Englishman Mr Howard is on a fishing holiday in eastern France when the Germans invade in 1940. Setting off to try and get back home he is persuaded to take along the two Cavanaugh children, and as his journey progresses his family keeps growing in size. Once in German-occupied northern France a new problem arises – the risk of being heard speaking English.
Director: Irving Pichel.
Writers: Nunnally Johnson, Nevil Shute (novel).
Stars: Monty Woolley, Roddy McDowall, Anne Baxter, Otto Preminger, J. Carrol Naish, Lester Matthews, Jill Esmond, Ferike Boros, Peggy Ann Garner, Merrill Rodin, Maurice Tauzin, Fleurette Zama, William Edmunds, Marcel Dalio, Marcelle Corday.
Cinematographer: Edward Cronjager.
Composer: Alfred Newman.
1943 Academy Awards – Nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture.
1943 Academy Awards – Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Monty Woollley).
1943 Academy Awards – Nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (Edward Cronjager).
I am forever in your debt….again!
This one I had forgotten–such a wonderful document of its period–including a casually brutal firing squad execution scene. The story is tailored perfectly to Woolley;s cranky Sheridan Whiteside persona, and McDowall and Garner are superb.