Hernried

Up front I must admit I am a die-hard Paul Henreid fan, and I want to reassure any potential viewers of this movie that he was professional enough to put as much effort into this role as every other one I have seen him play, despite the fact that he made this film as a blacklisted and (consequently) underpaid actor.

There were basically two things I couldn't believe regarding the plot of this movie: 1)That an intelligent, established, professional man would marry a thievin' Cockney wench even if he did make her look like his lost true love; and 2) That his lost true love, on returning to him, didn't do a mad dash the other way when she found out he had actually made someone else look like her & then married that woman. I mean, isn't that a little twisted or something?

Overall the film was pretty good, & the romance between Henreid & Scott at the B&B truly enjoyable. I thought it delightful the way Henreid nursed Scott through her nasty head cold, & I like seeing a guy who is 6'3" sit on one bar stool with his feet on the next bar stool & look perfectly comfortable. It was only when the plot wanted me to believe the unbelievable that I had some trouble enjoying the film.

Ah, but the ending was pretty darn cute, & worth the 'huh?' I uttered during the dubious parts.

I had no idea what to expect, especially with two very different titles ("A Woman's Devotion" vs "Battle Shock"), but this film turned out to be quite entertaining. Janice Rule (Estelle) and Rosenda Monteros (Maria) were very good, as was Paul Henreid (the police captain; he also directed this movie).

Filmed in color on location in Mexico, this picture was visually rich and gave a great sense of place. There is a very frank, unglamourous fight between two male characters that is all the better for putting awkward realism over the choreographed look.

The Mexican supporting cast, especially for the characters of Maria and the chief of police, did quite well. Smooth editing and good directing. Only two problems - Ralph Meeker wasn't the best choice for the male lead, and the ending left me wanting a bit of denouement.

Overall, very watchable and enjoyable, and I'd see it again.

Wonderful suspense buildup. Well-done integration of actual Nazi footage. The rinky-dink miniature sets for outdoor longshots were a hoot! Okay, so the Brits didn't have a lot of money for fancy sound stages. The real highlight is watching Paul Henreid take on his Gestapo agent role with smooth relish. Just a few years before, he had been effectively blacklisted from German-language films for not signing up with the Nazi Actors' Guild. This role won him an award, and was much more interesting a part than that of Victor Laszlo in "Casablanca". Rex Harrison was overall good, but at times a little too "cute", as were the two Englishmen on the train.