The Man I Married (1940) Joan Bennett Says 'Nazi Go Home'

1940 saw an increasing tide of anti-Nazi sentiment in Hollywood and though the United States wasn't officially involved in the European war, studios were walking a fine line between creating films denouncing German leader Adolf Hitler and trying to keep a neutral stance. Producer and head of 20th Century-Fox Darryl F. Zanuck took the plunge in the anti-Nazi arena with an underrated melodrama called The Man I Married. On the face of it, the movie seemed to be a tabloid feature with an alternative/ working title of I Married a Nazi, with matching melodramatic poster art promising a flick wrought with sensationalism. But to dig a little deeper, filmgoers found a movie presenting an apt description of Germany at the time just before World War II.

Joan Bennett plays Carol Hoffman, a chic New York art critic who is married to German born Eric (Francis Lederer). The couple, along with their small son Ricky, travel back to Eric's homeland in 1938 to attend to family business. Germany is going through major changes with the Fuhrer at the helm and Eric quickly falls under the spell of the Third Reich, with help from an attractive uber Nazi female (Anna Sten). The fanatacism of the Nazi movement in the late 30's is deftly illustrated. Propaganda, huge political rallies and martial law are all on board, including a disturbing scene where Czech citizens living in Berlin are forced to pick up garbage in the street while armed soldiers watch and mock them.

The Man I Married was Bennett's first film for 20th Century-Fox under her new non-exclusive contract with the studio. The actress had ended her professional involvement with producer Walter Wanger while extending her personal one (the couple married in early 1940 after a long term affair). She was just embarking on the second, more interesting season of her career, as a brunette. After years as a blonde, immersed in ingenue roles, she changed her hair color to a sultry dark shade and saw a vast improvement in her choice of film parts.

Critics ran the gamut on Joan's performance in The Man I Married. A Variety review claimed: "Bennett is excellent as the educated American wife who sees through the schemes of Nazism," while New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther wrote that Joan "might have brought more vitality and internal conflict to her role; as it is, she does little more than model dresses and express incredulity." He definitely was correct about modeling dresses as Travis Banton, the coutour master at Paramount during the early and mid-Thirties, outfitted Miss Bennett in the top 1940 vogue. It is also true that the actress' dramatic range was limited but her presence was surefire.

Fox contract player Lloyd Nolan plays an amicable war correspondent named Kenneth Delane, who opens Carol's eyes to the dangers and horrors of the Nazi regime. Austrian born Francis Lederer does a good job taking Eric Hoffman from affable, charming German-American to enraptured Nazi zombie. George Sanders was originally cast for the part but was still tied up on the set of Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent and was unable to commit. One wonders what the suave yet snide Sanders could have made of this role. Otto Kruger, Maria Ouspenskaya and moppet Johnny Russell round out the cast.

A slick, glossy movie, The Man I Married is, nonetheless, worthy of its period in film timeline. The actors give fine performances and the script is fun (perturbed Bennett to newly ordained Nazi husband: "Heil heel!"). By the way, watch for that ending which I'll bet you don't see coming for a mile away. Danke Schoen.

The Mortal Storm (1940): Hollywood Steps on Hitler's Toes

Based on a 1938 novel by British authoress Phyllis Bottom, The Mortal Storm was the first major American film to address Nazism in Germany head on. A powerful film with a top drawer cast, Storm was released in June 1940, a full year and a half before the United States' entry into the war. The story pulls no punches when dealing with the Fuhrer or the wave of political shift in Germany.

The film doesn't name the country of setting except at the very beginning in a short written prelude, which also lets us know that the date is January 1933. The camera pans in on an idyllic Bavarian city, with snow, mountains and warm lighting (think Heidi Goes to Town or Courier & Ives meets Thomas Kinkade). But amidst this beautiful Swiss Miss setting lies the Nazi movement on the verge of eruption. It is here that Professor Viktor Roth (Frank Morgan) lives peacefully and comfortably with his wife Amelie (Irene Rich), his college age daughter, Freya (Margaret Sullavan), his teenaged son Rudi (Gene Reynolds) and his step-sons, Otto (Robert Stack) and Erich (William T. Orr), young men both. Though the word "jew" is never used, it is made very clear throughout the film that Professor Roth is "non-Aryan", a term and state of being which eventually haunts the kind and popular university scholar.

When Hitler is named Chancellor of the state, the Roth family becomes torn in its loyalties. Otto and Erich, excited and enthusiastic about the new political climate become members of the Hitler Youth. Freya becomes engaged to Fritz (Robert Young), who is also gung-ho for the new order, but as his loyalties become dangerous and unyielding, the fair fraulein begins to see more of longtime friend Martin (James Stewart), a pacifist farmer. Tensions are high all around and political lines are drawn in the sand between family members and friends. Freya and Martin find they have fallen in love just as the world they live in has decided to pull them apart. Martin is forced to take refuge in neighboring Austria after he helps a Nazi battered comrade escape from their homeland. Professor Roth is taken to a concentration camp when he refuses to dispel scientific facts about race and bloodlines that aren't in keeping with the new regime. Mrs. Roth, Freya and young Rudi seek safety in Austria with Martin when Freya is detained at the border when a politically questionable manuscript written by her father is found in her luggage. Martin risks life and limb to go back for Freya and....whew, I'll stop there.

The cast of The Mortal Storm is superb, though Stewart is much too apple pie American to convincingly portray the German farmer, Martin. However, he brings such compassion and dignity to the character, that his lack of nationality can be overlooked. He and real life friend Margaret Sullavan complement each other beautifully, Sullavan actually coming across very effectively as the intelligent and educated Bavarian, Freya. This was the couple's fourth and final film together. In one of his very early parts, Robert Stack does a fine job as the zealous Otto. Future film song and dance man, Dan Dailey (billed here as Dan Dailey, Jr.) makes his movie debut as the nasty, smirking Youth Party leader who wreaks havoc on anyone without a heil in his Hitler! Bonita Granville, Maria Ouspenskaya and Ward Bond all give excellent support in their roles. Finally, in what is arguably his best dramatic role is Frank Morgan as Professor Roth. Best known as The Wizard/Professor Marvel in the previous year's The Wizard of Oz, Morgan gives a poignant and sensitive performance as the good hearted, fair minded educator. His range from cheery optimism in early scenes to careworn concern in his concentration camp episode is marvelous.

Though MGM made the effort by not naming "jews" in its film or not constantly repeating the name of the country in question per se, its status of neutrality was shattered. Angered by the "propaganda" the film put forth, Germany banned all MGM productions from its theaters for the duration. The Mortal Storm is a strong film both artistically and emotionally particularly since its influence came before an official American involvement in World War II.