DWellECON

Everyone jumps to the conclusion that since this is a World War I picture the enemy the Americans are fighting must be the Germans. However, since the setting of this movie is the Adriatic, the enemy is actually the Austrians (or to be more exact, the Austro-Hungarians). You can just make out the Austrian Naval Flag on the sterns of the enemy ships in several scenes. The climactic battle is an attack on Durazzo (Durres in Albania) which was a major Austro-Hungarian naval base in WWI and the site of two battles in that war, the second battle in 1918 being a major allied victory which undoubtedly served as the historical basis for the battle shown in this movie. Some may be thrown by the "Iron Cross" type markings on the attacking enemy airplanes, but these were in fact the markings used on WWI Austrian aircraft. I only gave this movie a 5 because frankly I found the part about the romance between Montgomery and Evans poorly written and overly melodramatic. But I was impressed by Walter Huston's performance, which gave dimension to a character who could have been played as only a martinet. The real standout of this film were the battle scenes. As some have noted, actual WW I footage was woven into some scene, though others were obviously done using models. The battle scenes were uniformly quite grim and therefore realistic, equal or better to similar scenes in WW II films. Others have mentioned the memorable scene with Sterling Holloway (I was afraid it would give me nightmares) but I also was struck by the cries for help from sailors diving into the sea in a panic from torpedoed and sinking ships. In this movie, the combatants were neither extraordinary heroes nor snide villains, but just ordinary men doing their jobs in a nasty, nasty business.

From the title, and from the brief plot summary, you might expect this to be another wartime morale booster. If it is, it is a strange one indeed.

The story is set in an English village preparing for a visit from Eleanor Roosevelt. So you might expect a celebratory story about a hard pressed but noble people. If so, you would be wrong.

Far from being noble, some of the village women are petty, gossipy, and borderline vicious. Many of course are not, but they are portrayed as normal, not noble. The story centers on the Ellis family, who have apparently moved to the village after failing elsewhere. The father, John Ellis (quite effectively portrayed by Eric Portman) is a failure in life, hanging on to his one moment of glory as an Army Captain in World War I. His wife, Flora Robson in another great performance, is long-suffering and supportive, and our hearts go out to her. Their daughter, Shelia Sim, must choose between two men: one an exciting young man her age and an older but settled man. What makes the decision difficult for her is that she has had too much of going without or just barely getting by so that she is strongly drawn security offered by the older man.

I find the remark of another viewer about obvious sets odd. Though there are some scenes like this, I found the black and white outdoor scenes quite impressive and striking. Even some scenes, such as two men talking in a field, that could have been filmed on a set were actually filmed outdoors. I was especially struck by the scenes where the father wanders the country at night, emotionally if not physically lost, while his daughter searches for him.

The movie does end on a triumphant note with Mrs. Roosevelt's visit, but if you want to see this as propaganda I guess the message would be that even these flawed people are worthwhile. For me this film was a well made, well written, well acted, interesting and moving character study.