The film opens on a statement that we are about to see the future. The War is over. The Nazis who victimized millions of people are being held responsible for their actions. A trial is being held, and among the accused is Wilhelm Grimm (Alexander Knox). Present in the court are three of his victims who survived: Father Warecki (Henry Travers), the local Catholic priest; Karl Grimm (Erik Rolf), his brother; and Marja Paierkowski (Marsha Hunt), his one-time fiance. The film promises the fate of the criminals: None Shall Escape (1944) I'd not heard of this film until it was aired at the TCM Film Festival last year. A friend went to see it, and suggested I might want to seek it out; unfortunately, it has not been available on any media format, nor has it been aired on any television station. Recently, the film was released to Blu-Ray, and I was able to get a copy. If you've not seen None Shall Escape, try and find a copy (perhaps from your local library). It's a fascinating look into the past. The movies was released in February of 1944 - four months before the D-Day invasion. The Germans had just won two major victories in Italy (at Cisterna and Anzio Beach), and the final outcome of the war was still in doubt. There had been other anti-Nazi films: The Great Dictator (1940), The Mortal Storm (1940), To Be or Not To Be (1942), All Through the Night (1942), but this was the first to attempt to show what was happening to Jews in Europe. It was also doing something else that was unique - looking to the end of the war and assuming the Allies would win - a bold statement in 1943 and early 1944!
The flashbacks which tell the story of Wilhelm Grimm's rise in the Nazi machine begin in 1919. The First World War has ended badly for him: his dreams of German glory have been destroyed, and he has lost a leg. He sees himself as less than a man, not only because of his disability, but also because he has been forced to return to Poland. Grimm despises the people he lived with before the war, including his fiance. He blames his hatred on the fact that the town will only see his injury. That the people of Lidzbark welcome him back, and that a woman like Marja could love him show the audience that, before the war, he seemed a good man. Clearly, he is no longer, and Alexander Knox plays him as one dead inside. The monster that was created by the war is only encouraged by the rise of National Socialism, and Mr. Knox is not afraid to display the evil that must have been buried below the surface.
Marsha Hunt exudes an inner strength as Marja. The man she loved is, for all intents and purposes, dead. And with the beginning of the Second World War, she watches everything that she knows get plowed under by the reign of this horrible man. She plays Marja with dignity; Marja never pities Grimm, but eventually she loathes him, and what he has become. His crimes are horrors, even before he becomes an officer with the Nazis, and Marja must acknowledge that the only way to save herself and her people is to abandon a man she once loved. Also in the cast is Henry Travers as the local priest and Richard Hale as Rabbi David Levin. The two prelates are friends, and work for the good of their populations. It's a nice touch to present the religious leaders as a team, rather than as rivals for converts.
None Shall Escape was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Story (AFI Catalog) for writer Lester Cole (who was later blacklisted as a member of the Hollywood Ten). Columbia chief Harry Cohn wanted Paul Lukas in the part of Grimm, but director Andre de Toth wanted Alexander Knox. It was released as a B movie, and reviews at the time were mixed - Bosley Crowther of the New York Times (of course) hate it, calling it "bombastically directed" and "dishing out thick, dark gobs of anguish;" while the Hollywood Reporter was glowing (TCM article). Regardless, it is an important movie. In her book
Indelible Shadows: Film and the Holocaust, Annette Insdorf
says the film is "revelatory in its inclusion of the genocide of the Jews [and] prescient in its depiction of the postwar trial of an SS leader." As Stan Taffel, in this 2016 interview said "This film is relevant in the 21st Century and it will be relevant in the 22nd Century. As long as people care about who they are and what they are and how they are, this film is relevant."
I'll leave you with a trailer and this discussion of the film by Marsha Hunt:
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This post is part of the Great Villain Blogathon. Go there to read the posts of the #Villains2019 participants.
On a recent trip to New York City, I was able to catch a screening of a documentary. Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity (2015) was directed by Roger C. Memos, and is a tribute to Ms. Hunt (who turned 101 October 2018) both as an actress and an activist. With interviews of colleagues, friends, and admirers, this film is a must-see for classic film aficionados, as well as individuals who work to make the world a better place. Marsha Hunt was born in Chicago in 1917, and her family moved to New York City when she was a small child. After graduating from high school (Horace Mann in the Bronx), she had decided to pursue an acting career (Her family wanted her to attend college, but she felt it was a waste of time - she couldn't take any theatre courses until she was in her third year). Ms. Hunt started as a model; by 1935 she had signed an acting contract with Paramount Studios, where she was immediately cast in romantic lead roles. She grew bored with those kinds of parts, and asked Paramount for more character-driven stories. Paramount was not sympathetic; by 1938 she was no longer with the studio. She later signed with MGM, where among other roles, she appeared as Mary in Pride and Prejudice (1940).
Ms. Hunt discussed her disillusioning experience in auditioning for the role of Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind (1939). Assured by David O. Selznick that he had "found his Melanie" after her audition, the following day the trades announced the casting of Olivia de Havilland. She also talked about her favorite part, the film that is often called the first movie to speak of the Holocaust, None Shall Escape (1944). Ms. Hunt recently discussed the film at the 2018 TCM Film Festival. When the writers who would eventually be tagged the Unfriendly Ten were summoned to appear before Congress, Ms Hunt was part of the contingent - The Committee for the First Amendment - that traveled to Washington DC to stand in solidarity with them. As a result (and despite years of war-related work during World War II), Ms. Hunt was eventually blacklisted. During this period, she began appearing on Broadway, ultimately appearing in six plays between 1948 and 1967. She also began working as an activist - first as a protege of Eleanor Roosevelt in support of the United Nations. Even today, at age 101, she continues to advocate in causes centered around homelessness, mental health, and hunger.
I felt privileged to be able to see this excellent film. Mr. Memos is still working to get venues to show it, and it should be seen, along with Ms. Hunt's wonderful films. We've discussed her in our comments on Lost Angel and Blossoms in the Dust, and hope to view more of her work. If you know of a venue that would be able to view the documentary, do contact Mr. Memos. A review of the film is available in the Los Angeles Times. Should you be able to catch a screening, please go - you're in store for a wonderful and enlightening experience.
An infant is abandoned at a New York City foundling hospital and the matron on duty makes a phone call to the Institute of Child Psychology. Professor Peter Vincent (Philip Merivale) and Dr. Woodring (Alan Napier) arrive to conduct a series of evaluations on the infant; she is adjudged satisfactory, and removed to the Institute for education. The Institute has a theory about education, and have taken on the infant girl, named Alpha (Margaret O'Brien) to test their theories. Alpha will be taught Chinese, music, chess, math and history, but will be removed from the rest of the world, so as to eliminate any corrupting influences. At age 6, Alpha, now fluent in Chinese, able to read complicated books, and an expert in world history, is ready to be tested by Professor Josh Pringle (Henry O'Neill). When word gets out about Prof. Pringle's arrival, reporter Mike Regan (James Craig) arrives at the Institute to do a story on the prodigy. Bemused by Alpha's concrete understanding of the world, Mike tells her the world is full of magic, a concept that has been rejected by her tutors. So the Lost Angel (1944) ventures out of the Institute to find Mike and prove the validity of magic.
This is a truly delightful film, both moving and funny, with a cast that is in top form. Margaret O'Brien is excellent as Alpha, a little girl who is, at times, more mature than her elders. She manages to make Alpha smart without being a show-off, but also to retain Alpha's innocence and child-wonder of the new world she is being revealed. (The character is somewhat reminiscent of Natalie Wood's Susan Walker in Miracle on 34th Street.) In 1945, Ms. O'Brien was presented a special juvenile Oscar, for her work that year (including this picture) (AFI catalog) The story of that Oscar did not end in 1945 - it was stolen from Ms. O'Brien's home in 1954, shortly before her mother's death, found 50 years later (for the full story, visit this blog post) and returned to the ecstatic Ms. O'Brien.
But Ms. O'Brien would be lost if it was not for the rapport that she has with both James Craig and Marsha Hunt (Katie Mallory). Ms. Hunt is particularly terrific, combining a developing motherly affection for the child with a wariness of her. The scene of their meeting at Katie's nightclub is especially funny. The image of the Alpha and Katie staring at one another in a game of visual chicken is wonderful (Katie loses the match!). They would appear in another film together that same year: Music for Millions.
Ms. Hunt, who just celebrated her 100th birthday, began her film career in 1936 with The Virginia Judge; she retired from acting in 2008, following her appearance in the short film The Grand Inquisitor (for more on her appearance in this film, listen to this Film Noir Foundation podcast on Ms. Hunt). A truly underrated performer (watch her extraordinary performance in Cry 'Havoc' (1943), her career was foreshortened when she was blacklisted. Her crime - she was a member of the Committee for the First Amendment, and protested HUAC's questioning of the Hollywood Ten. Offered the opportunity to apologize for her protest, she steadfastly refused, and channeled herself into working for world peace and the environment (Deadline Hollywood). Now retired, there are ongoing efforts to make a documentary on her life.
The film is gifted with a number of fantastic supporting actors. Keenan Wynn had already appeared in four films, only one of which credited, when he appeared as Packy Roos in our film, and he is wonderful as a gangster who doesn't read very well. His interactions with Ms. O'Brien are very funny, resulting in several sweet and amusing scenes. Alan Napier, Philip Merivale, Donald Meek (Professor Katty), and Sara Haden (Rhoda Kitterick) also handle their parts with extreme delicacy. It would be easy to make the members of the Institute into villains, something these remarkable actors avoid. Their love for Alpha is apparent from the beginning of the film - though she is their job, she is also a responsibility, and one that requires understanding and affection. There are a few more actors to watch for - Ava Gardner in an unbilled roll as a Hat Check Girl. Even though you don't get a good look at her, the voice is unmistakable. Robert Blake, as Mike's neighbor Jerry is credited, but Bobby Driscoll (as Bobby, the boy on the train) is not. This was Mr. Driscoll's film debut (TCM article).
Radio versions of the film would appear on the Lux Radio Theatre in June 1944, with Mr. Craig, Ms. Hunt, and Ms. O'Brien reprising their screen roles, and in December 1946 with Ms. O'Brien again enacted Alpha on Academy Award Theater. The story had been written specifically for Ms. O'Brien at Louis B. Mayer's orders (he wanted her to be the next Shirley Temple).
After reading Bosley Crowther's review of the picture in the New York Times , we wondered if he had seen the same movie as we did. Variety, however, did enjoy the film, as did my fellow blogger at Laura's Miscellaneous Musings. We'll leave you with the meeting of Alpha and Mike, and the suggestion that you settle down in front of the TV with this little gem. It's an evening well spent.
After a whirlwind romance, Edna Kahly (Greer Garson) becomes engaged to Sam Gladney (Walter Pidgeon); Edna and her adopted sister Charlotte (Marsha Hunt) are planning a double wedding. But Charlotte's discovery that she is a foundling - and therefore illegitimate - changes everything. Her fiance's family rejects her, and while Alan (William Henry) reaffirms his love for her, Charlotte leaves the room and commits suicide. The horror of this will haunt Edna Gladney, as does the death of her only son. Blossoms in the Dust (1941) is the story of the Edna Gladney's work in Texas to help foundlings such as her sister find loving and secure families. Though we uniformly enjoyed this film, we have some issues with the script. First off, the opening implies that the film is going to be a romance, but the story takes a rapid about face within about 10 minutes. And while we welcome stories with pep, at times Blossoms in the Dust moves almost too quickly. There are no real transitions as the action moves through the events of Edna's life. One minute we are in her Wisconsin home, seeing her reaction to a pistol shot, the next we are in Texas and it is Edna's first anniversary. We rather missed the depth that we felt some scenes really deserved. We place the blame on director Mervyn LeRoy; in the book, A Rose for Mrs. Miniver: The Life of Greer Garson by Michael Troyan, Marsha Hunt describes pleading for a few minutes of screen time prior to Charlotte's suicide: "Please shoot it my way, with the camera observing my emotions as I mount the stairs. It will make the episode clearer to the audience..." LeRoy refused, and shot only a brief view of Ms. Hunt's legs running up the stairs. Too bad; Ms. Hunt is an actress who could have conveyed much in that momentary scene.
Likewise, the scenes following the death of Edna's son seem equally abrupt. Partially, the quick transition demonstrates the futility of Edna's life to that point, but it does have an almost whiplash feel to it. Without Greer Garson's masterful handling of the role, Edna could have come across as trivial and unfeeling, but Ms. Garson is able to convey the depth of Edna's feelings in a short time. Even a brief nod of the head in a courtroom scene towards the end of the film tell us volumes about the character. Ms. Garson was not particularly enthusiastic about doing the film; she had reservations about working with so many scene stealing children (TCM article). Despite that, she was nominated for an Oscar for her performance (she lost to Joan Fontaine in Suspicion. It was another one of those tough years. Also nominated were Bette Davis in The Little Foxes; Olivia de Havilland in Hold Back the Dawn; and Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire!)
The screenplay, written by Anita Loos, is a highly fictionalized account of the life of Edna Gladney. Ms. Gladney had no foundling sister; in fact, Ms. Gladney was illegitimate (her mother later married Mr. Kahly, and Edna was given his name). Nor did she have a small son who died (See this Wikipedia article on Edna Gladney). However, Ms. Gladney worked long and hard for many years to find homes for orphaned and illegitimate children, and lobbied for legislation that would remove information from Texas documents that labeled children as illegitimate. She would also (after this movie) work to get adopted children the same rights as natural children. Ms. Gladney attended a special preview of the film, as well as its opening in Fort Worth. She was complimentary about the film (especially enjoying the Walter Pidgeon's portrayal of her late husband), and stating that the film "would stimulate interest in children and child placement agencies". The Edna Gladney Center for Adoption was named in her honor.
We would have liked to have seen more of Walter
Pidgeon, here in his first of nine pictures with Ms. Garson (AFI catalog) - as a result, she was called the "daytime Mrs. Pidgeon" on the MGM lot. Mr. Pidgeon portrays a good, kind, and understanding man, who loves his wife with all
his heart. The affection that the two had for each other in real life is apparent in their on screen relationship. According to Ms. Garson's biography, Mr. Pidgeon lightened the grind of work with his humor - he would try to make her laugh in serious scenes, and would joke about her perfume (she was, it seems, a great lover of scents). It's possible she got her revenge by teasing him about his dancing - they had to build a platform on roller skates so that the dancers could whirl about them, as Mr. Pidgeon kept forgetting the choreography!
The film itself opened at Radio City Music Hall to a positive review in the New York Times positive review. Along with Ms. Garson, the film would be nominated for a total of 3 Oscars. It was also nominated for best film, and won the Oscar for best Art Direction (Cedric Gibbons and Urie McCleary, set decoration by Edwin B. Willis). It was broadcast on the Lux Radio Theatre in February of 1942 with Ms. Garson, Mr. Pidgeon and Felix Bressart (Dr. Max Bressler) reprising their roles. Blossoms in the Dust is well worth your viewing - we'll leave you with the trailer to the film.
