ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

JohnHowardReid This silly film need not detain us long. My only problem is that the movie has so many defects, it's difficult to decide where to start!But here in no particular order are some of its major problems:1. The script is absolutely ridiculous.2. The direction by Brian Desmond Hurst is less than competent.3. The acting by just about all concerned can only be described as not only laughably incompetent, but totally inadequate.4. The USA release title, "Suicide Squadron", is a cheap come-on.But on the other hand, the sets and the photography are sometimes attractive, and the music score, which includes the famous "Warsaw Concerto", is more than adequate.

clanciai What is wrong about this film? The story couldn't be better, and it is underscored by one of the best film scores ever made. Still, the film is far from a successful film.Whose fault is it? The director Brian Desmond Hurst made many films on the best of stories, but none of them really come alive, as if he was rather formally transferring a piece of literature to pictures without the capacity to make the actors transcend the story, as if their main task was not to act but only to sustain the story.Anton Walbrook makes the best of it, and he is reliable as in every film he ever made, but possibly sensitive to the director's limitations, he stays within himself throughout the film.Sally Grey just isn't enough. She is not well chosen for this role of a cool journalist of a millionaire's only daughter, rather spoiled and childish, and she is not psychologically convincing, just not living up to the profound and passionate romance that is presented in the first scenes in the ruins of Warsaw. After this film, she would make no other until five years later, but then she would be so much better in "Carnival".The main acting asset of the film is instead Derrick de Marney as Walbrook's colleague and best friend, who actually saves the film, although he is the only truly tragic figure.And how come that this outstanding music, by many deemed as the best film music ever made, doesn't succeed in saving the film? The guilty one here is actually Anton Walbrook - he is as far from convincing as a pianist as an actor could get. It's over-obvious that every single sequence with him playing the piano, and they are many, is faked. He is never seen to touch the keys, he is completely dispassionate sitting by the piano although the music couldn't be more passionate, and this is the main want of the film - the music is there, but it would have been better if we never had to see the pianist at work. It is recommended to close your eyes every time you see Anton Walbrook by the piano and listen to the real pianist instead of watching a painful fake.The story also saves the film. It is much deeper and more complicated than what it first appears like, and you need to see the film a couple of times before you understand it. The first time must be a disappointment. The second time you will understand everything you didn't understand the first time, and then you know how to deal with this - in spite of all - super-unique gem of a romantic war crisis film of patriotic passion and responsibility at stake on the altar of love.

margaras Wartime propaganda movie that was probably supposed to make people more kindly disposed towards Polish pilots in the RAF. I had heard about this film for years but never seen it; now however I recall that Spike Milligan in his memoirs (of a time when this was a brand new movie) describes it as something like "bloody awful." I wouldn't go that far but for a movie that is supposed to be about a fighter pilot it has a handful of minutes of flying and several hours (it feels like) of piano music + Sally Gray (who is not bad to look at I admit). Or closeups of Anton Walbrook's rabbit-like face as more orchestral music plays in the background.

didi-5 This film is the one which introduced the 'Warsaw Concerto', one of those almost classical pieces ('The Dream of Olwen' is the other major one) which are effective and burrow their way into your consciousness. Anton Walbrook is traumatised by something that happened when he was a flyer, and Sally Gray is the love interest who is trying to get him back. The performances are finely tuned but really it is the music which is the star. The film itself is typical of its type, over-dramatised British 40s drama at its worst. As such it is watchable but far from great!