This Land Is Mine (1943)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writer:

Dudley Nichols (screenplay)

Release Date:

7 May 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

A mild-mannered schoolteacher in a Germen occupied town during WWII finds himself being torn between collaboration and resistance.

Plot Keywords:

Resistance | Professor | Informer | Firing Squad | Prison

Awards:

Won Oscar.

Cast

Charles Laughton	...	Albert Lory
Maureen O'Hara	...	Louise Martin
George Sanders	...	George Lambert
Walter Slezak	...	Major Erich von Keller
Kent Smith	...	Paul Martin
Una O'Connor	...	Mrs. Emma Lory
Philip Merivale	...	Professor Sorel
Thurston Hall	...	Mayor Henry Manville
George Coulouris	...	Prosecutor
Nancy Gates	...	Julie Grant
Ivan F. Simpson	...	Judge (as Ivan Simpson)
John Donat	...	Edmund Lorraine

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Latin

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #8004) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Finland:K-15 (2005) | Sweden:15

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

The singing of "Die Lorelei" by the German soldiers was a subtle dig at the anti-semitic regime of the Nazis, since the words were written by banned Jewish poet Heinrich Heine. Many of his books, considered "un-German," were burned in the book-burning episode at Opernplatz, Berlin, Germany, on 10 May 1933. However, his works were so popular that they were still published, but "author unknown" was the listed writer. In his 1821 play "Almansor," Heine also prophetically wrote "Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen." ("Where they burned books, they will in the end in burn people.")

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The German troops are all wearing WWI style helmets, presumably because the actual style of helmets used by Germany in WWII were not available to the film makers. There are also various other mistakes with the German uniforms.

Quotes:

Professor Sorel: It's very difficult surgical operation. Cut the heart out without killing the patient. The history of our country, however, is a very tough old patient, and we'll do the best we can.

Soundtrack:

Die Lorelei

Renoir and Nichols - a truly admirable collaboration!

Despite being directed by Jean Renoir and set in Vichy France, This Land is Mine never for one second gives the impression that there's anything remotely French about it or its characters, but in a strange way that works in the film's favour as a propaganda picture: this isn't a universally French story but one that could just as easily have happened in the USA had the Nazis won. Dudley Nichols' script is a surprisingly intelligent look at the nature of collaboration and the self-righteous moral delusion of the Vichy Government that justified a baser mercenary self-interest. Walter Slezak's Nazi isn't an obvious stereotype, more a pragmatic idealist rather than a fanatic – a true believer, but one who doesn't want the situation in the town to escalate because his job is easier if it doesn't. He's the one constantly offering practical solutions to avoid reprisals. Similarly, George Sanders' collaborator's belief that the Nazis and the Vichy French share many of the same political philosophies and so are a morally justifiable partnership doesn't make him immune to torment at the consequences of that union. That it all ends in a series of speeches from Charles Laughton's timid schoolteacher curiously doesn't detract, especially since the film regards thought and speech as expressions of resistance every bit as valid as acts of sabotage. Renoir even manages to draw a good performance out of Maureen O'Hara, with none of her usual broad cartoon bluster, and even Una O'Connor is almost tolerable for once.

Editions Montparnasse's French DVD boasts a pretty decent print.