Sat Jun 23, 2012 10:09 am
According to all the reviews, an anti-war polemic, but after watching it last night I can’t help but wonder if the heavy-handed anti-war platitudes are actually meant to be cleverly contrived satire on pacifism…or else a reflection of schizophrenia on the part of writer & producer. When one’s pacifism continues unabated after the bombs are falling on one’s head, it’s impossible for me to take such views seriously. (Not only do those vile “Eurasians” send pacifist leader Diana Winyard to the hospital, & seize the Panama Canal, they commit the unforgivable war-crime of bombing the Empire State Bldg.!) Late in the story, moreover, after peace efforts have failed & America has sustained major defeats, Lewis Stone pointedly declares that these disasters are the direct result of the country’s un-preparedness for war.
Despite the absurdity of some of her lines, Wynyard’s performance is intense, & I can’t get enough of her! The way she & the film breeze blithely through her out-of-wedlock pregnancy (after knowing the father all of 2 or 3 days!) is rather jaw-dropping, and a year or so later, couldn’t have been presented in the same way.
Despite the absurdity of some of her lines, Wynyard’s performance is intense, & I can’t get enough of her! The way she & the film breeze blithely through her out-of-wedlock pregnancy (after knowing the father all of 2 or 3 days!) is rather jaw-dropping, and a year or so later, couldn’t have been presented in the same way.
