HeadlinesExotic Boring

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

gordonl56 UNDERGROUND 1941This 1941 Warner Brothers production is one of the earlier films to deal with the anti-Nazi German Resistance movement. The film stars, Philip Dorn, Jeffery Lynn, Mona Maris, Kareen Verne, Peter Whitney and Martin Kosleck. This one has the old story chestnut of two brothers on opposite sides. Philip Dorn is a chemical engineer with a dangerous second job, that of a radio broadcaster for the secret German underground. He tells the German public the truth about what the Nazis are up to. Of course the Gestapo types are out to collar said underground members. The underground has to constantly be on the move after each broadcast. This is to prevent the authorities from locating the transmitter.Dorn's younger brother, Jeffery Lynn, now puts in an appearance. Lynn has just been discharged from the army after losing an arm in combat. Lynn is of course a die-hard Nazi. In the mix here is Kareen Verne, a member of the underground that Lynn takes a liking to. Dorn and Verne hide the fact that they both are part of the resistance from Lynn.The head Gestapo man is played by Martin Kosleck. Kosleck made a career out of playing various Nazi weasel types. Kosleck's secretary is played by Mona Maris. Kosleck and his bunch nearly grab up Dorn, Peter Whitney and the rest during a broadcast. They are warned by Miss Maris just in time about the raid. Maris is an underground agent who is their contact on the Gestapo staff. Kosleck tries a new ploy and releases a former resistance member, Wolfgang Zilzer. Zilzer has been beaten, tortured, and turned, he is now willing to help the Gestapo. Hoffman leads Kosleck and a Gestapo squad to a meeting place at a Berlin café. Shots are exchanged and an underground type is killed. Miss Verne, who is employed at the café as a violin player, is grabbed up in the raid. Also grabbed up is Jeffery Lynn. He tells the Gestapo that he is seeing Miss Verne and that she cannot possibly with the underground. (Which he believes) Kosleck lets her go, but only if Lynn agrees to keep tabs on her. Lynn agrees to the arrangement. The ever true blue Nazi, Lynn, is dumbstruck when he now discovers that Miss Verne is with the resistance. He does not know whether to turn her in or what. He decides to convince her to quit the underground. He gives the Gestapo info he overhears about a new broadcast location. Needless to say, he does not know that he has actually turned in his brother, Dorn. Dorn is carted off for a round of shall we say, not so gentle questioning. The brother's father, Erwin Kaiser, is also taken into custody. Both are sentenced to the chopping block. Lynn is horrified at what he has done, but tells Kosleck that it was the job of every good German to turn in traitors. He knows that he cannot save his brother and father. The Gestapo of course now trust him. They announce on the radio that the underground broadcasts have been quashed, and the traitors killed. This last statement turns out to be less than accurate as the broadcasts begin again. This time it is Lynn at the microphone.This one plays out more or less like the same years British film, FREEDOM RADIO, both of which follow the same idea. Warner Brothers must have sent out a casting call for every German actor in Hollywood. There is at least a couple dozen German born actors in various roles. Look close and you will see Hans Conried and Henry Brandon in small bits. The director here is Vincent Sherman. Sherman is best known for a string of excellent film noir such as, NORA PRENTISS, THE UNFAITHFUL, BACKFIRE, THE GARMENT JUNGLE, FLIGHT FROM DESTINY and THE DAMNED DON'T CRY. Cinematographer Sid Hickox gives the film a nice assortment of grey and black hues. Three time Oscar winning composer, Adolph Deutsch, supplies the top flight score. Martin Kosleck and Mona Maris would play pretty well the same characters in 1942's BERLIN CORRESPONDENT, with Dana Andrews.

fordraff Because so many World War 2 dramas have dated badly and lost power in the light of today's extremely realistic films, I wasn't expecting much of this film.But I was in for a major surprise. This powerful, well-conceived film delivers a strong impact even today.At the core is an instantly interesting narrative situation: Eric Franken (Dorn) works with the German Underground to broadcast anti-Nazi information to the German people. His brother Kurt (Lynn), a loyal Nazi solider, returns home, having lost an arm in battle. How will this conflict between the loyal Nazi brother and the anti-Nazi brother work itself out? Adding to the plot complication is Kurt's interest in Sylvia Helmuth (Kaaren Verne), an Underground member who plays a violin at a café that is a meeting place for the Underground. Thinking Eric is courting Sylvia, Kurt is happy when she tells him she hardly knows Eric, though, of course, that is not the case. Kurt's romantic pursuit of Sylvia constantly complicates the work of the Underground. But after the Gestapo arrests Sylvia following a tip and she is tortured by Col. Heller (Kosleck), Kurt is faced with a quandary: Col. Heller orders Kurt to romance Sylvia--but this time, Kurt must report to Col. Heller any scrap of information he gleans from Sylvia. When Kurt finally has proof that Sylvia is a member of the Underground, he is put in a moral dilemma: Which is more important: the girl he loves or the Nazi party? In the film's climax, when Kurt discloses to Col. Heller three Underground members about to make an illegal broadcast, Kurt doesn't know his brother Eric is one of the three men. When Underground member Fraulein Gessner (Maris) tells him of Eric's arrest and shows him Eric's torture at the hands of the Gestapo, Kurt is at last convinced that the Nazis are not what he thought them to be. Family triumphs over loyalty to the state, but then that has been happening at least since "Antigone." The film has strong scenes. The best is the confrontation between Fraulein Gessner and Kurt, with Gessner convincing Kurt that he must tell Col. Heller he knew Eric was one of the three men he reported. This will put Kurt above suspicion with the Gestapo and allow him to work well with the Underground. Mona Maris and Jeffrey Lynn are superb in the scene! In fact, I've never seen Jeffrey Lynn do a better acting job, but Mona Maris drives the scene.In another scene unusual for a 1941 film, Kurt and Hugo Baumer confront Walter Hoffman, whom the Gestapo has taken out of a concentration camp on the condition that Hoffman, formerly an Underground member, rejoin the group to discover the source of the Underground broadcasts. Kurt and Hugo make it clear to Hoffman that, paradoxically, he can only prove his loyalty to the Underground by committing suicide! What a striking moment when Hugo lays the gun down on the table, and he and Kurt walk out, leaving Hoffman to his decision.There isn't a happy ending here, but there is a rousing patriotic finish. In the conclusion, we're shown Eric, Hugo, and another Underground member led into a prison yard to be guillotined (face up to see the ax descending upon them). An execution setting this detailed was unusual for 1941 And then, Eric hears his brother Kurt delivering an Underground broadcast, Kurt identifying himself by reciting a few lines of poetry that had been on a sampler on the wall of the Franken family's home. Implausible? Yes. But it works fine theatrically to provide a satisfactory capper to a gripping film.In addition to the excellent performances of Jeffrey Lynn and Mona Maris, Philip Dorn has never been better. Martin Kosleck as Col. Heller doesn't "go over the top" as did so many actor of the time who portrayed Nazis. Wolfgang Zilzer is exceptional in his scenes, particularly the one leading up to the moment when Hoffman realizes he must commit suicide.The entire cast does a solid job in an engrossing, entertaining, first-rate film that shouldn't be missed. Why doesn't everyone know of this excellent film?

frankfob The Warner Bros. trademarks--fast pacing, good photography, tight editing, a cast of veteran character actors--are in full bloom in this well-made thriller from Vincent Sherman, soon to be one of Warners' top directors. Philip Dorn (who was actually Dutch, not German) and Jeffrey Lynn are two brothers, Dorn the leader of an underground German anti-Nazi movement and Lynn a crippled German soldier unaware of his brother's activities. Martin Kosleck is fine as a reptilian Nazi officer eager to destroy the resistance, and Dorn and Lynn have seldom been better. Sherman even manages to throw in a little humor as he satirizes the paranoia of the regime--Mona Maris, an aide to Kosleck who is actually a member of the Resistance, starts a rumor at work about Himmler that builds to the point that when Kosleck eventually repeats it back to her a short time later it bears little resemblance to the one she started. Although it is a first-rate propaganda piece, it unfortunately bears little resemblance to the real conditions in Germany; there was actually very little resistance to Hitler and Naziism among the populace. What little resistance there was came mainly from Catholic priests and Protestant ministers, who were quickly arrested and thrown into concentration camps, where many of them died. There was a small student movement known as the White Rose that engaged in some anti-Nazi activities, but they were soon captured (many of them turned in by their parents!) and executed. In any event, this is a well made little piece and really deserves to be better known than it is. Check it out.

Neil Doyle Vincent Sherman was on his way up as a film director at Warner Bros. when he was assigned to 'Underground', a low-budget feature without stars to bolster its box-office appeal. Nevertheless, he managed to weave an interesting, fast-paced tale of intrigue and suspense with the Nazi menace hanging like a heavy shadow over the whole film. Basically, it's the story of two brothers torn apart by their beliefs--one (Philip Dorn) is involved in an underground movement, an announcer for a resistance radio program. The other (Jeffrey Lynn) is a loyal German soldier who eventually joins his brother's cause when he realizes what Hitler is doing. This did fairly well at the box-office despite not having big names and deserves to be seen as the forceful war melodrama that it is.Martin Kosleck does his usual turn as a vicious Nazi officer and Mona Maris is convincing as a woman not exactly loyal to the German cause. May not be an "A" feature but it certainly is worth viewing.