Watch on the Rhine
by Herman Shumlin
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bette Davis, Beulah Bondi, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Lucile Watson, Paul LukasDirector: Herman Shumlin
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, NTSC
Running Time: 112 minutes
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of Watch on the Rhine
Movie Review: A movie of sharp intelligence and moving drama
Summary: 5 Stars
Don't be fooled: this isn't one of the many well-meaning but sub-par "B" movie propaganda efforts that were churned out by the big studios during the course of World War II. This is an adaptation of a first-rate play by Lillian Hellman, adapted for the screen by no less than the famous detective-story writer Dashiel Hammett (Hellman's longtime lover). Writing, acting, directing are all top-notch, moving smoothly between family issues, political beliefs, and wartime issues, and eventually demonstrating how each is ultimately and inextricably entwined with the others. Bette Davis, Paul Lukas, and Geraldine Fitzgerald all all excellent, wringing every last bit of drama, emotion, and intelligence from Ms. Hellman's story of the rise of fascism in Europe and America's slow but sure awakening to the threat.
Long a staple of Turner Classic Movies, it's great to finally see "A Watch on the Rhine" on DVD. This Warner Brothers DVD release features excellent picture and sound, several short subjects that may have been shown in conjunction with "A Watch on the Rhine" when it was unspooling in theaters (why a newsreel with no sound was included here is a mystery, however), the film's trailer, and a commentary track by film scholar Bernard F. Dick that's a bit stuffy but still quite informative.
This is great film that shouldn't be missed. Like all great "issues" movies, the issues and world movements are brought down to comprehensible human terms, so we can see how real people are affected by what might otherwise be perceived as impersonal headlines from somewhere "over there".
Summary of Watch on the Rhine
AN AUTHENTIC REGION 1 DVD FROM WARNER BROTHERS. Lillian Hellman's 1941 stage hit (adapted by Dashiell Hammett) retains its emotional and intellectual power in this suspenseful movie awarded the New York Film Critics 1943 Best Picture prize, and lauded as "a distinguished film, full of sense, power and beauty" by the NY Times. The praiseworthy film about standing up for what is right, at all odds, stars Paul Lukas repeating his Broadway triumph as Kurt Muller, a German underground leader who arrives with his family in Washington, DC and soon finds the tentacles of Nazi terror have a very long reach. Lukas' passionate performance earned him an Oscar, beating out Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca and Gary Cooper in For Whom the Bell Tolls. Bette Davis, who took on the film because she believed in its importance, portrays Muller's wife with ringing integrity. Lucile Watson as a socialite whose complacency is "shaken out of the magnolias" and George Colouris as a shady blackmailer also memorably reprise their stage roles. The film was nominated for 3 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. BONUS FEATURES: * Commentary by film historian Bernard F. Dick * Warner Night at the Movies 1943 short subjects gallery: o Vintage Newsreel o Musical short Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra o Classic cartoon The Wise Quacking Duck o Trailers of Watch on the Rhine and 1943's Mission to MoscowSimilar DVD Movies
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