...a solid collection of dramatic works, but Watch on the Rhine is the one you might want to watch first.
As Mrs. Muller, the wife, Bette Davis takes a back seat to Lukas; it is really a lesser co-starring role for the actress, who puts in a most restrained performance. Ms. Davis does not display any scene-stealing histrionics but places her portrayal of the dutiful, loving wife completely in the service of the script. Interestingly, Davis plays a woman here older than her real age. The movie describes her character as being in her late thirties, when the actress herself was only in her mid thirties. Also of interest, the movie describes Paul Lukas's character as a man between forty and forty-five, at a time when Lukas himself was in his fifties and looked it. When the movie begins, we might excuse audiences for wondering momentarily if Davis's character is the wife or the daughter of the Lukas character.
"Watch on the Rhine" is quite the talky film, owing no doubt to its origins as a stage play. It's a movie about ideas rather than actions or even characterizations, and as such it is weighty and influential, a film resonating with implications for our own modern world. The playwright suggested in 1940 that people in America were too far removed (physically and psychologically) from Europe to understand completely what was going on there, to comprehend fully the horror of the Nazi fascist threat. One might say the same thing of America today; despite better communications via television and the Internet, we are so far removed from Europe, Asia, and Africa that the problems there seem a universe away, resulting in widespread apathy. But sometimes the troubles of the world have a way of reaching us all, as the war in Iraq points up. It's at this juncture that many people, like Kurt Muller in the play and movie, take a stand.
Or as Ms. Davis's character says, "When the time comes, I will do my best."
Video:
As you might expect, the picture is in black-and-white, with a standard 1.37:1 screen ratio of the day. It shows up fairly well in this 1.33:1 transfer, the B&W not looking particularly deep or vivid but clear of age marks, specks, or lines. A small amount of natural film grain accompanies the image, hardly noticeable. No complaints from me; no plaudits, either.
Audio:
Not much to say about the sound. Warner Bros. have processed the film's monaural soundtrack in Dolby Digital 1.0 and achieved probably the best results they could get. It's fairly ordinary, content mainly to reproduce dialogue, with reasonably quiet backgrounds. If you turn up the volume, you'll notice some slight noise, but not much. Otherwise, voices are natural, and the sound is smooth, if a little bland.
Extras:
Most of the films in the box contain audio commentaries, and all of them contain a "Warner Night at the Movies," including vintage newsreels, vintage short subjects, vintage cartoons, ample scene selections, and original theatrical trailers. English is the only spoken language Warner Bros. make available, and there are French subtitles, with English captions for the hearing impaired.
Specific to "Watch on the Rhine" we find an authoritative audio commentary by Professor Bernard F. Dick, biographer of both Hellman and Wallis; a theatrical trailer for "Watch on the Rhine"; and a Warner Night at the Movies." The latter includes a trailer for "Mission to Moscow"; a vintage newsreel, "Bombs for Hamburg"; a nine-minute vintage musical short, "Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra"; and a vintage, Technicolor Looney Tunes cartoon, "Wise Quacky Duck," with Daffy.
Parting Thoughts:
This box set is a solid collection of dramatic works, but "Watch on the Rhine" is the one you might want to watch first. Ms. Heller was a well-known leftest who mistrusted the Nazis throughout the 1930s, and for good reason. The play and the movie remain powerful testaments to the importance of personal conviction, of standing up for right and justice, of not looking the other way. "Watch on the Rhine" is as important today as its was in 1943.
"Watch on the Rhine" is quite the talky film, owing no doubt to its origins as a stage play. It's a movie about ideas rather than actions or even characterizations, and as such it is weighty and influential, a film resonating with implications for our own modern world. The playwright suggested in 1940 that people in America were too far removed (physically and psychologically) from Europe to understand completely what was going on there, to comprehend fully the horror of the Nazi fascist threat. One might say the same thing of America today; despite better communications via television and the Internet, we are so far removed from Europe, Asia, and Africa that the problems there seem a universe away, resulting in widespread apathy. But sometimes the troubles of the world have a way of reaching us all, as the war in Iraq points up. It's at this juncture that many people, like Kurt Muller in the play and movie, take a stand.
Or as Ms. Davis's character says, "When the time comes, I will do my best."
Video:
As you might expect, the picture is in black-and-white, with a standard 1.37:1 screen ratio of the day. It shows up fairly well in this 1.33:1 transfer, the B&W not looking particularly deep or vivid but clear of age marks, specks, or lines. A small amount of natural film grain accompanies the image, hardly noticeable. No complaints from me; no plaudits, either.
Audio:
Not much to say about the sound. Warner Bros. have processed the film's monaural soundtrack in Dolby Digital 1.0 and achieved probably the best results they could get. It's fairly ordinary, content mainly to reproduce dialogue, with reasonably quiet backgrounds. If you turn up the volume, you'll notice some slight noise, but not much. Otherwise, voices are natural, and the sound is smooth, if a little bland.
Extras:
Most of the films in the box contain audio commentaries, and all of them contain a "Warner Night at the Movies," including vintage newsreels, vintage short subjects, vintage cartoons, ample scene selections, and original theatrical trailers. English is the only spoken language Warner Bros. make available, and there are French subtitles, with English captions for the hearing impaired.
Specific to "Watch on the Rhine" we find an authoritative audio commentary by Professor Bernard F. Dick, biographer of both Hellman and Wallis; a theatrical trailer for "Watch on the Rhine"; and a Warner Night at the Movies." The latter includes a trailer for "Mission to Moscow"; a vintage newsreel, "Bombs for Hamburg"; a nine-minute vintage musical short, "Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra"; and a vintage, Technicolor Looney Tunes cartoon, "Wise Quacky Duck," with Daffy.
Parting Thoughts:
This box set is a solid collection of dramatic works, but "Watch on the Rhine" is the one you might want to watch first. Ms. Heller was a well-known leftest who mistrusted the Nazis throughout the 1930s, and for good reason. The play and the movie remain powerful testaments to the importance of personal conviction, of standing up for right and justice, of not looking the other way. "Watch on the Rhine" is as important today as its was in 1943.
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