With such a fine cast under direction by Jean Renoir, one would expect this patriotic piece of flag-waving propaganda to be much deeper than it is. Instead, we have a conventional story of a French schoolteacher during the Nazi occupation--as timid as Uriah Heep--who suddenly finds the courage to transform his character to become a noble speechmaker filling the courtroom and schoolroom with his lengthy lectures full of idealism and democracy and contempt for those who have taken over his land.
It's all as subtle as a sledgehammer--and there is no excuse for letting the last half-hour become a series of preachy statements that show just how dated the technique of telling this kind of story was in the '40s, when the world was facing all the evils of World War II. The attempt is a noble one, but it's a failure.
Not even CHARLES LAUGHTON can overcome the trite script which has him reciting heavy speeches to a classroom of young boys just before the Nazi soldiers take him away. MAUREEN O'HARA is given some generous close-ups that reveal her beauty, but her face is like an impassive mask with only the hint of tears to show emotion. Her character is so ill defined that it is not entirely her fault that she can do little but look concerned from the sidelines.
Impressive as the supporting cast is, they all have conventional character roles that they play with their usual skill--Kent Smith, Walter Slezak, George Sanders and Una O'Connor. O'Connor has some over- the-top scenes of maternal stress and she goes just a little too far in expressing the love she has for her son (Laughton). In fact, she overplays virtually all of her scenes with Laughton. Sanders is impressive in a part that calls for vulnerability rather than his usual sarcasm.
The trouble lies chiefly in the script by Dudley Nichols which relies too heavily on speech after speech instead of a dramatic series of events. Propaganda here is laid on with much too heavy a hand.
It's all as subtle as a sledgehammer--and there is no excuse for letting the last half-hour become a series of preachy statements that show just how dated the technique of telling this kind of story was in the '40s, when the world was facing all the evils of World War II. The attempt is a noble one, but it's a failure.
Not even CHARLES LAUGHTON can overcome the trite script which has him reciting heavy speeches to a classroom of young boys just before the Nazi soldiers take him away. MAUREEN O'HARA is given some generous close-ups that reveal her beauty, but her face is like an impassive mask with only the hint of tears to show emotion. Her character is so ill defined that it is not entirely her fault that she can do little but look concerned from the sidelines.
Impressive as the supporting cast is, they all have conventional character roles that they play with their usual skill--Kent Smith, Walter Slezak, George Sanders and Una O'Connor. O'Connor has some over- the-top scenes of maternal stress and she goes just a little too far in expressing the love she has for her son (Laughton). In fact, she overplays virtually all of her scenes with Laughton. Sanders is impressive in a part that calls for vulnerability rather than his usual sarcasm.
The trouble lies chiefly in the script by Dudley Nichols which relies too heavily on speech after speech instead of a dramatic series of events. Propaganda here is laid on with much too heavy a hand.