Silent Night in Algona is another story of the many untold in cinema from the World War 2 years. A (true ) story told in much use of the beautiful Iowa landscape.
A tumble weed of drama about a family and it's farm looking to enlist German POWs to tend to it's much needed labor. An assortment of characters with colorful personalities, some butt heads and others cheer with one another in a time of hardship and thanks.
The story is told with much clarity, I didn't find myself confused at any point.
Acting was generally good. The leads and strong supporting cast set the bar where as the day player actors often looked blank -- void of emotion and seemed as if waiting their turn to regurgitate scripted dialogue. Carl Dillard whom played William, though, was quite an exceptional performance. I very much enjoyed his character portrayal. Some other actors tried to milk moments that didn't need to be milked, some were too flashy and overboard, and some were down right annoying and unpleasant. But overall the mixed bag made it work for me. DJ Perry is another actor you really couldn't go wrong with.
I thought it was a genuine and interesting true story that I didn't know about. Being the grandson of a grandfather that faught with Patton's army in the war and annually examining his loot and written letters during the war has always had me looking for untold stories of that time so that they could be peiced together to complete the puzzle.
