The Mortal Storm

We loved this film and appreciated purchasing it at a reasonable price.

No one who has lived in this century should avoid conducting a serious reflection on whether or not he or she would have had the courage to recognize and oppose trends of profound evilness, within their civilization, had they lived in Nazi Germany prior to World War II. The Mortal Storm provides one with such an opportunity. The film, produced in 1940, is not in any way limited by being mindful of its wartime anti-nazi message. This is melodrama at its finest, no mere propaganda film. The film is set in an alpine, university town in southern Germany near the Austrian border. It opens on the occasion of the celebration of the sixtieth birthday of a universally revered science professor at both his university and later at his home. His three stepsons, although respectful of his humanitarianism, are more swept up by the promises a Nazi Germany holds for their youthful, male vanities. The professor, his wife, his daughter Freya (Margaret Sullavan), and family friend Martin (Jimmy Stewart) demonstrate an unhappy skepticism towards this regime, and this becomes the basis for evolving tensions which are not explored by deep philosophy but in melodramatic ways that are not always predictable, and very moving even when you know they're coming. When the nationalistic disloyalties of Martin and Freya become established, they are forced to seek an escape, their romantic interest having been nurtured by their mutual respect for each other's courage confronting the evil of escalating nazi sentiment. The blessing they receive from Martin's mother prior to their departure is one of the most poignant scenes in film history. This wartime film has the rare grace of not demonizing the whole of German culture and tradition for the mass moral insanity that frequently envelops all civilizations and requires a rarefied courage to resist. The English speaking cast does not subtract from the sense of alpine authenticity, and the overriding decency of his character, a Stewart trademark, enables the viewer to ignore Stewart's inability to shed his Midwestern accent for the role. It amuses rather than distracts. Except for Stewart's more famous film, It's a Wonderful Life, melodrama doesn't get any better than this.

The Mortal Storm is a tense drama about a German family that is torn apart by the coming to power of the Nazi Party in 1933.The father of the family is a liberal professor in a German town. He has two step- sons by his first marriage and a natural son and daughter by his second wife, who is Jewish.There are also two young men who are close friends of the family and who are sweet on the daughterThe two brothers are supporters of Hitler, as is one of the young friends, and this is a source of wrenching pain.Nevertheless,this is not a story of stereotype characters.The two Nazi brothers are close to their step-father and are concerned about the welfare of their sister and her full brother.The strains are about politics rather than race but race is never far below the surface..The story is about the brutal playing out of these strains.The important thing about the book and the film is that they were written and made before the War.We are now familiar with the evil nature of the Nazi regime but it was not as clear in 1939.These works were completed before the holocaust,and before great atrocities in Poland and Russia.Phyllis Bottome and the producers showed what the Nazis were like before 1939 and they helped to prepare the world for the coming struggle.In the late 1930s the Penguin Book Company brought out a series of Penguin Specials to inform the British public of the dangers of the Naziregime.They brought out books such as "The New German Empire";' Poland';,"Germany_What Next;" and "What Hitler Wants".The novel they chose was "The Mortal Storm".Anthony J Vallentine Cremorne NSW Australia

This is a excellent movie retelling the effects of the coming war in Europe on the people that are most involved and how they are forced to choose between family and the new thoughts and ideas suddenly affecting them.

Wonderful film. Very moving. Just read a fascinating book “Dora-Doreen” that reminded me of this movie, and had to have it.

I saw this movie several years ago and it is as good as I remember it. It has the three main actors from "The Shop Around The Corner", another good movie. The actors are James Stewart, Margaret Sullivan, and Frank Morgan but it also has Robert Young, Robert Stack, Dan Dailey, and Ward Bond. I am a movie buff and a collector and I highly recommend this movie.

Have always loved all James Stewart movies the scene in the bar, is the movie.

It seems ridiculous to me that Warners have only released this half baked DVD of this masterful film. This film deserves commentaries, documentaries about it etc, surely there must have been much controversy when the film was made. A fascinating story to be told today. There can be few films of the fourties that have remained as potent and relevant today as this film does. When one considers this film was made before the scourge of the Nazis in Germany had even become evident to a lot of people.. Unlike the recently released "Escape" which covers the same period, this film suffers from none of the over acting and hamminess in both story and characterisation. I look at this film now and it stands up today as both a brave and historical masterpiece . Just look at a few things about it; Frank Morgan gives the best performance of his career, Robert Young and Robert Stack epitomise evil in all its extreme right wing forms (some things dont change), the female hero dies tragically and shockingly , there are no happy tidy endings here. James Stewart's performance has a quiet majesty that was rarely matched in any of his other films of the period.Solid, spectacular film making that deserved an Oscar. Films of this period are mostly overwrought and sentimental today, despite the acclaim of their day. This film soars with greatness and does not age. (well, with the possible exception of the prologue at the start of the film)--ahead of its time and still of its time today.

This is a wonderful film which I remember from many years ago. Sometimes the passage of time leads to a different evaluation, but not in this case. James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan were perfectly cast as the loving couple, the very embodiment of decency, caught up in the fanatical intolerance of the Nazi regime in Germany immediately following the coming to power of Hitler at the end of January 1933. Frank Morgan is also excellent as the professor who hopes that the extremism of the wider society would leave university life untouched. Of course, his hopes are cruelly dashed. The fanatical thinking, singing of Nazi songs, and beatings given to those who do not agree with the dominant ideology of the time are all highlighted in a film made in 1940, a year before the US came into the war, and which led to diplomatic representations to withdraw the film made to the US Government by the Nazis. Robert Young is also unusually cast as a pro-Nazi fanatic. This is a fine film, and one which shows clearly how otherwise decent people and decent towns can degenerate into intolerance and violence.

Wonderful and very important anti-Nazi film, probably the best of its type.James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan are superb in the lead roles, but the support performances of Frank Morgan, Robert Young, Dan Dailey and Robert Stack - all taking, for them, unusually intense dramatic parts, just add to the impact. The delightfully dependable Maria Ouspenskaya and Irene Rich cement the package.Powerful, disturbing and thought-provoking - this, I believe, is simply one of the best 10 films ever made

Probably the best anti-nazi movie ever made. It's a realist view how the NSDAP functioned before the war. This could be concidered propaganda at the time. When you look at it now it's simply how it was in those days.

very good

brilliant