User reviews

White Cliffs of Dover was made to stoke the flames of patriotism. The film is largely Dunne as a 50 something WWII nurse awaiting a large number of casualties as she looks back on her life in England.

Her memories consist of the tale of a Yankee girl, Irene Dunne as Susan Dunn, who goes on a two week vacation to England with her father and on her last day there meets a member of the English gentry who is instantly smitten by her and talks her into staying and marrying him. At first Susan feels out of her element as Lady Ashwood, but she quickly finds her footing. She and her husband, Sir John Ashwood, don't even have time for a honeymoon as WWI starts and he is off to fight with his regiment. After three years he finally gets a few days leave, but it is long enough to conceive his son, John Ashwood Jr., or John Ashwood II as the British would say.

Irene Dunne always gave good subtle performances in parts that could have easily gotten ham-fisted, and this role is no exception. Frank Morgan as her Yankee dad is a revelation as he is for once not the befuddled comic relief but a spirited American father who wants his daughter home in America before her marriage, and safe from the Nazi bombs as the winds of a second war approach. C. Aubrey Smith lends terrific support as Colonel Walter Forsythe, considered a crackpot at the boarding house where he and the Dunns were staying during their trip, because he claims to have a standing invitation to the most exclusive ball in England, but seems to just be a common pensioner. Well it turns out he really can turn pumpkins into carriages after all. Roddy McDowell plays John Jr., and he is smitten by one of the daughters of the tenant farmers on the estate played by a twelve year old Elizabeth Taylor in only her third credited role. Their scenes together are just too cute.

As with most of the WWII films there are a few lines and a few scenes that get over the top just a bit. There are the American soldiers marching through the streets of London to rousing patriotic songs played by a military band as the film comes full circle. There are the two German preteens who are friends of John Jr. during the early 1930's who just happen to erupt into Nazi propaganda at the dinner table. I was surprised one of them didn't put a comb under his nose and start imitating the Bohemian corporal. And then there is grief that takes all of 15 seconds in spite of its cruel irony because you just HAVE to keep that stiff upper lip! But it's not overdone for a film that is over two hours long, and it does take that long to do the tale justice.

This movie telecast recently on TCM was one of many made to promote better relations between the ordinary people of Britain and the USA. Michael Korda claims in his book that his father, Sir Alexander Korda was sent to Hollywood by Churchill, before the USA entered the war, with a mission to persuade his movie mogul friends to make movies with pro British themes. By the time this movie was released,there was a large build up of US service personnel in the UK in preparation for invasion of Europe and resentment towards the GI's was not uncommon. For many of todays viewers it may seem to be a little over the top. Howerver it is a classic, if for the only reason, it was our first glimpse of the fabulous Liz Taylor.

One of the great crimes of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is that Dunne was never given an Oscar....not even an honorary one! Most of her performances transcend time and come off as fresh and natural today as when they were first delivered. She just must have made it look too easy. The woman could do everything! At any rate, this film features another strong performance from her. She plays a young American girl who comes to England with her father (the irascible Morgan) and is soon swept off her feet by dashing and wealthy Marshall. Before they can enjoy any sort of life together, he is called to serve in WWI and they are separated. This is only part of the story as her life unfolds through the next decades and she struggles with letting her son (McDowall, then Lawford) serve in WWII. The film is obviously patriotic and propaganda filled, but understandably so as WWII was still being waged! Dunne is luminescent in the role and is surrounded by a strong array of familiar supporting actors. Notable are Cooper (endlessly watchable in anything!) and Witty (wonderfully crotchety, yet sentimental.) It is a touch jarring to see Taylor grow into Lockhart (young Taylor barely says anything, but "Yes, Sir John".) Lawford is at his most youthful and appealing. The film has a lot of sentiment and melodrama, but also a lot of heart and a little humor. It winds up being quite touching at times and displays a time long gone, but a patriotism that can still be resurrected when events call for it.

With a title based on a very popular song on both sides of the pond in those World War II years, The White Cliffs Of Dover is seen in flashback by Irene Dunne of her life as an American in Great Britain in the years covering two World Wars. It was one of those hands across the oceans films so popular in those days.

I heard it said that the main fact about the 20th Century that one should realize in studying it is that the United States and Great Britain both spoke a common language. That fact made us overcome a few cultural differences and was the reason America entered two World Wars to save a Great Britain from invasion.

Thus it was for Irene Dunne who came over with her father Frank Morgan on holiday in 1914 and met and married a minor titled fellow played by Alan Marshal. Marshal is killed and she spends a long widowhood raising their son and heir to his title. She lives with her mother-in-law, Gladys Cooper and raises her son who at various times is played by Roddy McDowall and Peter Lawford. The son rather fancies the daughter of one of their tenants played at various times by Elizabeth Taylor and June Lockhart.

Of course this interoceanic love feast has a rather rocky beginning, especially when Frank Morgan while arguing chess with C. Aubrey Smith gets confronted with the fact that the chess board and pieces were the property of the looted White House from the War of 1812. It's my favorite scene in the film.

Dunne who ages gracefully and magnificently gives a stirring performance as a woman who lost what she loved in one war and is ready to sacrifice again for her adopted country. I've a feeling that the folks at MGM might have had her character as an answer to that real female American expatriate, Lady Nancy Astor and that we were all not members in good standing of the Nazi appeasing Cliveden set.

There's also a scene similar to the one in Mrs. Miniver where Greer Garson has to entertain a wounded German flier, Helmut Dantine where he's made a symbol of what they're at war against. Dunne, Morgan, and McDowall entertain a pair of German boys on holiday and when the discussion turns to politics it gets pretty heated. These two are thinking nothing more than winning what they should have won back in 1918.

The White Cliffs Of Dover is a nice film, typical of the era it came out of. You do wonder though if Irene Dunne had met a nice German guy from the Weimar Republic days how that might have been dealt with.

Have not viewed this film in years and greatly enjoyed seeing this Great Film Classic and the fantastic cast of all time great actors from the 40's. Irene Dunne(Susan Dunn Ashwood),"I Remember Mama",'48 was an American gal who loved England and its great History and was overwhelmed with the countryside and its grandeur. Susan visited England with her father, Frank Morgan(Hiram Porter Dunn), "Green Dolphin Street," '47, a newspaper editor and a very out spoken man concerning his opinions of the English and there way of living and came into conflict with his daughters feelings. While in England they stayed at a sort of Bed & Breakfast and Susan ran into Alan Marshall,(Sir John Ashwood),"House on Haunted Hill",'59, who fell madly in love with Susan despite their family backgrounds. Van Johnson,(Sam Bennett),"Clowning Round",'92, made a few brief appearances and was very young and attractive and seemed to meet Susan always on the run or with bad timing. Hiram Porter Dunn ran into a conflict with C. Aubrey Smith,(Colonel),"Little Woman",'49 over a chess board that belonged to Dolly Madison, and Hiram felt that he should return it back to the White House. This is a great film concerning Romance and the horrible effects of War on all the families involved. Enjoy!

Irene Dunne is all in all herself, tender, transformative and powerful as an American girl who travels to England and falls in love with an English member of the aristocracy. Beautiful Irene marries the Englishman but their honeymoon is cut short on its first day as World War I breaks out. Director Clarence Brown's leisurely mood effect causes us to feel as disrupted as they do. Perhaps it is the soothing joy derived from the old-style black-and-white 35mm Spherical look, a classicism in George J. Folsey's cozy cinematography, that creates such a peaceful atmosphere. Believe me: This feeling is augmented by seeing it on a VHS tape, almost as though you are watching a timeworn relic. When the film quietly, serenely begins, Irene reflects upon her feelings relating to her life in England, a life she never expected to lead from event to event beginning with her purely dabbling arrival. The moving musical score fits like a velvet glove over the sustained close shot of her gorgeous face and the iceberg-thawing sound of her voice.

The backbiting between Irene and her English counterparts early in the film is funny, posing one of the movie's unanxious emotional successes which as well include strong romantic and maternal joys and longings, WWI, brief bursts of rage, mourning, WWII, and the like. A scene in the movie circa the early 1930s sends a chill down the spine, illustrating two polite adolescent German boys, part of an exchange program, staying at the English family's countryside manor. Intimating they were part of early Nazi invasion plans, the boys let it slip in a conversation's startling turn for the less comfortable that they are pondering how the estate's large green would be perfect on which for troop gliders to land.

This film is both tender and powerful-with a very moving score. If, like me, you enjoy lying down at night just listening to the voices and music coming from an old classic film-this is the one for you. At the beginning when Ms. Dunne is telling her story and reflecting on her life in England-the music fits perfectly, the mood is wonderful, and her voice just makes you want to melt. Then, before you know it, even though you thought you just might want to "half" watch this film on a lazy night-you find yourself caught up in it all. The English/American bickering becomes quite funny, the romance, the war, the drama, the sadness, the next war... Irene Dunne at her best-and beautiful as ever-with that strange, knowing almost mischievous look in her eyes. I truly believe that films like these are healthy for us(sort of like watching fish in an aquarium-or shopping for antiques, petting a dog, etc.) Do yourself a favor and watch/listen to this lovely movie. If you're an Anglophile then you are really denying yourself a great pleasure by not seeing it.

"The White Cliffs of Dover," even the title reeks of warmth, home, longing. A book-ended story of an American woman reflecting on her life in England; rich velvety cinematography of lush comfortable interiors; friendly familiar faces from countless films viewed over a lifetime; a sentimental tale of love, duty, and loss. Clarence Brown's 1944 dramatization of Alice Duer Miller's poem has the makings of an unforgettable classic for rainy afternoons, cuddled under a blanket on the sofa, and much of the film fulfills that cherished goal.

Unfortunately, some dated clutter spoils the show. A voice-over narration reads passages from the poem and quickly wears thin. The stereotypes that contrast brash, over-confident Americans with duty-bound, class-conscious English are tiresome and should be relegated to the dustbin. The overt World War II propaganda is strident, although by fade out, viewers may be ready to rush out and buy war bonds. If Brown could have produced a director's cut that eliminated the now-dated messages and focused on the compelling family saga, an engrossing movie would have emerged. Such annoying episodes as the unexplained visit of two young Hitler Youth, the bizarre assumption that French villagers know the English lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner, and the myth that only American marching bands were sent overseas should have been relegated to the cutting room floor when the war ended. "Important Message" is written in capital letters throughout, and the message obscures a warm decent story.

The ever-dependable Irene Dunne is the young American woman who arrives in England for an intended two-week stay and remains for a lifetime. As in fairy tales, Dunne meets and marries a handsome wealthy aristocrat and expects to live happily ever after, but two world wars intervene. MGM brought out the studio's finest supporting players to populate the cast: C. Aubrey Smith, Dame May Witty, Frank Morgan, Gladys Cooper. The film's glittering assemblage also included some of MGM's brightest young contract players: Van Johnson, Peter Lawford, Tom Drake, June Lockhart, Roddy McDowall, and the already enchanting Elizabeth Taylor. In short, "The White Cliffs of Dover" had everything, except a sense of subtlety in its wartime propaganda. Despite the lapse, the movie remains worthwhile and generally entertaining, although repeat viewings could be tough going.

This was an incredible War movie which spanned WWI and WWII. It was a romance/drama. Irene Dunne is the female lead who falls in love with and marries a man who soon goes off to fight in France during World War I. He dies and she had his child, a boy.

The boy grows to manhood and is played by Peter Lawford. As the movie ends, Dunne is seeing her son, Lawford go off to fight in WWII. You can see the pain and the pride in Dunne's eyes.

It was a fabulous movie. It dramatizes the great sacrifices made by the British in both World Wars. Britain lost so many of her sons in WWI, I believe the stats were approximately 50% of men between the ages of 18 and 45. The movies points up the fact that the loses, pain and suffering of the English were about to be revisited in WWII.

I can appreciate this and other war movies as I am the mother of a Marine who is about to be sent to Iraq.

I have seen this film several times over the years. It is typical of the films made during WW II, in that is promotes patriotism and implies that sacrificing young men is a worthwhile venture.

The aspect that strikes me as odd is the narration that rhymes. It took me a few viewings to realize that was what it was. The cast does a fine job, but the story is a bit too sweet and predictable.

Dunne is wonderful, as are the character actors Smith, Morgan and Witty. It is fun seeing Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowell together again after they appeared in Lassie Come Home.

It ranks up there with Mrs. Minver in my opinion - minus the rhyming narration.

I have a dissenting voice about White Cliffs of Dover. Most reviewers seem to love it. I thought the movie began well, but descended into sappiness before it (mercifully) ended. When did it lose its way? Probably around the 2/3 mark. The plot line of a high-spirited Yankee being swept off her feet by a member of the "landed gentry" caught my interest. One knew from the date of their meeting that WWI was looming over their romance. And knowing that the movie was produced during WWII, I could almost write the rest of the plot. The problem with the film, for me, was in the execution. The last third of it became self-consciously sentimental and dreary, the weepiness intermingled with the over-the-top attempt to stir the fires of patriotism in viewers. The sounds of a military band and the sight of our soldiers marching on a heroic mission always thrill me, personally. My son is in the military. And WWII is the epitome of heroic times. But I did not appreciate the way the movie clumsily tried to manipulate my thoughts and feelings. What I did love about the film were the superb character actors--Frank Morgan at his best, Dame May Witty, Gladys Cooper, C. Aubrey Smith, and the young Roddy McDowall. It was fun seeing other familiar faces--Van Johnson, Elizabeth Taylor, Tom Drake. Again, I have to differ with viewers who loved Irene Dunne in this part. Her portrayal just didn't work for me. I could see Greer Garson as better suited for the role. I felt the others--Morgan, Smith, Witty, Alan Marshal who played her husband, and even McDowall--carried Dunne along and gave her believability. Two aspects of the movie I especially applaud. First, the significance of Dieppe in the lives of the main characters brought an emotional weight and synchronicity to the film that has stayed with me. And Nanny's final scene helped me to understand the whole situation through her sad, old eyes. I will remember that touching moment when all the marching bands have passed.

It is almost Christmas 2002, a difficult year for Americans and a perfect time for World War II nostalgia. I was 16 years old when this moviecame out, I am 76 now and "Cliffs" is as fresh today as it was then. The songs, English and American are marvelous, and Irene Dunne shines. Supporting cast is typical of the wonderful character actors of the time plus Elizabeth Taylor. We are moved by an American woman (Dunne) who loses a husband in World War I and a son in World War II. Frank Morgan, who is always Frank Morgan even in the "Wizard of Oz" is marvelous as Dunne's Father. Dame Mae Whittey, Gladys Cooper, Allain Marshall, C. Aubrey Smith as the very British Colonel -- everyone adds to the beauty of this movie, and we must not forget that Irene Dunne is the narrator of the famous poem of World War II, "The White Cliffs of Dover" which is still available in bookstores. I would put this movie in well-done Black and White, right up there with "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" (Van Johnson has a bit part in "Cliffs"), "Mrs. Miniver" with Greer Garson, and the magnificent World War 2 Series, "War and Remembrance" and "Winds of War". I am amazed that "black and white" is still effective. I hope this movie is presented as often as "It's a Wonderful Life" every year in the future.

As an avid chess player whose interest also extends to the history of the royal game and to 1940s films in particular, I feel qualified to adjudicate on the comical dispute in this film between "Colonel Forsythe" (C Aubrey Smith) & "Mr Hiram Porter Dunn" (Frank Morgan when they debated who was the better chess player, whether Joseph Henry Blackburne (from Manchester, England (b.10/12/1842) or Harry Nelson Pillsbury (from nr.Boston Mass. b.5/12/1872 (British day/month year order).It is unusual for a Hollywood film producer to take such an interest in the noble game indeed I cannot think of any other incident in contemporary popular films, so I was naturally intrigued by their argument.Pillsbury the American shot to fame by coming to Europe where no one in chess circles had heard of him and proceeded to win the great Hastings 1895 tournament with 16 1/2 points ahead of the then world champion Emmanuel Lasker who came 3rd scoring 15 1/2 points.Blackburne could only come a lowly 10th position scoring 10 1/2 points.When Frank Morgan as Hiram Porter Dunn insists "Pillsbury invented that move", I am assuming he is alluding to a variation as white of the Queens Gambit Declined where white initiates a stonewall attack by planting a knight on the e5 square, pawns on the c3/d4/e3/f4 & g4 squares, develops other pieces into a set "stonewall" pattern and then builds up a massive king side attack.Of course he was 30 years younger than Blackburne at the time while he only lived to 34 in 1906 while Blackburne died aged 82 in 1924.By the way in their individual game at Hastings these two combatants drew with each other.

I found the film too syrupy for my liking but being produced in 1944 film producers were briefed by governments to assist the war effort and promote accord between allied forces, especially with the Normandy landings in the offing.In "A Matter of Life & Death" (1946) Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger were under similar instructions to promote harmony between the allies.Let us not forget that the man voted in a recent TV poll "The Greatest ever Briton" - W. S. Churchill (born 1874) was the product of an American mother, born Jennie Jerome & a British father, Randolph Churchill.My understanding of the 1942 Dieppe raid was that it was an exclusively Canadian operation, almost a dress rehearsal for the real invasion two years later; so I felt it was a bit too "pat" to have three nationalities of soldiers together in a shell crater but I understand why this scene was written into the film script.

This is the story of an American woman who marries into a rich English family in the early part of the 20th Century. We become involved in her experiences during the World Wars and see how these conflicts affect her family.

Produced while the Second World War was still being fought, this film was intended to be both a morale booster for American audiences and as a salute to our British allies.

The film boasts a great cast, each perfect in their role. Irene Dunne is the American lady; Alan Marshal the dashing knight she marries. Roddy McDowall & Peter Lawford portray their only son at different ages. Bumptious Frank Morgan is Dunne's irascible father; Dame Gladys Cooper is Marshal's aristocratic mother. Dame May Witty is the sweet old nurse. Van Johnson is a young American friend headed for war. Norma Varden is the proprietress of a London boarding house. John Warburton, Jill Esmond & Brenda Forbes are various English relatives. Wonderful old Sir C. Aubrey Smith is an opinionated retired Major.

In the unbilled cast, film mavens should be able to spot George Davis, Tom Drake, Ethel Griffies, Lumsden Hare, Doris Lloyd, June Lockhart, Arthur Shields, a young Dame Elizabeth Taylor & Ian Wolfe.

More than a MRS. MINIVER wannabe, THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER has a charm all its own.

I'm a huge Irene Dunne fan. How huge? Well, let's just say that l will put up with bathetic, enervating, patriotic swill like this and still feel, at the end of it, that Ms. Dunne is the best American film actress of the first half of the twentieth century.

Is there a more boring American film maker than Clarence Brown? No one comes readily to mind. The out and out schlockmeisters like Robson, Selander and Castle at least had the virtue of wishing to entertain us. Or scare us. Or make us laugh. Not ol Clarence. This well meaning but ponderous fellow's films are where laughs and action and dramatic tension not only go to die but to be strangled at birth. Even Stanley Kramer is more bearable. Hell, even Robert Z. Leonard is preferable!

So why a 6 instead of a 3 or a 4? Well, did I mention that I love Irene Dunne? And Clarence Brown shrewdly exhibits just enough taste so that his films are as decent as they are dull. C plus.

The only reference to the White Cliffs of Dover comes in at the beginning of the film as we watch Susan and her friend, Sam Bennet, as they are approaching England by sea. The magnificent cliffs are seen in the distance in all their splendor. Susan, clearly moved by the sight, revels on the many things that await her in London where she and her father are going to spend two weeks vacation.

Alas, when they arrive, they are treated to the typical rainy weather, that puts a damp, no pun intended, in her enjoyment of a city and all things English she has always admired. Instead of finding a place that meets all her expectations, Susan has to endure the weather and the prospect of going back without seeing the sights and places she really wanted to see.

Enter the kind Colonel, the man living in the modest hotel where the Dunns are staying. He invites Susan to a society ball where she meets Sir John Ashwood, the man who will become her husband. John is instrumental in her staying in England. Susan never expected to be married into the rich gentry that John belongs to. In fact, the beginning of her life in the family country estate convinces her she doesn't belong.

It's 1915 and WWI arrives without warning. Susan sees in horror how John goes to his regiment and to the front. He eventually dies, but the son that arrives for her is, in a way, a painful reminder of the great loss she suffered. Like his father, the boy grows up and has to go to war, as it's expected of his kind.

"The White Cliffs of Dover" was directed by Clarence Brown, who gave it a great look. Irene Dunne makes a good impression as Susan, the courageous woman who stays in a strange country and has to make a new life for herself and her new family. Alan Marshal is perfect as the dashing John Ashwood.

In minor roles we see Roddy McDowall, who plays the young John Ashwood. Harry Morgan is Susan's father. Gladys Cooper, May Witty, Peter Lawford, Van Johnson, C. Aubrey Smith, and the rest of the cast do good work. The young Elizabeth Taylor is seen as the young Betsy and June Lockhart appears as the grown up girl in uncredited roles.

"The White Cliffs of Dover" is about loyalty for one's country and how tradition plays a role in the lives of all the people one meets in the story, even during the difficult times these characters had to live.

Irene Dunne played the same woman in this film's flashback was not a good arrangement. She played the young heroine when she traveled to England, but her face was a face already over 30s, her cheekbones on both sides already enlarged and too wide, it obviously showed that she was an older woman, no matter how the film described, she was already older dame. Young women's cheekbones would not grow large, so the face would be narrower on lower part down from the ears neckline. Older women's jawbones would be thicker and wider. So when Dunne played a younger Susan Ashwood, it's completely unconvincing at all. Movies are not like opera that you could have an overweight old female soprano to sing on the stage, playing a young role. This is why I consider this film a 50% failure.

Irene Dunne is superb here as a young American woman "Susan", who travels to the UK with her grumpy, well meaning - indeed every inch his "Wizard of Oz" - father Frank Morgan ("Hiram") Once she arrives, she goes to a fancy ball where she meets and falls for the dashing "Sir John Ashwood" (Alan Marshal) and a whirlwind of a romance ensues. The rest of the story depicts her trials and tribulations as she tries to settle down with her new beau - and his rather cold, distant family whose views on Americans as loud, brash and all but uncivilised she finds alienating and difficult to adapt to. WWI intervenes, as does tragedy and the emphasis shifts to her bringing up their young son (briefly, an instantly recognisable 16 year-old Roddy McDowell) before he, too, has to go into service (by this time an equally dashing Peter Lawford) in WWII. There are far too many strong, decent supporting efforts to mention, but principally Dame May Whiity as the forceful, but ever so slightly slushy nanny; Sir C. Aubrey Smith as the hard as nails Colonel who melts like butter in the presence of Dunne and her child; Gladys Cooper as her mother-in-law and there is the tiniest of appearances from Elizabeth Taylor too. This is a story somewhat steeped in sentiment, but it isn't cloying - it depicts a changing world; not just wars and killing, but of fairly profound social change in Britain as the traditionally landed gentry see the gradual erosion of their wealth, rank and privilege. Tinged with frequent sorrow, this is an original, and poignant - occasionally humorous - coming of ages drama that has stood the test of time well.

I am only giving a 5 due to the performance of Irene. But yet again through the years the projection of America as all there is to this world is ridiculous. As if any Scot or Englishman would actually accept the words mentioned in the film. Disgusting. On the other hand its more of a romance novel than a war movie as war is like a sidewalk into this film. The story line overall is nice but it should be filmed in a difference scene than use the theme of war to input this romance story. presenting the power of actors and words in the art of cinema is one thing, but using it as political brainwashing a propaganda is another. As a scene from the film America is a circus just like the band marches when war is announced by them.