Douglas Sirk's excellent war drama is unfortunately not as well-known as his luridly coloured 50's melodramas "Written On The Wind, "All That Heaven Allows" etc. That's too bad, because it deserves to be, and is one of the best films of it's type. It tells a harrowing, yet hopeful story. The German Army is crumbling in 1944, when war weary John Gavin (suprisingly good) is granted furlough. Hope comes to him through falling in love with a charming girl, Lilo Pulver, whom he kisses by the emerging blossoms next to the river. They marry, and enjoy whatever happiness they can. They revel in it, as you you do, but a gloom hangs over the film. This is also represented by the colour scheme employed by Sirk. Instead of the bright 'Scope of WOTW or ATHA here we have slate greys and smoky blues. His use of mis en scene here is also kind of remarkable, with the grotesque German officer who Gavin visits having what seem to be hundreds of dead trophy animals adorning his walls. Memento's of the dead, perhaps? Remarque wrote the novel, and also appears in the film. Challenging, moving and heartbreaking, with an ending that shocks and angers, yet is also justified.
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jem1322 July 2009
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TheLittleSongbird20 July 2020While not liking every film Douglas Sirk did (my recent viewing of 'Magnificent Obsession' for example really underwhelmed me, sorry to anybody who disagrees and they undoubtedly exist), he was an interesting director and one of the most interesting when it came to melodramas which he specialised in. His melodramas are not for all tastes definitely, with some working much better than others, but at his best (i.e. 'Imitation of Life') his films were brilliant.
'A Time to Love and a Time to Die', a title that some people are going to love and others are going to hate (even if it is an over-the-top one it is generally a poetic one in my view and pretty much sums up what the film is about), may not be one of Sirk's best. Having said that, while it is not perfect by any stretch, it is one of his most interesting with the subject matter for example and also one of his most underrated and deserving of more credit than it does.
It isn't without problems in my view. It does run a little too long and it makes the film occasionally drawn out, the romance occasionally slows things down a bit. Some of the dialogue is rather soapy and could have had more punch, at least it is not as unintentionally camp or as sentiment-heavy as some of Sirk's other films.
Did feel generally that debuting John Gavin, once you try to get over the fact that he is not remotely believable as a German, didn't do too badly a job, but inexperience does show initially where he doesn't always look comfortable.
Mostly he plays his role with authority and pathos and Liselotte Pulver is both fetching and affecting as his love interest. Their chemistry is charming. Keenan Wynn and Charles Regnier are memorable in support, the whole cast in fact give everything they've got and make characters that sound on paper cliched and potentially sketchy interesting and certainly more plausible than those in other Sirk films, the conflict having tension too. 'A Time to Love and a Time to Die' looks great and is especially lavishly and not too glossily shot. Miklos Rozsa's score is sweeping and haunting.
Sirk's direction has the sensitivity and passion that was missing in 'Magnificent Obsession' and the war scenes are staged very powerfully without being cluttered. While the script is not perfect it is sincere on the whole and as said it is not camp and sentimental. Furthermore, 'A Time to Love and a Time to Die' is an emotionally powerful film without being manipulative or over-sentimentalised, the war scenes are harrowing and poignant. The ending is shocking and really did appreciate that it didn't go the too pat route like other Sirk films did.
Overall, interesting and powerful film that deserves more credit than it does. 7/10 -
sbox30 March 1999This film, beautifully shot, is the tale of a simple soldier falling in love, during trying times. The soldier is German. The struggle is World War II. The setting is Berlin.
1958 was surely a hard year to make such a film. In fact, this film could not be made today. However, this love story was made, with the enemy at the focus. Of course, enemy never crossses the viewer's mind. We are with the protaganist throughout the movie.
In short, this is an important film of significant value. Not because it is about history, but because it is about the redeeming quality of humanity, even if displayed in the setting of our onetime enemy. -
dbdumonteil8 August 2001Yes a time to praise Douglas Sirk,this magnificent director,too often forgotten!This movie is arguably his masterpiece.He used to work in Germany before making a career in the USA,and this war that tore apart his adoptive homeland would necessarily urge him to express his pacifism.So,he adapted Erich Maria Remarque ,whose books were burned by the Nazis and who plays a part in the movie. Some people said the title was melodramatic and dumb.On the contrary,it indicates that Ernst's and Elisabeth's happiness will be short-lived,so every moment is to be treasured,and we know their love will never know a humdrum mediocrity. Sirk's camera circles round calcined beams,ruined houses,nightmare landscapes.A sublime shot shows a hearse that stands still in a desert street ,while inhabitants take refuge in the shelters. A subplot is downright fascinating;Ernst meets up with an old friend again:this friend is rather dumb ,good to nothing,but he lives in a luxury flat,having taken advantage of the nazi rising.Later,Louis Malle will focus his whole film on such a character in "Lacombe Lucien". Compare the buddy's attitude with that of Elisabeth when Ernst wants to give her some food.She refuses so proudly he's forced to give it to a whore. Back to the front,Ernst will meet death in a very absurd way:understanding -like Elisabeth before him- the atrocity and the stupidity of the war he's waging,he tries to help Russian partisans and his fate is sealed.He tries ,in a last gesture ,to catch his wife's letter that the current sweeps along.Superb.(compare with the ending of Remarque's "all quiet on the western front" made by Lewis Milestone)
NB.Sirk's son was probably killed in Russia and the final scenes might tell what had happened to him;Sirk's first wife forced his boy to join the Nazi,partly out of revenge cause Detlef Sierck 's second wife was a Jew. -
kullthevalusian21 February 2005...in this time of generalizations and terminally low attention spans (not to say inexistent historical memory) people who have been the hollywoodesque cartoonish image of all 1930/40s Germans to be goose-stepping-order-barking-black-uniformed-ss-genocidal-murders could have their insight skills sharpened a bit more by this movie directed by Detlef Sierck (his real name). Actually lots of people in the 3rd Reich must have felt like Sierck himself, who obviously loved his fatherland but hated the Nazis and the way they tried to rape and pervert the very idea of the 'german nation' to their twisted ends...and those who were not lucky enough to expatriate like he did would have lived like the protagonists of this drama, suffering through an unwanted war having to witness both the cruelty of the regime AND the devastations from the war that the regime forced upon its people (the political prisoners forced to clear rubble from the air raids is a TELLING scene indeed!). The only thing that upset me a bit was the censorship forced on the filmmaker which in several scenes has to resort to silly 'visual tricks' to 'avoid' showing swastikas (a tube blocking our sight over the Military Police gorget in one of the first scenes, the queer angle at which a NSDAP member crosses our p.o.v. in the restaurant scene so we can't see the front of his armband)....now think a bit...if a catastrophe strikes and leaves this movie the ONLY proof of semi-historical value regarding WW2 the historians of the future will be oblivious of the centrepiece of nazi imagery...how STUPID is that???
Down with censorship I say, either sexual, political, intellectual et al... -
btbor12 April 2005Re: Shannon Box's (sbox@gvtc.com) observation: "In short, this is an important film of significant value. Not because it is about history, but because it is about the redeeming quality of humanity, even if displayed in the setting of our onetime enemy." I would change the last of Shannon's statement to BECAUSE it is displayed in the setting of our onetime enemy. I saw this film shortly after it was released, in a theater on a USArmy post in Munich, Germany (McGraw Kaserne). At that time I was a student, especially of German history. This film provided an opportunity to be transported, for a few hours, into that closed society that our German friends had lived through but could not adequately convey to us. For those who enjoyed this film I would recommend reading "The Officer Factory" by Hans Helmut Kirst and Betrayed Skies (I have forgotten the author, but that is a first rate but largely unknown German pilot's story of his unwilling part in the air war). In short, this is a modern day All Quiet on the Western Front.
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ma-cortes8 May 2020It is a lush rendition set In 1944, a company of German soldiers on the Russian front are numbed by the massacres and violence of a bloody war , there Private Ernst Graeber (John Gavin) is given a furlough and he goes back home in Germany, as he finds his home bombed , then hopelessly looking for his parents, but also meets a beautiful girl called Elizabeth Kruse (Lilo Pulver) with whom he falls in love . Both of them attempt to survive from a world full of slaughter , ambition and hatred . The are happily joined, only to be separated when he is forced to return to the Russian front. Born out of the blazing passions of war! The great love story of World War II by the author of "All Quiet on the Western Front"...There Was Nothing Else in the World Now...But Them! No shame, no law, only love and each other...and the thunder of their pounding hearts...
This Douglas Sirk's penultimate masterpiece turns to be an interesting and thought-provoking film showing the human side of the enemy , including romance , emotion , thrills , and hardships and horror of an unfinished war, giving a sympathetic treatment of Germans opposited to Hitler' policies. It rests on a sad simmetry between the scenes at the Russian front and the central section in the bombed home-town . An affectionate love story with uncommon compassionate portrayal of Germans that takes place when a long awaited furlough comes through a good soldier : John Gavin and arriving in his half-ruined town he falls in love for a lovely girl : Lilo Pulver who results to be daughter of a political prisoner . This doomed and tragic romance exists non in spite of war, but because of it. This is one of few American films which portray World War II on the German side and the main roles were the German enemy. Based on a novel by prestigious author Erich Maria Remarque , published in 1954, who also wrote other successful war novels such as All Quiet on the Western Front by Lewis Milestone and The Arch of Triumph that were equally adapted ; in addition , playing himself a brief appearance . Starring John Gavin, credited to his real name Dana J. Hutton, gives a wooden acting in his film debut , while Lilo Pulver is better than him thanks to her sympathy , and attractive face . Good support cast , such as : Jock Mahoney , Don DeFore , Keenan Wynn , KlausvKinski, Thayer David , Barbara Rütting, among others.
It contains a colorful and superb cinematography in Technicolor by Russell Metty, though a perfect remastering being extremely necessary . Being shot on location in Germany. Sensitive and enjoyable musical score by Miklos Rozsa . The motion picture was well directed by Douglas Sirk . He was a fundamental filmmaker who gave prestigious movies , usually collaborating with similar technicians as cameraman Russell Metty , Production Designer Alexander Golitzen , Producer Ross Hunter and writer George Zuckerman . Sirk directed a lot of classic melodramas such as : Never say goobye , Interlude , Summerstorm , The first legion , The lady pays off , Tarnished Angels , A time to love a time to die , Magnificent obsession , All that heaven allows , Written in the Wind . But he also directed other genres as WWII : Mystery submarine , Hitler's madmen ; Thrillers and Film Noir : Shockproof , Thunder on the hill , A scandal in Paris , Lured ; Historical : Attila with Jack Palance ; Adventures : Thunderbolt and Lightfoot with Hudson and Barbara Rush ; and even a Western : Taza . Rating : 7/10 , better than average . Worthwhile watching. -
Elgroovio22 October 2004I saw this fabulous tear-jerker purely by accident but I don't regret it one bit. In my opinion it's one of the best romantic war films ever made. This is mainly because the fabulous director Douglas Sirk doesn't allow it to become a soppy schmaltz. Also, the film is incredibly moving, especially in a scene at the beginning where a young man, unable to live with the guilt of having shot a woman, shoots himself. John Gavin is good as Ernst Graeber and his beloved is adequately played by Liselotte Pulver, but the most outstanding performance, I think, is by Charles Régnier as Joseph. If more war films were made like this then they would be much, much more watchable. The credit sequence at the beginning of the film is also very well done. Why don't more people know this masterpiece? Enjoy! (and don't forget the Kleenex) 10/10
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The films of Douglas Sirk have been variously described as "masterpieces" and "tosh". I think the answer lies somewhere in between. Certainly the series he made at the peak of his career for Universal International in the 'fifties are romantic melodramas of a superior kind. Although photographed in gaudy chocolate-box colours with soundtracks overladen with scores drenched in aural syrup and with sometimes the most outlandish of plots - "Magnificant Obsession" for instance - they have, beneath their surface glitter, a hard edged observation of an affluent American society struggling to come to grips with moral values - "All that Heaven Allows" and "Imitation of Life" are particularly good examples. But, interesting as these film are, it is the odd man out, a film set not in America at all but in Germany and the eastern front in the closing stages of the Second World War, "A Time to Love and a Time to Die", that, in spite of its not inconsiderable unevenness, could well be his most lasting legacy. Its most striking feature is that, notwithstanding its vastly different territory, it remains a Sirk film stylistically. The director almost seems to be signing his signature with the shot of pink blossom against the opening and closing credits. Although the outer sections of a German unit under shellfire on the eastern front are the very stuff of warscape recreation at their near best, it is the long central passage where the young German soldier - surprisingly well played by John Gavin - returns on leave to his heavily bombed town, that is the most Sirkian. Here, between devastating airaids, the hero forms an idyllic romantic attachment to a vaguely remembered friend from childhood followed by a whirlwind courtship. Amazingly for the last night of his leave the couple find, amidst all the devastation, an untouched house for the consumation of their marriage, where they are tended by a kindly frau who brings them a bottle of wine from the cellar. At this point the airaid is only glimpsed through the window. At an earlier point in the leave the couple dine in an unbelievably stylish restaurant, although here at least Sirk has the honesty to interrupt the proceedings with a pretty devastating direct hit which leaves one diner running is a sea of flames. If I have reservations about some of the romantic trappings of the scenes in Germany, I have none about the intense realism of the scenes on the eastern front. Would that the film was all on this level.
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The_Ringo_Kid12 February 2007I'm not one to watch really any film that seems to have romance in it set during war. However, the first time I watched this movie, I was really amazed at how well it was done as well as the most excellent cast for a movie and the realism that it showed. Also, I do not care for films with much romancing in it however, I liked this film and how the romance between a German Soldier and some Fraulein; was shown.
Young German soldier returns to a devastated hometown on leave from the Eastern Front. First he tries to locate his family after discovering their home was destroyed on some bombing raid. Whilst looking for family, he runs into an old professor of his as well as his daughter. During his time on leave, he falls in love with this girl and they eventually get married. Also, the professor had been arrested for some reason and was shucked away to some interrogation center - which really was a Concentration Camp. Sometime later in the movie, this soldier discovers the professors fate.
During his leave, this soldier befriends and teams up with another soldier--who is also looking for a loved one. Don DeFore excellently plays that soldier. Also in the film in memorable roles include: Keenan Wynn as a rich German Corporal, Jock Mahoney as Steinbrenner, a "crack" machine-gunner who is in Gavin's (Graebers) platoon, as well as a very young Dana "Jim" Hutton, as a young German soldier in Graebers platoon.
I do not want to spoil what happens at the end of this movie but will say that Graeber gets sent back to his platoon somewhere on the Eastern Front.
This movie is so good that it really deserves to be released on DVD. It is in color and the sound is excellent. -
Michael27-130 June 2005Melodrama maestro, Douglas Sirk, ditches the Technicolor gaudiness of his 1950s weepies for romance set against the grim backdrop of death and destruction with "A Time To Love And A Time To Die". Yes, many of Sirk's familiar touches are here. But this is not a carbon copy of his hit soap operas. This film is affecting, if overly-long, with two surprisingly good leads in the impossibly handsome John Gavin and the lovely Lilo Pulver. Sirk does gloss up the devastation of war a bit; however, Sirk does allow this movie to have its share of shockingly frank and disturbing moments.
John Gavin plays German soldier, Ernst, who returns to his hometown on furlough. What he finds are the tattered remains of his home and goes on a search for his missing parents. During his frantic search, Gavin meets a childhood acquaintance. Among the air raids, bombings and sheer terror, they develop a romance and marry. Knowing that their time together will be short, they milk every moment for what it's worth before inevitable tragedy destroys their romance.
Gavin who was cast more frequently for his good looks than his acting chops actually makes a passable lead this time, although his playing a German is a little bit of a stretch. While this is not Douglas Sirk at his finest, it is an interesting project that capitalizes on the popularity of war films while also allowing Sirk to immerse himself in a topic that comes straight from his own past. -
morrison-dylan-fan7 August 2018Whilst having read high praise of his creations for years,I somehow have never got round to seeing a title by auteur director Douglas Sirk. Checking with my dad about what he has recently sold on eBay,he mentioned a Sirk DVD that was about to be sent,and asked me if I would like to watch it before it goes,which led to me putting some time aside for A Time to Love and a Time to Die.
View on the film:
Filming in Germany for the first time since fleeing from the Nazis,auteur director Douglas Sirk & cinematographer Russell Metty superbly use the lush beauty of Sirk's Technicolor stylisation to starkly show the devastation of war. Unable to work in the Soviet-controlled part of the country, Sirk and the crew reinforce bombed out buildings and build entrances,exits and stairways within them, giving the scenes of Graeber and other soldiers lifting bricks to find survivors of the latest air raid bombing an earthy atmosphere. Ending on a haunting image possibly referencing the death of his son Klaus Detlef Sierck, (Sirk's ex-wife Lydia Brincken Joined the Nazis and got Klaus to become a child star in Nazi propaganda films,along with barring Sirk from seeing Klaus after Sirk married Jewish actress Hilde Jary. Klaus died as a solider on the then-USSR Ukrainian boarder on 22 May 1944) Sirk and Metty contrast the autumn colours of Ernst Graeber and Elizabeth's romance with an uncomfortable, threatening mood,lit in the casual manner the Nazis sit back and tell Ernst of the latest people they have sent to the concentration camps,brilliantly underlined by a shimmering score from Miklós Rózsa.
Giving his own seal of approval by co-staring in the adaptation of his own book,Orin Jannings take on Erich Maria Remarque's novel takes an intelligent, novel-like approach to Elizabeth and Ernst's romance, starting from a collage of them piecing each others common interests with flirting and tempting asides, to a blossoming romance held by them each willing to risk their lives for the others safety. Hardly featuring any signs of the Allies, Jannings goes behind enemy lines and follows those trapped inside Nazi Germany, where Ernst's time on the battleground has made him well aware of the threat loyal Nazi solders and informants hold towards murdering the Jewish Elizabeth and him.
Appearing in the first of two films for Sirk,John Gavin gives an incredible performance as Ernst,whose romantic side is pinned by Gavin with a quick-witted edge to search for his parents out of sight, and to keep Elizabeth out of the Nazis grip. Looking absolutely beautiful from her first appearance, Liselotte Pulver gives a magnificent performance as Elizabeth,via bringing a real delicate touch to the early stages of the romance,that transforms into a burning passion for Ernst and Elizabeth's desire to fight to make this a time to love. -
verna-a2 August 2017I can recommend this war film. Despite distracting weaknesses in production quality, the power of the material carries the viewer along very effectively. The scenario is the dying days of World War II from the perspective of a German soldier. This represents unusual material for Hollywood, and romantic leading man John Gavin is odd casting as the hero. Although his flashes of American pearly whites are incongruous, he and indeed all the actors do quite well in their parts although hampered by the forced pace of the direction and the artificial quality of the sound recording. Clearly overdubbed, the dialogue has the quality of a read- through in an indoor studio, despite most of the action being out-of-doors. The cinematography is quite good and the sets impressive as the soldier Ernst moves from the horrors of the Russian front to the heavily-bombed hometown where he returns on leave. Trying to find what has become of his parents, he receives little sympathy from his countrymen and women, who are deadened (or maddened) by the bombardment from the skies they are experiencing. Officialdom is represented by a range of repulsive types, underlining the moral ambiguity the hero is struggling with after his experiences on the front. Where in all this horror is anything worth living for? The answer comes in his developing relationship with the winsome Elizabeth, portrayed by a delightful actress whose name is not familiar to me. What hopes of happiness in the maelstrom of the times? A poignant moment comes when the couple fantasize where they would like to go for a honeymoon, only to reflect that as Germans they would be hated just about everywhere. I found this a memorable film.
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SwollenThumb26 April 2018Conventional approach to WW2 drama, except told from the German side. Largely spoilt by John Gavin's wooden acting. Jock Mahoney would have been better in the lead, not in a bit part. Keenan Wynn lifts it whenever he appears. Directed by a German, based on a German book. Author has small part. He sums up his philosophy as need to believe in God. (Believe it if you want!)
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This film complements "The Downfall" in putting a human face on the Germans who fought during WWII and the suffering of the people of Dresden during the allied bombing, but it beat the "Downfall" by 47 years!! The problem is that Sirk is a highly underrated director because he shot mostly "melodramas" in the 1950's America, starring the likes of Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman (who was Ronald Reagan's wife at the time!!), so his German films are not even known in America. This is one of them. It's an important film that speaks for the simple people, the common people of Germany, who also suffered on the German side. And the writing credits are not bad, including Erich Maria Remarque who wrote "All Quiet on the Western Front." This film and "The Downfall" should be seen along with "The Fog of War" in which Robert McNamara, who was Secretary of Defense during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations and the Vietnam War, confesses that if the Germans and the Japanese had won the war, he and his superiors would have been tried for war crimes for ordering the fire bombing of both Dresden and Tokyo during the war. War is hell and everyone --bar none-- on all sides has committed atrocities. McNamara, at 87, has the courage to admit that: "Sometimes you have to do evil to do good," as he put it. "The victor writes history..." he added. Films like "A Time to Love and a Time to Die" and "The Downfall" add a bit of revisionary touch to the cracks in that history...
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An awful war atmosphere where good sentiments and feelings are mixed up with dreadful killings and hatred deeds. Russian front in 1944 when the German army retreats defeated. A private in a German army company gets a long waited two weeks leave to go to his home town in Germany. When he gets there he finds his house bombed and his parents absent he doesn't know where to. He starts looking for them and asking information from local people but always unsuccessfully. Meanwhile he meets a girl who is the daughter of a well known local doctor who has been sent to a concentration camp she doesn't know where. They fall in love with each other and start looking together for her father and his parents. John Gavin adn LIlo Pulver do superb excellent roles in these two parts. It is a movie that keeps you emotionally caught up from the beginning till the end.
A curious note: Erich Maria Remarque, the author of the novel that inspired this movie does the part of an old proffessor who Ernst Graeber (the soldier) tries to- contact to get information and opinion. -
Lejink14 January 2020Not your typical Douglas Sirk subject matter here, at least on the face of it. Based on a book by celebrated novelist Erich Maria Remarque, best known for "All Quiet On The Western Front", it uncommonly takes as its subject a German soldier granted leave from the Russian Front.
The film commences with three almost immediately jolting scenes, firstly when the German regiment now retreating surrendered territory in the dead of winter, come across a hand protruding from the frozen ice and then learn it belongs to a former colleague. Soon afterwards, we see members of the same troop "volunteered" to execute by firing squad four Russian civilians, one of them a woman, after first making them dig their own graves. This proves to be too much for the already shredded nerves of one of the young participants, who soon afterwards takes his own life. All this in the first 20 minutes.
After that however it does settle to recognisable Sirk territory as the story concentrates on young German soldier John Gavin, who to his own surprise is granted a furlough which he uses to try to return to his parents' house only to find they have left and the house itself is now bombed to the ground. What's immediately apparent once he's back home is the town civilians' complete indifference to the returning front-line soldier. No hero to them, indeed he's accused of having it easy compared to the almost daily Allied bombing barrage they're enduring.
One plus for him however is that in his search he meets and quickly falls in love with the pretty daughter of his parents' doctor. They decide to marry and to complete their happiness all they need to do it seems is find their respective sets of parents, see out the war and live happily ever after, but remembering the M.O.'s of both Sirk and Remarque, plus there's a big clue in the film title, their stories don't end happily and in fact the climax is a shockingly brutal moment reminiscent of those initial three scenes. Thus the film rams home its point about the futility of war effectively making the point that almost nothing good can come from it.
Master cinematographer Russell Metty, under Sirk's direction, shows himself equally capable of filming war-weary soldiers, battlefields and ruined houses as rich socialites in their grand houses in the United States. That said, it is disconcerting to hear everyone, Germans and Russians alike, speaking in crystal-clear American accents.
Leads John Gavin and Liselotte Pulver make for an attractive couple whose love story blossoms against the odds and there's a notable appearance by author Remarque himself in a prominent part as a dissenting doctor. Gavin is obviously playing the type of role that Rock Hudson would normally fulfil for Sirk, but I can understand, for reasons of veracity and credibility, why the lesser-known Gavin got the part, although his inexperience does I think show through at times.
This is a film where Sirk, more famous for his lush romantic contemporary melodramas gets his hands somewhat dirtier. There's earthy barrack-room humour amongst the serving soldiers, extreme cruelty as demonstrated by the drunken piano-playing Gestapo commandant describing his layer-cake method of mass-killing, depictions of prostitutes and call girls and in that final sequence, blind patriotism which in time of war, ruthlessly fails to acknowledge a life-saving kindness granted to it.
A bleak but powerful film then, with a strong anti-war message, effectively but still stylishly directed by Sirk, the better for setting its main characters on the other side of the divide. -
searchanddestroy-127 December 2021It is so obviously easy to recognize here the Erich Maria Remarque's signature. This film offers every minute of its length to show how war is useless, horrible, the fight against the enemy lost in advance. This is definitely a propaganda, anti war film, beautifully done, because of the Doug Sirk's talent, but with no shade at all. Showing the German pacifist side offers less risk than to show real fighters on the front, under the enemy bombs, as the film industry will do later with DAS BOOT. I also prefer DIE BRÜCKE, made one year later or even STALINGRAD - 1993. Also German features. This film is very well documented about many details that only historians know. For instance, after killing civilians in cold blood ( partisans) in Russia - which was very often on the Eatstern front - the soldiers who participated to the fire squad were offered a bottle of vodka. And it shows very well how, in Germany, simple poor men could rapidly become powerful if they became members of the Nazi party. Watch out the scenes between John Gavin's character and his long time friend, a workless dude who suddenly gained much power - district leader. I was amused by the fat German soldier who talks about his wife, at home, waiting for him, a 200 pounds fat wife whom he was waiting to meet again. But once at home he did not recognize her because she lost weight, and because of that, this idiot decided to forget her.... The amusing thing here is that this fat soldier did not lose weight on the front, despite the food deprivation....ha ha ha.
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dinky-419 December 2002A Douglas Sirk film from Universal Pictures in 1958 -- this is probably the wrong combination of director, studio, and year for a grim movie about Germany in the last months of World War II. Everything, including John Gavin's well-coiffed hair, looks a bit too "Hollywood."
However, this disconnect between style and substance has its advantages, too, creating an underlying sort of tension which keeps the movie from being labeled a failure.
Watch the supporting cast for Jock Mahoney, Klaus Kinski, and Dana ("Jim") Hutton. Lilo Pulver is an earnest but uncompelling leading lady and John Gavin never looked handsomer. (And that's saying something!) You need to wait about 50 minutes before he takes his shirt off and the resulting scene is disappointingly brief but any sight of The Chest is a cause for celebration.
Point to ponder: would any Hollywood studio risk this kind of ending in today's market? -
akoaytao123419 January 2024Sirkian Melodrama always has great guttural feeling of an escapable ironies. A Time to Love and A Time to Die (ATTL2D) is probably one of the bigger examples of this.
Adapted from the same author of All Quiet in the Western Front, ATTL2D portrays Nazi Germany on a different light. They are shown as compassionate and just like any during the war - trying to just survive. Almost removing the key characteristics that will make Nazis infamous. In this film adaptation, a soldier is given a short furlough to visit his family after a long tenure in war. At the time, Germany is on its last legs and much of his hometown is already destroyed. With no one able to locate his parent, he found himself lost and takes his most of his time getting to know his Doctor's daughter - who happens to be a Jew. They try to work things out but it goes from worse to worst.
Somewhat controversial for depicting some Germans on a positive light. ATTL2D is often considered as Sirk's swansong to his son, a former Nazi Propaganda star, who died serving the war at 18. Its one of his most compassionate film - with scenes definitely lifted by the Pianist, AND one of his complicated. Its somewhat forgotten since it subject matter is defiantly darker and less vivid that his more successful films during this peak period but his melodramatic maturity is fully felt in this one. The ironies in this airtight, the stories hit really damn hard without going full baloney (Written in the Wind I see you). The performance is good. Gavin's debut performance is noteworthy. The cinematography is standard of Sirk but its marvelously photographed.
Overall, this is a very underrated Sirk. Highly recommended. -
SAMTHEBESTEST13 September 2023A Time To Love And A Time to Die (1958): Brief Review -
Quite possibly Douglas Sirk's most hard-hitting & devastating film ever. The war was no different for German soldiers either. Almost 3 decades after Lewis Milestone's Oscar-winning "All Quite On the Western Front" (1930), Sirk brought a story of a German soldier trying to beat the horrors of war. The idea is very complimentary since we usually see people suffering from war effects and consequences while soldiers are out there on the front, away from the tyranny that local residents have to bow down to-that's the USP here. In one scene, a devastated man tells the soldier that it's us who have to face all the consequences and side effects of the war, but you soldiers are there on the front and are responsible for it. I was stunned for a moment because I have never seen a civilian blame a soldier for the war, while our traditional notion about soldiers is that they are our protectors. I was a bit more shocked because I'd never expected such remarks from a Sirk film. For me, he was all about drama-family drama, rom-coms, and the usual soapy stuff. A Time To Love And A Time to Die has a lot of hints about its story in the title alone. It's the story of a German soldier on a 3-week furlough who sees a different Germany than the one he left before going on the war. While looking for his parents, he meets a young, beautiful girl from the neighbourhood who is looking for her father. They both fall in love and get married despite certain hurdles. The soldier comes to realise the actual effects of the war during these 3 weeks and happens to become a flag bearer of the anti-war profile. The screenplay keeps you busy despite its long runtime. I guess they could have trimmed the romance and added more war action. Sirk brings out good performances from all the actors under his direction, and the overall experience is something non-Douglas Sirk type shocker. A good filmmaker knows how to make a good film, in any genre. That Climax.
RATING - 7.5/10*
By - #samthebestest. -
writers_reign26 September 2009The fact that you DO notice the length is indicative that this isn't top-drawer Sirk. It followed on the heels of The Tarnished Angels, another downbeat story contrasting with the largely upbeat fodder that brought belated recognition to Sirk late in his career. The Tarnished Angels was adapted from a novel (Pylon) by William Faulkner and shot in black and white. A Time To Love is adapted from a novel by Erich Maria Remarque (who also plays a supporting role) and is filmed in color so muted that it may as well be black and white. The two leads were relatively unknown in terms of the big screen; John Gavin was never much of an actor but his good lucks ensured a regular supply of television work whilst Lilo Pulver had a long and successful career in German-language films but did appear in Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three, shot as the Berlin wall was being erected. The story is slight but none the worse for that and it's certainly watchable.
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GianfrancoSpada4 October 2023A quintessential Hollywood melodramatic take on wartime experiences, this time seen through the eyes of a German soldier. The film is well-conceived in all aspects but leans too heavily on all the clichés of American period cinema. It's challenging to connect with the characters who, as Germans, speak perfect American slang, and their dialogue is typical of this language.
However, the actors, who perform very professionally, make us forget this significant deficiency at times. It's interesting to see how the message that not all Germans were as bad as they've been portrayed, as part of the denazification process typical of the time, is handled with great care, and the atrocities they committed are not ignored. It strikes a good balance and has its merits.
Narratively, the film is well-crafted, maintaining a constant wave of highs and lows in drama that results in a quite interesting movie to watch. This film would undoubtedly deserve a remake, with a more authentic portrayal of German characters and dialogue, which could potentially be a great success.
Otherwise, everything is on point, and all the elements, including editing, cinematography, music, etc., have been perfectly developed, creating a well-rounded film with an unexpected yet necessary ending. -
grahamvr19 March 2023This film still stands as a magnificent masterpiece to all who were involved. Now with the release of a new version of ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT maybe it will get more people watching it on DVD. Hopefully a major re-release on Amazon Prime.
Admittedly many of the characters are played by American actors and many people today would say why more European actors were used. Not my decision to make but the Director Douglas Sirk delivered a real masterpiece.
It begins with great sadness and ends in a similar way. Don't miss seeing this film if you can get hold of a copy. It will draw you in and hold you to the very end.