The Mortal Storm (1940)
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The Mortal Storm Movie Review
The Mortal Storm is a 1940 drama film directed by Frank Borzage and starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. It’s an absolute classic that needs to be appreciated more.
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“I’ve never prized safety, Erich,
either for myself or my children.
I prized courage“
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The Roth family have a decent living, and are a very close knit family. When the Nazis came to power, the family gets divided and Martin Breitner, a family friend is caught up in the turmoil. This film is so immensely powerful mostly owing to it being filmed exactly at the time of World War II. That made it impressively timely and prescient.
Unlike many other WWII movies which are basically war films, this one is an interesting drama about morality and a conflict of interests. The film so painfully and accurately portrays how easy it is to be swept away by the propaganda of a reckless dictator and his atrocious intentions of eradication disguised as arousing patriotism.
The reason why all of those later scenes of conflict are so heartbreaking and frustrating to watch lies in the beginning itself. That opening so cleverly makes the viewers cozy and comfortable with this apparently very loving, happy family, and then it pulls the rug beneath us by making the two protagonists suddenly on a run from the authorities and the people who had been their friends just moments ago, and all just because they have opposing opinions on politics.
Another highlight is that epic third act. It is so cinematic seeing the two try to escape to Austria on those beautiful, snowy Alps. That is the most spectacular, action-heavy part of the movie that really works because we are so invested in these characters and we want them to make it alive. The ending itself is tragic, but also eerily melancholic and profoundly sad.
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Freya Roth is such a likable character, and the film so honestly showcases how women were expected to not take any stances or arguments about politics, but in Freya the film is very modern and admirable in giving her a very meaty, wonderfully proactive role in the story. Margaret Sullavan gave a terrific performance, and she’s an undeniably charming presence.
Martin Breitner is the moral hero, the impressively courageous symbol against oppression and for pacifism who stays brave and vigilant even during the worst of circumstances. Certainly nobody could have played him better than good ol’ Jimmy Stewart. He was born to play these types of heroic roles and great men through and through, and he did deliver in spades. The fact that he won an Oscar for such an insignificant role in ‘The Philadelphia Story’ over this great, substantial role again goes to showcase the cluelessness of the Academy.
But the other players are also worthy of mentioning. Frank Morgan is very memorable as the professor who is such a tragic figure here. All of his scenes are heartbreaking. Robert Young is effective as Fritz who is torn between his family and his duties. And I found Martin’s mother such a wonderful old soul, and a commendably valiant woman who goes out of her way to help her son and his future wife. That marriage scene is incredibly moving how sweet and imminently sad it is at the same time.
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The Mortal Storm is visually arresting. That cottage on the mountains is so memorable and cozy, and again the race sequence is beautifully composed in its entirety. I found the attention to detail excellent, and the film looks very cinematic. The juxtaposition of its cozy environments and a darkness at the heart of the story made the film all the more potent.
The dialogue is also excellent and never at all didactic or too preachy, but just right in how it manages to warn against the dangerous politics that was brewing in 1940 Germany. The movie is now even more powerful than it was back then because we now have the knowledge of what was about to happen, and thus this story’s end goal seems unstoppable and so scary.
The score is also excellent, and the direction from Frank Borzage is reliably terrific. The pacing is fantastic as the film is incredibly engaging without ever being rushed or too prolonged. Overall, it’s an amazing film in all aspects, and it’s such a shame how it was entirely ignored by the Academy. But it’s an even bigger shame that it’s not all that well remembered nowadays mostly for the fact that this particular year was so immensely strong, but still it deserves so much more attention.
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With arresting cinematography, an epic, very cinematic third act and a terrific, deceptively happy beginning that fools you into thinking that this is going to be a joyous movie, The Mortal Storm quickly pulls the rug beneath you and becomes a frustrating, difficult and eventually heartbreaking story of the atrocious movement that was happening in Germany just as this film was being filmed, and thus it becomes a very powerful, tragic time capsule. Margaret Sullavan is excellent in such a great role whereas James Stewart is expectedly terrific as a heroic moral center. As a result, although rarely thought of as such by many, The Mortal Storm is in my opinion one of the greatest WWII films of all time.
