CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Megamind To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

mark.waltz The same year that Adolph Hitler became chancellor of Germany, Warner Brothers released this movie set during the days just before World War I where young Barbara Stanwyck, preparing to marry the handsome Ralph Bellamy, falls in love at first sight with his German born pal Otto Kruger. Bellamy is out and Kruger is the one who waits for her to walk down the aisle, much to the disgust of her prejudiced family. Perhaps there's good reason, as the marriage seems to fail, and Kruger suddenly disappears, just as the Lusitania is sunk and war is declared. Stanwyck ends up working in France along side Bellamy and suddenly recognizes a rather sullen soldier to be her estranged husband, with the revelation of where his loyalties lie and the decision she makes to change the destinies of both of them, as well as the war itself.This is perhaps the only film where Otto Kruger played the leading male part, and while he is a fine character actor, a romantic idol he is not. He played ruthless businessmen, generous doctors and best friends very well, but I didn't for one minute believe that there would be a spark between him and Stanwyck. Unlike other older actors she's been paired with in other films, there's supposed to be a heat between them to generate some sort of passion, but even the staid Bellamy has more passion than Kruger can generate. Even stranger, there's an almost incestuous like relationship between Stanwyck and her brother (Frank Albertson) who seems to become insanely jealous of the "passion" between Stanwyck and Kruger.Looking nothing like her Aunt Pitty Pat, Laura Hope Crews wears much aged make-up to play Stanwyck's imperious grandmother. Ruth Donnelly, Clara Blandick, Nella Walker and Virginia Howell play domestics or other relatives. Ironically, Blandick (like Bellamy in the Frank Capra film "Forbidden") had played a villainous role opposite Stanwyck the year before in "Shopworn", but here, she is much kinder and supportive. This is unfortunately a weird film that doesn't quite express an anti-war sentiment but gives a paranoia about German immigrants that would grow increasingly stronger over the next few years as Hitler's agenda became obvious and the world headed into another war. Stanwyck gives her typically sincere performance, but the stunning ending sort of came out of nowhere, leaving me completely disappointed over the rest of the film that didn't generate the needed heat to deserve such a surprising twist.

LeonLouisRicci This is an Odd One. From the Baffling Title to the Depressing Content that has a Boy and His Dog, well that would be Saying too Much. Suffice to say that this is one of those Movies that is Hard to Find. It doesn't fit Well into any Category and it isn't Exactly a Good Time at the Bijou.It is a Story about American Propaganda and Prejudice with the Persecution of People on the Homefront that Our Country is at War. Still goes on Today. This is WWI and the German-Americans were the Victims in this Film. Released in 1933 (a decade plus after the War ended), it is Interesting to Note that the Original NY Times Reviewer Chastised Hollywood saying that this is Old News (Germans being Ostracized in America during the War) so why did they even bother.Really. That is a Question that Hardly needs an Answer to Anyone with Half a Brain, so Shame on You NY Times. Truth is, a Reminder like this Gut-Wrenching Movie is Needed Periodically to Enlighten New Generations and Keep Them on Their Toes. To be Mindful of Propaganda and Bigotry, and Prejudice.Overall this Movie with Barbara Stanwyck and Otto Kruger is Quite Gripping and although the Final Act is Overdone for a Finality that is Contrived, the Remainder of the Film Manages to Draw the Audience into its Message that Love Outside the Family and Yes, Outside the Country can be Acceptable and Even Preferable than Marrying One's Cousin.

Michael_Elliott Ever in My Heart (1933) *** (out of 4) Surprising powerful and effective drama from Warner has Otto Kruger playing Hugo Wilbrandt, a German man who comes to live in New England where he's accepted into American society and eventually marries Mary Archer (Barbara Stanwyck), a woman from a proud American family. All is well for the couple and their young son until WWI breaks out and soon they find themselves subject to many who now can't accept their ties to Germany. There's no question that this was made on the budget of a "B" movie but at the same time you can tell that the studio, directors, actors and writers cared so much about the subject and every inch of the film bleeds a certain love that you can't help but get caught up in their story, feel the pain of the family and at times breathe a bit of hatred for those treating the family in such a bad way. It's funny to think that at one time filmmakers were ripped apart for showing any type of sympathy towards the German people but I guess after ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, filmmakers were allowed to show things differently. It's funny that this movie tries to show the evils of what some Americans did while back in the days that this story actually took place Hollywood were turning out all sorts of propaganda, which probably helped fuel the fire of many Americans. With that said, this is an extremely powerful movie at times and this is especially true in a couple scenes that once you see you'll unlikely to ever forget. I'm not going to directly spoil either one of them but one happens with Kruger in bed with his son and the other happens at the end. Both are so true in their emotions that you're rather shocked to see the filmmakers be brave enough to show them. The performances are certainly a major plus with Kruger turning in one of the best performances I've seen from him. He was always a great character actor but he really shines in the leading role here. I always say being able to act with your eyes is a very difficult thing to do but I was constantly watching Kruger's eyes, which said so much during the various important parts of the film. Stanwyck is also extremely good in her role of the wife who finds your life falling apart when just months before it was perfect. The supporting cast includes nice work by the always reliable Ralph Bellamy and Ruth Donnelly is good as the housekeeper. EVER IN MY HEART lasts just under 70- minutes and one would think that wouldn't be enough time to really get deep into the serious subject matter but it actually works out perfectly because the mind frames of people in this country turned on a dime back when the war started and I think the film, running as fast as it does, did a terrific job showing this.

henri sauvage The First World War saw the debut not only of new military technology, but also new weapons of psychological warfare. It was the first war fought with means of mass persuasion as well as mass production. To get the American public in the proper fighting spirit for their inevitable entry into the war, the authorities deliberately and uncritically passed along British propaganda which wildly exaggerated or just plain fabricated German atrocities. (Sadly for all concerned, real German acts of brutality, especially in the conquered Low Countries, gave this propaganda an air of plausibility.) It's unfortunate that, given its time and circumstances, this movie can only hint at the pervasive ugliness of these manufactured images of the gleefully nun-raping, baby-bayoneting "Bestial Hun", and the vicious persecution it inspired against German immigrants.Though the glimpses it does show are often harrowing, as the story tracks the collapse of the blissful marriage between a professor (Otto Kruger) from Germany who teaches at a small college, and his American wife (Barbara Stanwyck), under the pressure of the growing hatred and intolerance they face from almost everyone around them. Even if the plot's predictable and the final twist is pretty contrived, and with few exceptions the acting and direction are about what you'd expect from a time when talking pictures were only four years old, I still have to give Warner Brothers some credit simply for having made a film -- even a low-budget "weeper" like this -- showing at least in some small way how war can corrode our humanity on the home front, too.The other major thing this picture has going for it from my point of view is, of course, Barbara Stanwyck: In the moments when she subtly transcends what could otherwise have been just another mawkish, pedestrian melodrama, you can clearly see a great actress who's just beginning to hit her stride. She even manages to make the somewhat over-the-top final moments watchable, if not quite believable.