Konterr Brilliant and touching

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

GusF Set predominantly in neutral Sweden in 1918, this is quite a clever World War I film when it comes to the spy drama elements but less so when it comes to the romantic ones. Vivien Leigh and Conrad Veidt are very engaging leads as the French double agent Madeline Goddard and the German spymaster Baron von Marwitz who fall in love. The supporting cast is strong such as the producer Alexander Korda's sister-in-law Joan Gardner, Sam Livesey (Roger's dad who sadly died before the film was released), his daughter-in-law Ursula Jeans, Austin Trevor, Cecil Parker and Robert Newton. However, the fact that practically everyone in the film bar Veidt speaks with an English accent irrespective of nationality and wears civilian or otherwise nondescript clothes means that it is occasionally a little hard to tell which side everyone is on! That minor problem notwithstanding, the espionage elements of the story are strong but the script is not without its problems. Chief among them is the fact that von Marwitz is supposed to be a somewhat sympathetic character but he does nothing that would serve to make him even remotely sympathetic. For instance, even though he is in love with her, he is perfectly willing to turn Madeline over to his superiors in Germany where she would almost certainly be shot as a spy. British intervention is the only thing that saves her life. While I understand why a British film made in 1937 would be reluctant to depict a German spy in a favourable light, von Marwitz's behaviour does not work in the context of the storyline. It is a more than a little self-defeating, to be honest. If you're not convinced by the romance in a romantic film, that's not a good sign. At the end of the film, she looks after him longingly, clearly hoping that they will be reunited when the war ends. Not a very smart move on Madeline's part, it has to be said. My first thought was this: "Honey, set your sights on the nice one-armed English guy who was not tempted to have you shot." It was particularly annoying as Madeline was otherwise depicted as being a strong character.

Jem Odewahn Reading through a few of the comments on "Dark Journey", I'm struck by one reviewer in particular who states that Vivien Leigh is better here than in "Gone With The Wind". Granted, the guy's a big Leigh fan, bit what was he thinking?? I too am a huge Leigh fan (she's my favourite actress), but I am not so biased as to not acknowledge that this is a bad film. "Dark Journey" is probably the dullest film Leigh ever starred in, and definitely the least incoherent.The film revolves around a British spy (Leigh) falling in love with a German (Conrad Veidt) at the height of WW1. From there on in the plot is extremely confusing, clumsily plotted and of little interest. Directed by Victor Saville, it is obviously low budget, and I don't hold that against the film, but the writing is all over the shop. A less puzzling, simpler screenplay instead of trying to create a huge complex plot would have worked wonders for this little film. Vivien Leigh herself admitted she had no idea what was going on in the film, so how the heck are we meant to know? Veidt and Leigh are pretty good, getting the best out of the material they can, but they just don't work together as a couple (i.e they have no chemistry). Leigh looks gorgeous in the costumes and is pleasingly focused and quiet, yet intense, her professional attitude and lack of posing setting her apart from all the other young ingénues at that point. There are a few nice action sequences in the film, but it's all just so confusing that you'll just want to give up on it.

bkoganbing One of the first reviews I ever did for IMDb was of The Firefly, the 1937 MGM musical that starred Allan Jones and Jeanette MacDonald. The original book of the Broadway operetta was scrapped for a plot involving espionage agents working for the exiled King of Spain and for Napoleon and they were played by MacDonald and Jones respectively. It seems as though I may have discovered where the story came from as Dark Journey is in fact based on a couple of real life French and German agents operating during World War I. Both are stationed in neutral Stockholm and serve as conduits for intelligence for their respective governments. Like in The Firefly both fall for each other and in the end the female uses all her feminine charms to trap the male as the British use a Trojan horse gambit as well as Vivien Leigh's considerable charms to nail Conrad Veidt. What do they do, you have to watch Dark Journey for that, but I have to say it is rather clever.Dark Journey and Fire Over England with her then husband Laurence Olivier are the films that got Vivien Leigh her first real critical notice. Ultimately in her career which in point of fact has very few films to her credit, it led to double Academy Awards for Gone With the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire. Her beauty is stunning in Dark Journey and no hint of the physical and mental problems that plagued her tragically all her adult life.Conrad Veidt who escaped Nazi Germany was also making quite a mark in the British cinema. His career role there would be Jaffa in The Thief of Bagdad and later on of course as Major Stroesser in Casablanca in the USA. He made a good living playing a lot of Nazis during World War II although he was as rabidly anti-Nazi as they come. He left Germany because he had a Jewish wife. He died way too young and never saw the ultimate triumph against Hitler.If any of you have seen The Firefly you know exactly what happens to both Leigh and Veidt. You could do a lot worse than seeing both of them back to back.

Space_Mafune but this film is slow and lacking in action to be honest. Nevertheless it has two fantastic leads in Conrad Veidt and Vivian Leigh who are both excellent. Also it has outstanding cinematography and a surprisingly realistic story. There are some unforgettable scenes and moments here but the film does move at a rather slow pace.