Watch on the Rhine

"The world has changed... and some of the people in it are dangerous"

I guess you could call this high brow American war propaganda film a companion piece to Mrs. Miniver, in that both are homefront war dramas that scooped up an Oscar or two in their campaign to win hearts and minds on American soil in WWII. Beginning with a pre-amble that the film itself was made by people in shock at the state of Europe, and with a dedication to the heroes who knew that the war was coming, The Watch on the Rhine feels somewhat stodgy today and betrays its roots as a stage play all too easily.

The plot concerns German engineer Kurt Muller (Paul Lukas, in his Oscar-winning role), and his American wife Sara (Bette Davis) escaping wartorn Europe to make a new life in the U.S. Once they arrive they find themselves trying to adjust to a new life in a very different country, and at the mercy of one Teck de Brancovis (George Coulouris), a cadish gambler whose faults see him forced into spying for the Nazis. It transpires that Kurt is actually a freedom fighter, and his mission to destroy the Nazis overrides any other considerations he might have... it also places his family in a lot of danger despite their relocation to America, and so a dance of suspicion ensues as Kurt and Teck size each other up.

This is a film about the importance of standing up for what's right in the face of tyranny, touching on themes of fear, bullying and freedom vs. fascism. Of course, being a propaganda tool made by Americans for Americans, there is a heavy emphasis on how great America is in comparison to Europe. This is depicted through the comparison of German and American culture that comes via the impressions of the Muller children as they arrive in America... the way they compare their oppressed and disciplinarian upbringing with the freedom-loving free-speaking Americans (exemplified by Lucile Watson as the happily tactless and curmudgeonly matriarch of Sara's family). Europe is alluded to as a crumbling world of relentless tragedy weighed down by its own history, whilst America is very much a new world of idealism - clean and yet to understand the true ugliness of war.

The film actually goes into some dark and edgy territory from here, it's a rare case of a Hays Code-era film where a character is allowed to get away with murder. The film's justification of this is very much a part of its overall message - it dares the liberals of America to take up arms for their beliefs. It's essentially telling the Americans of 1943 to put their money where their mouth is, and to go off to Europe to fight facism. This is also where Bette Davis' lead role as Sara comes in, it's her job to lecture the audience on selflessness and to basically tell the wives of American soldiers to accept that their husbands may die and that if this happens it's for the greater good. Sara is a very capable figure, for the most part she's calm in the face of the threat posed by Teck - every bit the wife of an underground freedom fighter. Davis doesn't have centre stage at first but by the end of the film her sermonising became a bit too much for me and it's easy to see why audiences at the time responded more to Paul Lukas' understated role as her husband, Kurt.

Lukas' portrayal of a displaced European is a lot more accurate than the usual Hollywood characterisations of the 1930s and 1940s. He doesn't over-emote, but he's also not too disant. Kurt is a man who has devoted his life to fighting fascism, he's battered and quietly heroic, and Lukas gives a masterclass in the effectiveness of underplaying such a character. The rest of the cast acquit themselves without too much fanfare (except for maybe Lucile Watson, who gets all the best lines). Although it's a heavily politicised film that's very much an extension of WWII, there's still some relevance in its message of standing by one's convictions and picking a side in times of turmoil. But even with this, and Lukas' Oscar-winning performance, it's not a film that will continue to stand the test of time as a 'classic' due to its all-too-apparent origins as a stage-bound play... it drags a bit because of this, so I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone seeking out great war films or classic Hollywood movies in general.

DIRECTOR: Herman Shumlin
WRITER/SOURCE: Screenplay by Dashiell Hammett, based on the play by Lillian Hellman.
KEY ACTORS: Paul Lukas, Bette Davis, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Lucile Watson, Beulah Bondi, George Coulouris

RELATED TEXTS:
- The 1941 play Watch on the Rhine.
- Mrs. Miniver, a film about an English wife on the home front during WWII.
- For another Lillian Hellman play-turned-film, see The Little Foxes (also starring Bette Davis), in which another character seems to get away with murder despite the strict rules of the Hays Code at the time.
- More American home-front propaganda pieces: Confessions of a Nazi Spy (also featuring Paul Lukas), Black Dragons, Secret Enemies, The Fallen Sparrow, The Stranger and Man Hunt.

AWARDS
Academy Awards - won Best Actor (Paul Lukas). Nominated for Best Film, Best Supporting Actress (Lucile Watson) and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Golden Globes - won Best Actor (Paul Lukas)