N.Y. Times critic,Bosley Crowther calls this "a stilted melodrama which is both graphically and emotionally dull." I found it stirring, uplifting and well done. The movie is romantic entertainment in the style of "Casablanca," with a similar anti-Nazi message. The Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid parts are played by George Sanders, Brenda Marshall and Philip Dorn. George Sanders is especially impressive. It is amazing how he can go so easily from a Nazi ("Man Hunt," 1941)to an anti-Nazi here. Marshall and Dorn are fine. Kid actor,Raymond Roe, stands out in the uncredited part of an heroic teenager named George.
Some reviewer on this site complained that Sanders didn't use a French accent, while all the other characters did. I don't think that is a real problem. Obviously, none of the characters would have been speaking English if the film was really taking place in France, but then American audiences would not have been able to understand the picture if they did that. I don't think Sanders adding a French accent would have added any realism to the movie. A movie audience accepts it as a convention that the dialogue is supposed to be taking place in French and that the producers are doing it in English so that the story can be understood by Americans. Accents are really optional and Sanders probably made a good choice not to affect one in a movie with many real French actors.
Anyways, the movie moves quickly, delivers a good deal of suspense and has a lot of nice and surprising twists and turns.
Some reviewer on this site complained that Sanders didn't use a French accent, while all the other characters did. I don't think that is a real problem. Obviously, none of the characters would have been speaking English if the film was really taking place in France, but then American audiences would not have been able to understand the picture if they did that. I don't think Sanders adding a French accent would have added any realism to the movie. A movie audience accepts it as a convention that the dialogue is supposed to be taking place in French and that the producers are doing it in English so that the story can be understood by Americans. Accents are really optional and Sanders probably made a good choice not to affect one in a movie with many real French actors.
Anyways, the movie moves quickly, delivers a good deal of suspense and has a lot of nice and surprising twists and turns.