SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Crwthod A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

blanche-2 Noel Coward said Jane Bryan was one of the best actresses on the planet after seeing "We Are Not Alone," from 1939. This beautiful woman led a charmed life. After making two more films, she married the owner of Rexall Drugs and retired. I'd say she did okay."We Are Not Alone" is based on the novel by James Hilton and stars, besides Bryan, Paul Muni, Flora Robson, and Una O'Connor. I didn't read the novel, so I'm unclear whether it was a love story or a story making an antiwar statement, or managed to do both things in a less choppy manner than the film. In any case, the film, set in England at the start of World War I, does a complete turnaround midstream and becomes about something else.Muni plays an absent-minded, sweet, respected doctor, David Newcombe, who lives in a village with his wife Jessica (Robson) and young son Gerald. Gerald is overimaginative, easily frightened, and his mother's response is to be too harsh and disciplinary. Fortunately, he has his father to balance things out.David encounters Leni (Bryan) when she becomes his patient. She's Austrian and is a dancer, but when she becomes injured, her work becomes too difficult. At one point, he brings Gerald with him when he treats her, and, hearing about how good she is with the boy, Jessica thinks she might be a great nanny. She hires her.It's not long before gossip starts, and Jessica becomes jealous and also doesn't like the fact that Leni was "on stage" and at one point attempted suicide. She and David argue, with David refusing to fire Leni. Jessica angrily brings the boy to live with her brother.When the town erupts in anti-German sentiment, David realizes that he has to get Leni out of the country immediately.This is a disappointing film, to say the least - I mean, what happened to the Hayes code? The Hayes code wanted everybody punished for their sins, so how come people are punished when they don't commit any? I really had a major problem with this.Una O'Connor as the troublemaking maid is a shrew right out of hell. The little boy, played by David Severn, is adorable, and his innocent smile at the end of the film will make you cry. Someone wrote that the end is life-affirming. In a way, I guess it is. Still, it bothered me.So much for wanting to end Thanksgiving on an upbeat note.

bailodhia This movie could have been an all-time classic, except that it's timing was disastrous - an anti-war film seeking sympathy for a Germanic heroine released in the second week of 1939! But, now, removed from the immediate patriotic passions of that time, we can objectively appreciate the quality and meaning of the film. It was ahead of its time also in the fact of it not following the strict constraints of 'genre' films - it had a very complex story to tell and told it truthfully and unflinchingly. I notice that several of the reviews posted here criticize the film for "being two different movies", or "changing gears midway through and becoming another film." Sorry people, that was the whole point of this cinematic exercise - a unique and totally challenging film. I'm afraid that these critics are used to getting their films rigidly by the numbers and can't take complexity or surprise. This is an extremely complex film and, while straightforwardly entertaining, can be understood on so many different levels of meaning. There is absolute genius in the subtle symbolism of some of its messages, and the more thoughtful, analytical, and sophisticated the viewer - the more they will get from it. Heartbreaking, I believe, is the word which best describes the feeling one comes away with. The film's deceptive surface simplicity absolutely devastates the viewer by the end. Most people I've watched this with, men and women both, are shaken and in tears at the end - even the most jaded of viewers Jake an excuse to leave the room for a while in an effort to resist the emotion.Emotion - the key to the film's success is almost entirely due to the exquisite and incomparable musical score of Max Steiner. MAX STEINER wrote the score in 7 days, working night and day, so that he could be able to depart from Warners and go to Selznick studios to begin his commitment to writing the music for "Gone with the Wind". As monumental as that score was, his intense effort for "We Are Not Alone" is even greater. The scoring is not only melodic and beautiful, but the choice of orchestration grabs the heart and the thematic expertise emotionally is the soul and guiding force of the film. And Tony Gaudio's excellent photography conveys a nice pictorial compliment. Needless to say, the acting is superb, especially Jane Bryan, who Noel Coward called the finest movie actress in the world after seeing this film.This is a one and only, and if you're a sensitive, intelligent lover of true beauty - it's for you. There will never be an equal.

theowinthrop James Hilton's track record in movies based on his novels is pretty good. LOST HORIZON, GOODBYE MR. CHIPS, and RANDOM HARVEST were turned into first rate films. RAGE IN HEAVEN was less successful. But there is also this fine tragedy about two simple people who are embroiled in circumstances that not only destroy them but blacken their memories. Paul Muni is a doctor in a small country town, married to Flora Robson. They have a son. Robson is a tad domineering, and Muni is subservient. Jane Bryan is a German woman who is in England just as World War I begins. Hated by the xenophobes in the country, Bryan is hired as a nanny by Robson. She gets closer to Muni and his son, much to the dismay of Robson. Robson is a hypochondriac, and when she has a headache she wants some medicine. Her son brings the wrong pill, and she dies as a result. Bryan was preparing to leave the town with Muni's assistance, when they are arrested (appearing as they do to be about to skip out). They are tried for the murder, and circumstantial evidence conspires to condemn them. They are executed before the movie ends.The description does not do justice to the story. Hilton's novel is based loosely on the Crippen Case (see THE SUSPECT), except that it is taking the point that Crippen was not guilty (some people who felt sorry for Dr. Crippen felt he was never been able to show he did not commit his wife's murder). Also, Hilton is reexamining the extreme xenophobia that swept Great Britain in 1914-1918 towards Germany and it's people and culture (a similar xenophobia would hit the U.S. from 1915 to 1918, culminating in such acts as calling frankfurters "hot dogs" and banning German operas from the Metropolitan Opera House). In this respect the film is of considerable historical interest. Finally Hilton is into the running irony of the plot. While in prison Muni philosophizes about the circumstances leading to his and Bryan's fates, and it turns out that he realizes that the powers that be that have helped craft their ill-deserved demise are the same bunch of idiots causing the massive slaughter known as World War I. Hence the ironic title of the film - it is more than the story of the destructions of two innocent people in a botched trial. It is the story of the destruction of millions by elected fools.Of particular note in an outstanding cast are Henry Daniell and Una O'Connor. Daniell is as unsympathetic as normal, but here he actually is the public prosecutor. While the film audience realizes he has misread the evidence and is railroading two innocent people to the gallows, one has to remember he does not know this but looks at the evidence as accumulating to pointing out the guilt of Muni and Bryant. Actually he is a very effective prosecutor (and his character, Sir Ronald Dawson, seems based on Crippen's very effective prosecutor, Sir Richard Muir). O'Connor is Bryant's foe due to Bryant's German background, and she does testify against her. But as she does she slowly realizes that she is putting the noose around the necks of both Muni and Bryant, and it does not sit well with her. The last three minutes of the film concentrate on her, as she realizes Muni and Bryant are dead, and as she confronts evidence that they have not lived in vain. The conclusion is reaffirming and heartbreaking at the same time.

smrhyne I have watched this movie many times because I always enjoy watching Paul Muni, no matter what role he is in. This movie is an opportunity to see Muni without the heavy make-up that he wore in many of his movies. Although I like this movie a lot, I was rather disappointed in the ending. It seemed to change gears about halfway through. The movie goes from being a poignant love story to making a political statement about war. But I still recommend it. Muni, Flora Robson and Jane Bryan all give excellent performances and Muni's relationship with his son is beautiful to see.