A mild-mannered school teacher in a German-occupied town during World War II finds himself torn between collaboration and resistance.A mild-mannered school teacher in a German-occupied town during World War II finds himself torn between collaboration and resistance.A mild-mannered school teacher in a German-occupied town during World War II finds himself torn between collaboration and resistance.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 1 win total
- Judge
- (as Ivan Simpson)
- German Second Lieutenant
- (uncredited)
- Captain Schwartz
- (uncredited)
- German Sergeant
- (uncredited)
- German Sergeant
- (uncredited)
- Young Woman
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe singing of "Die Lorelei" by the German soldiers was a subtle dig at the anti-Semitic regime of the Nazis, since the words were written by banned Jewish poet Heinrich Heine. Many of his books, considered un-German, were burned in the book-burning episode at Opernplatz, Berlin, Germany, on 10 May 1933. However, his works were so popular that they were still published, but "author unknown" was the listed writer. In his 1821 play "Almansor," Heine also prophetically wrote "Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen" ("Where they burned books, they will in the end burn people").
- GoofsWhen Paul Martin is trying to escape by jumping from car to car in the rail-yard, one of the parked box cars to the side clearly has the Great Northern logo. Whilst Great Northern was a large operation, its rails didn't reach to Nazi-occupied Europe. Another car is clearly marked "SP" for the Southern Pacific railroad.
- Quotes
[At Albert Lory's murder trial, the Prosecutor produces a "suicide note," proving that George Lambert killed himself. But Lory will not have it]
Albert Lory: The letter's forged, Your Honor. Major Von Keller told me last night... The prosecutor wrote that letter himself. I think he's trying to save my life.
[laughter ripples through the courtroom]
Prosecutor: This is no laughing matter! Your Honor, for the sake of the dignity of this court, I respectfully ask that the man who started that unseemly outburst be forcibly removed from the room!
Judge: The court agrees with you, Mr. Prosecutor! Which of you started that laughter? Please stand up.
[Silence. No one in the courtroom stands up]
Judge: I ask you again, who started that laughter?
Albert Lory: Excuse me, Your Honor. I don't know, but I think I can guess. Perhaps it was the Unknown Soldier.
- Crazy creditsOpening credits prologue: "Somewhere in Europe--"
- ConnectionsFeatured in Hollywood Greats: Charles Laughton (1978)
- SoundtracksDie Lorelei
(1838) (uncredited)
Music by Friedrich Silcher (1838)
Poem by Heinrich Heine (1823)
Played on accordion by Kent Smith and sung by the German soldiers
One could argue (as had been done in the comments here) that Laughton's transformation from mouse to man is rather too swift. I myself found it totally convincing but it is in the nature of Hollywood to exaggerate these things to make a good movie.
The comparison to "inherit the wind" and "To Kill a mockingbird" is well made here, but the question remains, why is this film so little known? The answer, I think, is that those films make the middle classes feel good about themselves. Everyone fancies themselves to be an Atticus Finch who can recognise the ignorance of 'common people'. But TLIM points the accusing finger at the Atticus Finch's of the world, the men of learning and intelligence who are quite prepared to justify working with evil and persuading themselves that it is not so bad. As such it is as relevant (sadly) as it ever was.
- son_of_cheese_messiah
- Dec 27, 2012
- Permalink
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Ova zemlja je moja
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 43 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1