Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger's artistic collaboration at the start of WWII benefits from a powerhouse cast.
Clearly propaganda, the cast and crew apparently came from all parts of the world to lend their talents for a "mutual cause." With strains of Ralph Vaughn Williams's score woven into the cinematic fabric, Pressberger's elaborate story is expansive and involved.
The Oscar nominated film is worth watching, and it's interesting to see Raymond Massey's speech as a G.I. so very Yank-oriented, without a trace of the mannered style he later acquired. Leslie Howard is well cast as a poetic, philosophical dreamer. However, it's Anton Walbrook who really surprises with an uncharacteristic subtle naturalistic style.
This is apparently the project Elizabeth Bergner used to defect from Germany to the U.S., leaving the film for Hollywood (and Glynis Johns to take over the role). The actors playing Nazis are all quite strong.
Clearly propaganda, the cast and crew apparently came from all parts of the world to lend their talents for a "mutual cause." With strains of Ralph Vaughn Williams's score woven into the cinematic fabric, Pressberger's elaborate story is expansive and involved.
The Oscar nominated film is worth watching, and it's interesting to see Raymond Massey's speech as a G.I. so very Yank-oriented, without a trace of the mannered style he later acquired. Leslie Howard is well cast as a poetic, philosophical dreamer. However, it's Anton Walbrook who really surprises with an uncharacteristic subtle naturalistic style.
This is apparently the project Elizabeth Bergner used to defect from Germany to the U.S., leaving the film for Hollywood (and Glynis Johns to take over the role). The actors playing Nazis are all quite strong.