The Mortal Storm (1940)

Director:

Frank Borzage

Writers:

Claudine West (screenplay) &
Hans Rameau (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

14 June 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The Roth family lead a quiet life in a small village in the German Alps during the early 1930's. When the Nazi's come to power...

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Hitler | University | Politics | Gunshot Wound

Cast

Margaret Sullavan	...	Freya Roth
James Stewart	...	Martin Breitner
Robert Young	...	Fritz Marberg
Frank Morgan	...	Prof. Viktor Roth
Robert Stack	...	Otto von Rohn
Bonita Granville	...	Elsa
Irene Rich	...	Amelie Roth
William T. Orr	...	Erich von Rohn
Maria Ouspenskaya	...	Hilda Breitner
Gene Reynolds	...	Rudi Roth
Russell Hicks	...	Rector of University
William Edmunds	...	Lehman, University Doorman
Esther Dale	...	Marta, Roth's Maid
Dan Dailey	...	Holl, Youth Party Leader (as Dan Dailey Jr.)
Granville Bates	...	Prof. Berg

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #6230) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

When this movie was made, America was not part of World War II. At this time, a number of Hollywood studios were pro-American involvement in the war. This movie is one of a number of films made during the late 1930s and early 1940s that represented pro-American intervention in the war. These films include: A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941), Man Hunt (1941), Foreign Correspondent (1940), The Mortal Storm (1940), Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) and Sergeant York (1941).

Quotes:

[first lines]
[white clouds appear; they quickly turn to storm clouds]
Narrator: When man was new upon the earth, he was frightened by the dangers of the elements. He cried out, "The gods of the lightning are angry, and I must kill my fellow man to appease them!" As man grew bolder, he created shelters against the wind and the rain and made harmless the force of the lightning...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Funny About Love (1990)

Soundtrack:

Academic Festival Overture

One Of The 10 Best Films Made In The 20th Century

I have been an avid film buff for many years, and I thought I had seen all of the best, until I first saw "The Mortal Storm" in 1989 on late night television. This film which is from the novel by Phyllis Bottome, is without question one of the most well constructed films I have ever seen. This film was produced and released in 1940, before World War II was declared, and was a very courageous undertaking, considering the subject matter. But then Metro Goldwyn Mayer was noted for doing almost the impossible. The character study of these individuals, whose lives are totally disrupted is remarkable. This film should be shown to every student who is learning the true facts about world history. Personally I rate this film with an A+.