I'm no film expert - I'll admit at once that this is the only Renoir movie I've seen. I have a few comments to add to zetes' review, which is a good overview.
1) Laughton is excellent, as always. His performance is at times a bit broad (see below) but conveys the character beautifully. The character's development is the plot of the movie, so I won't give it away, but in other hands it might be laughable.
2) Sanders is very good in a restrained role, and O'Hara is...the same as always, very solid.
3) Walter Slezak is good in a very interesting role as the Nazi major in charge of the occupation of the nameless town. Renoir and the writer give him a history and a motivation, more than most war movies provide for the bad guys. This was very interesting to me, as a student of politics, to see this characterization of Nazism and the attractions of the National Socialist movement (which are debunked, of course, this is an anti-Nazi movie!).
4) The lovable Una O'Connor (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0640547/) plays Laughton's mother, and is a major problem for the film. Perhaps my view of her is anachronistic, but everything the woman did is funny. She has better bug-eyes than Gene Wilder, and was a terrific comic actress. She has a critical role in this film, and I find her totally unconvincing...but fun to watch anyway. When she has to express what should be moving emotions, I was laughing out loud. Such a strange casting choice in such a deadly serious movie! The movie sets up very well, with the four interesting characters (O'Connor and Kent Smith playing smaller but important roles) put into play and the themes laid out. The middle section to the critical turning point is still strong, with the above-noted exceptions. But what follows is so focused on the anti-Nazi message, and so hell-bent on stirring the US wartime audience to action, it gets much too heavy handed and (I think) implausible to enjoy purely as entertainment. As zetes mentions, the direction is lackluster, very straight-forward...at least it doesn't get in the way.
So, this is by no means a great film.
However, Laughton is great, the speech zetes refers to is great, and the movie is a very interesting historical document, in my opinion. And the weird, fun work of Una O'Connor is, as noted, fun to watch even if it is out of place in this film....even when she's sobbing on O'Hara's shoulder, she's funny.
I hope that's helpful!
1) Laughton is excellent, as always. His performance is at times a bit broad (see below) but conveys the character beautifully. The character's development is the plot of the movie, so I won't give it away, but in other hands it might be laughable.
2) Sanders is very good in a restrained role, and O'Hara is...the same as always, very solid.
3) Walter Slezak is good in a very interesting role as the Nazi major in charge of the occupation of the nameless town. Renoir and the writer give him a history and a motivation, more than most war movies provide for the bad guys. This was very interesting to me, as a student of politics, to see this characterization of Nazism and the attractions of the National Socialist movement (which are debunked, of course, this is an anti-Nazi movie!).
4) The lovable Una O'Connor (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0640547/) plays Laughton's mother, and is a major problem for the film. Perhaps my view of her is anachronistic, but everything the woman did is funny. She has better bug-eyes than Gene Wilder, and was a terrific comic actress. She has a critical role in this film, and I find her totally unconvincing...but fun to watch anyway. When she has to express what should be moving emotions, I was laughing out loud. Such a strange casting choice in such a deadly serious movie! The movie sets up very well, with the four interesting characters (O'Connor and Kent Smith playing smaller but important roles) put into play and the themes laid out. The middle section to the critical turning point is still strong, with the above-noted exceptions. But what follows is so focused on the anti-Nazi message, and so hell-bent on stirring the US wartime audience to action, it gets much too heavy handed and (I think) implausible to enjoy purely as entertainment. As zetes mentions, the direction is lackluster, very straight-forward...at least it doesn't get in the way.
So, this is by no means a great film.
However, Laughton is great, the speech zetes refers to is great, and the movie is a very interesting historical document, in my opinion. And the weird, fun work of Una O'Connor is, as noted, fun to watch even if it is out of place in this film....even when she's sobbing on O'Hara's shoulder, she's funny.
I hope that's helpful!