quite accurate for 1940, without the benefit of hindsight, the prosecution of intellectuals and Jews (although the word is never said in the film, it is obvious, you only need to look at the non-Aryan Doctor's cuffs while he is in the concentration camp and see the J), the climate of fear and suspicion and the mass hysteria are all quite present here.

The other famous anti-Nazi film before joining the war is Casablanca, but that focuses much more on the love story than atrocities. IT is this film's unflinching portrayal of Nazi crimes so early on that makes it definitely one of the films to watch before you die.

Of course the acting is good and the plot isn't bad, but this film matters as a piece of propaganda, the good kind. Unfortunately it is quite impossible to get, except on a NTSC VHS from the States... you can also get it on TCM as it seems to be on there quite often. So get it on VHS from Amazon US.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Freya and her family are implied to be Jewish but the word "Jew" is never used and they are only referred to as "non-Aryans." Though it is understood that the film is set in Germany, the name of the country is rarely mentioned except at the very beginning in a short text of introduction. The supporting cast includes Robert Young (Father Knows Best), Robert Stack, Frank Morgan (who played the title role in The Wizard of Oz the year before), Dan Dailey, Ward Bond, Maria Ouspenskaya, William T. Orr, and Bonita Granville. The movie infuriated the Nazi government and it led to all MGM films being banned in Germany, which was a large market for American films at the time.

Shockingly there is no clip of this film on Youtube, so you get Dean Martin singing with Jimmy Stewart, there is a little bit about Mortal Storm in it!: