Remember when we talked about "statement" titles? Well here's one for ya, and I hope I don't get flagged for typing it : "They Came to Blow Up America"(1943). That was the name of tonight's movie, "They" being Nazi saboteurs who were sent here via U-Boat to destroy targets pertaining to the war effort, such as hydroelectric plants, docks, aluminum factories, etc. Chosen for the mission were German citizens who previously lived in the United States. They were taught to speak perfect unaccented English, given social security cards, the works, so that they appeared to be Americans. It's a true story, based on Operation Pastorius, which was staged in 1942 by the German Abwehr, the intelligence arm of the Wehrmacht.
George Sanders stars as a German-American who is ostracized by his immigrant parents after he announces he's become a member of the Bund, an organization of American Nazis. What they don't know, because he can't tell them, is that it's a front - he's really working for the FBI to infiltrate the group, in order to flush out clandestine operations.
I must mention that I'd never heard of the Bund, and wasn't aware that American Nazi groups were tolerated during the war years. It seems hypocritical when you consider that we interred Japanese people.
At any rate, Sanders makes such a good impression on the Bund hierarchy that he's hand picked to go to Germany to train as a saboteur. They don't know he's a spy. During his training, he meets and falls in love with a German woman who belongs to an anti-Fascist group. Those were definitely not tolerated in Nazi Germany. Therefore, his "loyalty" to the Reich is tested when his superiors instruct him to set the woman up for arrest. He can't bring himself to do it, and gives her a heads-up that she's being watched. This in turn brings scrutiny on Sanders. The woman is arrested anyway, and his bosses grow suspicious of him.
However, as usual in these pictures, the Nazi characters are played for half-comic effect, as harrumphing autocrats on the verge of buffoonery, so Sanders is able to lie and act his way out of trouble, with guidance from his FBI boss (Ward Bond). He professes his allegiance in ever stronger terms, and is once again accepted. The movie focuses mostly on Sanders' personal relationships, with his parents and the two women he gets involved with (the other one being the wife of the man he is impersonating).
For more on the actual sabotage plot, including the arrest, trail and execution of the real Nazi saboteurs, Google "Operation Pastorius" to see how FDR got involved, to make sure Zee Germans were tried in a military court. Because of the successful infiltration by the FBI, no other sabotage attempts were made by Hitler on American soil.
I shant re-type the title, but "TCTBUA" is a tight dramatisation of a real-life counterintelligence mission, one that had stark repercussions for the Abwehr. George Sanders is suave and badass as the secret agent "Carl Steelman", Ward Bond is cool as a cucumber as his FBI boss, who keeps watch over the mission, and protects George's family back home in New York. At 73 minutes, the plot moves forward and the story never drags. It gets Two Big Thumbs Up, and is highly recommended. //////
And now : "Tonight a movie, Tomorrow the World"! No, wait a minute.....I'm getting carried away. "Tomorrow, the World"! was the name of the previous night's film, about a German boy who comes to live with his uncle in America in the aftermath of the war. "Emil" had been a member of the Hitler Youth, and is steeped in Nazi ideology. The role is played by 13 year old Skip Homeier (billed as Skippy), who is quite a revelation here. I'm a Skip Homeier fan, and have probably mentioned him a time or two in the hundreds of movie reviews I've written these past few years. But I've only known him as an adult, playing baddies in Westerns and Noirs. I had no idea he was a child actor, nor that he premiered this role on Broadway. The play on which the movie is based ran for 500 performances, and young Skippy Homeier was rightfully lauded for his portrayal of this rigid adolescent, whose militant manner is tempered with boyish awkwardness, as he attempts to manipulate his new American hosts.
When he is introduced to the family he seems friendly enough, though a bit stilted. He clicks his heels when saying "hello" (like a Nazi officer) and his manner is too formal for an adolescent boy. His conversation is rote, straight out of the National Socialism playbook. He hides his ingrained ideology by faking an attempt to fit in, while behind the scenes he's playing everybody against everyone else.
For instance, his Uncle (Frederic March) is engaged to a woman who is Jewish (Betty Field). Emil starts right in on her, using a slur to refer to her behind her back. When no one else is around, he says "I don't like you" right to her face. She's a schoolteacher who knows child psychology, so she sees Emil for what he is, a boy who's been programmed like a robot. She also tells March that there's another factor involved, trauma. She feels Emil has been abused at some point in his life. He's also been told by the Nazis to be ashamed of his father, a scientist who "committed suicide". "He was a coward"!, Emil screams when asked about him. But of course the truth is something vastly different.
Joan Carroll from "Meet Me in St. Louis" plays Pat, the Uncle's daughter and Emil's cousin. She's one of those sophisticated 40's teens who calls her Dad by his first name and treats him like a friend rather than a father. Pat likes Emil despite his obnoxious behavior. Because of this, Emil will come to resent her; he doesn't trust kindness.
He cottons to Agnes Moorehead, who plays March's sister. She lives with the family and despises all Germans, but Emil is able to play on her fears of becoming a Fifth Wheel when her brother and his fiancee are married. Emil seeks her as an ally, to get rid of Betty Field and poison the engagement. He sees all of this subterfuge as his duty, if he is to be a "true German". Everything he spouts is Third Reich rhetoric, and it's all he knows, except how to cry alligator tears when he wants sympathy.
Field bends over backward to council Emil, to get him to respond to a caring voice, but when he gets kicked out of school for writing anti-semetic slogans on the sidewalk, even she's had enough. Eventually, a near tragedy takes place involving Pat, the only real friend Emil has. I won't tell you what happens, but it threatens his stay in America. It takes this crisis to bring him out of his brainwashed persona and reveal to the grownups the deeply troubled boy inside. The movie is driven by his character, and it's a brilliant performance by Homeier. When you look at the talent you've got on hand : Frederic Freakin' March, who turned in one of the great lead performances of all time as Dr Jeckyll, and Agnes Moorehead, one of the best character actresses who ever lived, and Joan Carroll, who stole at least part of the show in "St Louis", it's all the more impressive what Homeier accomplished at just 13 years old.
The ending is overlong (and a Western-style punchout scene between Emil and the schoolkids is completely unnecessary), but this is a remarkable film, and Skippy Homeier's standout performance makes it a must-see. Two Big Thumbs Up, then, for "Tomorrow, the World"! The print is razor sharp, too. Don't miss it. /////
Well, so there you have it : two flicks about Nazi overflow into America, and one amazing acting job.
That's all I've got for the moment. Have a great evening. I send you tons and tons of love.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment