I am attracted to movies set in post WWII Europe and always a sucker for a good love story. And this one delivers on both counts.
From the first moment she appears on screen Dana Wynters is captivating and gives a sensitive performance as a young and very beautiful German girl trying hard to survive a horrible time in the closing weeks of WWII after losing her family members and home to the allied bombing. Through perseverance and happenstance she manages to emerge intact and reconnect with an American soldier that she and her father had helped out once as an escaped POW.
The cinematography is wonderful and authentic and shows scenes of utter devastation amidst the beauty of the German architecture, for example, the scene near the Cathedral of Cologne.
My favorite scene is one where the characters were taking a boat trip down the Rhine River. The scenery is dazzling as they make way past the castles and vineyards, and especially as they pass the famous Loreleis with the sirens (actually German children) singing.
Given the harsh reality of this time in history and the context, the movie avoided being particularly brutal and merely hinted at the horrors of what so many Germans went through at the end of the war. I appreciate the way this movie humanized the people of both sides.
Mel Ferrer gives a solid performance as the friendly, informal American G.I. Joe. Many of the actors are European which really makes the movie better and more authentic. I would highly recommend this one to anybody and would watch it again any time just to see Dana Wynter's captivating beauty again. She looks very beguiling as a brunette and has a nice figure which looks great in those German costumes.
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