Strange Holiday

I just came across this film and watched it yesterday. I had never heard of it before and decided to give it a try. I found it an eerie and haunting little film with a very powerful message. An ordinary American businessman is on a holiday camping, hunting and fishing in the forest. When he goes home afterwards he finds that his city has been taken over and is now run by Nazis. He is arrested and beaten and told by the head Nazi, "this is our America now." Considering what happened last week, when a huge crowd broke into the Capitol in Washington DC in an attempt to prevent Joe Biden from becoming the new President of the USA, this film that is three-quarters of a century old shows that it is still scarily relevant. At the end the prisoner John Stevenson is seen holding the bars of his jail cell and saying, "freedom is not a gift, it is a victory." What a timely reminder that freedom has to be protected, even fought for, or it could be taken away from us. Claude Rains has to carry the film and he does so excellently. Most people probably don't know this film but it deserves to be widely known because its message is urgently in need of being heard. Anyone who values democracy will be haunted by what it shows and what it says. Only 75 minutes long but it packs a punch! I recommend this to anyone and all the more so in our present situation.

Claude Rains is camping in the North Woods when he realizes he's been so cut off from the world that he's forgotten his wedding anniversary is today. He rushes back home, where he discovers that fascists, led by Martin Kosleck, have taken over the town. Indeed, they've taken over the country while he wasn't paying attention.

Sam Goldwyn may have said that if you wanted to send a message, use Western Union. Arch Oboler obviously disagreed with him in this movie which makes the point that we can't take freedom for granted. I'm tempted to agree with "Now more than ever!" but it always seems that way.

Rains is one of those actors I couldn't imagine giving a bad performance. Alas, he starts off this movie.

Claude Rains stars as John Stevenson, a typical American businessman, husband, and father. He goes on a lengthy fishing trip with a pal, and when they return home, John discovers that the government has been overthrown by fascists who have the populace in the grip of fear. As John struggles to understand what has happened, the true cost of losing freedom comes into stark relief. Also featuring Martin Kosleck, Gloria Holden, Milton Kibbee, Helen Mack, and Tommy Cook.

This short (61 minute) movie can't exactly be called a thriller, as there aren't a lot of thrills, and the situation is so exaggerated, and presented in such a hallucinatory way, that you can't really call this a straight drama, either. It plays a bit like an overlong Twilight Zone episode, and it's a definite precursor to the many "Red Menace" films of next 25 years. This was actually produced by General Motors to be shown to employees and their families to hit home how important the American way is, and how fragile it's existence is in the face of tyranny. I'm not sure how people took it back in 1945, but it still seems a little uncomfortable now.

I watched this a few days after Trump's 'patriotic' friends attempted to stop Congress confirming last year's presidential elections. Five people lost their lives. In this film, Claude Rains dreams that fascists have carried out their secret 'Plan' to abolish the Constitution and seize power. At one point, we hear the disgruntled people agreeing with the fascist slogans that 'we can't trust any of our politicians,' that 'this is no democracy any more,' and 'what we need is a strong man and some discipline.' Some of us haven't learned much since 1945.

Radio legend Arch Obler wrote and directed this film about a man (Claude Rains in a great performance) who returns home from a vacation in the woods to discover his country has been overtaken by fascists. It's a fascinating picture that serves as a cautionary tale for war-weary Americans to be vigilant about protecting their democracy and not become complacent. I've read that this was financed by General Motors for their employees to see and later it was released by poverty row studio PRC. It does look cheap, to be fair, but the cast is great and Obler creates a moody atmosphere and keeps the tension high throughout. It's definitely worth a look for fans of Rains or Obler or just anyone who wants to see an interesting off-the-beaten-path picture from Hollywood's heyday.