clanciai Review of Four in a Jeep

Four in a Jeep (1951)

Waiting for a husband who no one knows whether he is alive or dead

[10/10 · 4 July 2023]

Viveca Lindfors was a prominent Swedish actress who rose to fame in the shadow of Ingrid Bergman, but she is actually more beautiful and more interesting. She made films in Italy before Bergman, and she chose her roles and films with great distinction - although she acted against Errol Flynn in one film, she never accepted standard stardom roles - she needed roles to suit her depth. This is a Swiss film about the post war time in Vienna, when the city was divided by the four occupation forces, Russia, France, England and America, each ruling their own sector except the centre, which was divided equally among them, but patrolling the city regularly by four representatives of the four forces in a jeep - and the film is about them and how they dealt with a problem. An Austrian prisoner of war escapes from a prison camp in Hungary and is wanted by the Russians. His wife is waiting for him at home in Vienna in the Russian sector, and since the Russians are after him they lock her out of her flat to occupy it themselves, lying in wait for the escapee. The other three in the jeep wish to help her, particularly the American Ralph Meeker, and she is allowed to stay temporarily with the family of the French officer. Some of the best scenes are interiors from their home, but the film is rich in memorable scenes. The greatest is when a train arrives with released prisoners of war and the station is filled with their relatives expecting them, the police tries to keep the crowd back, but at length it is impossible, and this is a scene no one will be likely to ever forget. The circumstances here are identical with those of "The Third Man", but there is no villainy here, no political intrigue, no refugee tragedy, this is no thriller, but everything is poignantly realistic, all the four nations speaking their own language. It's a gripping story, although no masterpiece, but it is very Carol Reed-like, especially when you also think of "The Man Between" of a similar situation in Berlin. But the major difference between this and Carol Reed's two films is the permanence of Viveca Lindfors - this could be one of her most interesting roles, while they are all interesting.