#overlookedwwiimovies

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Carve Her Name with Pride (1958)

Basic Story: Violette Szabo joins the SOE after her husband in the French Army is killed at El Alamein.

Fan Thoughts: Carve Her Name with Pride is based on the biography of the real Violette Szabo with he same title.  The film starts when Violette meets her soon to be husband Etienne Szabo, an officer in the French Army, in London and after a quick courtship they are married and have a daughter, Tania.  Etienne is killed at El Alamein having never met his now two-year-old daughter, and shortly after Violette is approached by the SOE due to her fluency in French and English as well as her marksmanship.  After going through training along with several other women, she is flown into France with Captain Tony Fraser to identify who is left from the French Resistance group he helped create in Rouen and to blow up a nearby viaduct.  Violette successfully gathers the information she needs and passes on the message to the remaining Resistance members that the viaduct is their next target.  Once home, she is relieved to learn she will not be sent to France again because it would be too dangerous, until the number of trained agents runs thin and the SOE asks her to go back for another mission.  Unfortunately, Violette’s luck runs out and she is ultimately captured by the Germans but refuses to give them any information on her mission or fellow agents.  Virginia McKenna was nominated for a BAFTA for her performance in this film, and she really does shine in the role, especially toward the end of the film as her future looks bleaker by the moment yet she retains her strength and compassion.  There are small details that aren’t quite right but this film does a wonderful job of telling the story of a woman who was brave until the very end.

Warnings: none

Available On: Prime Video, YouTube, Sling TV

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Overlord (1975)

Basic Story: A young Englishman is called up and begins training prior to his deployment on D-Day.

Fan Thoughts: Unsurprisingly, Overlord covers Operation Overlord from the call-up of Thomas Beddows, through his training, and his deployment on D-Day at Sword Beach.  The plot is rather simple, but to see the experience of the average soldier told almost as a documentary and presented in a way that lets the audience see his journey without commentary from a narrator is unique.  The standout feature of this film is the truly seamless integration of archival footage, the cinematographer going so far as to find lenses used in the 40s to make the new scripted footage match the quality of the historical clips.  The scripted scenes are interspersed with the archival ones; while Thomas is training it will cut to what is happening during the Blitz and in France.  The switching between training and what is actually happening creates tension, raised by Thomas’ thoughts of being a soldier and dreaming of his own death as the day they are waiting for approaches.  While it may not be the most exciting film, it certainly is interesting and includes rare footage from the war.

Warnings: (possibly real) dead/decomposing bodies shown on screen, brief nudity

Available On: HBO Max, YouTube, Prime Video, Apple TV

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The Four Days of Naples (1962)

Basic Story: Following Italy's signing of a truce with the Allies, the Germans begin shooting resistance fighters and rounding up the men of Naples to send to labor camps, triggering an uprising by the citizens of Naples.

Fan Thoughts: The Four Days of Naples is part film, part re-enactment of the uprising in Naples after the occupying Germans begin terrorizing the citizens following Italy’s truce with the Allies in September 1943.  The scenes were filmed on location in Naples where the events actually occurred, adding authenticity to the actions on screen.  The direction and large number of extras successfully create a feeling of chaos as the people of Naples first celebrate what they assume is the end of their war, only to have the Germans march in and begin shooting Italian military and resistance members then rounding up all the young men with the intent of sending them to labor camps.  Everyone is dragged into the turmoil in the streets, women charging the trucks to take their men back and trying to get their children somewhere safe while some children are pulled into the fray with their father and uncles and cousins.  The whole film has a visceral, almost documentary-like, feel to it that pulls the viewer into the confusion during the four day span of the uprising.  Gripping and intense, The Four Days of Naples puts the viewer with the resistance fighters as they push back against the Germans.

Warnings: non-graphic violence

Available On: YouTube

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Operation Petticoat (1959)

Basic Story: Lieutenant Commander Sherman remembers his misadventures aboard the USS Sea Dragon.

Fan Thoughts: Operation Petticoat is one of those World War II films from around the sixties that focused more on comedy and innuendo than drama.  While it is silly and a bit ridiculous at times, it’s a fun film with a fast pace as Lieutenant Commander Sherman (Cary Grant) tries to help his submarine the USS Sea Tiger through a comedy of errors on their way from the Philippines to Australia.  Assisting him Lieutenant Nick Holden (Tony Curtis), a former admirals aide who at first seems ill suited toeing onboard until he reveals he can scrounge just about anything to help repair the badly damaged Sea Tiger and Sherman makes him Supply Officer.  After stealing every part they can, the Sea Tiger begins limping toward Australia, engine one constantly gurgling and backfiring.  While on their journey the submarine and crew find themselves in increasingly absurd situations, however nearly all of them are loosely based on actual events: nurses were evacuated from Corregidor on the USS Spearfish, Filipino civilians were evacuated on the USS Narwhal, USS Bowfin torpedoed a bus, the Lieutenant Commander of the USS Skipjack sent a letter regarding the lack of toilet paper like the one in the film, and while obviously taken to a comedic level the pink paint was based on the USS Seadragon who had her top coat of paint burned off and fought in just the red undercoat, and the USS Harder had pink added to her grey top coat to aid camouflage at dawn and dusk.  While some of the jokes are a product of the time it was made, the film is still a successful comedy and an entertaining watch!

Warnings: mildly offensive jokes regarding women and native Filipinos

Available On: Apple TV, Vudu, Prime Video, Pluto TV

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Tomorrow, the World! (1944)

Basic Story: A young German boy is indoctrinated in the Hitler Youth, then comes to the United States to live with his uncle, who tries his best to reach the boy.

Fan Thoughts: This film was recommended to me by @darkstoriesofthenorth, thank you for the recommendation! Tomorrow, the World! tackles not the Nazi soldier, but the German citizens indoctrinated with Nazi ideals and therefore supported their cause.  Emil Bruckner is a German orphan, sent to the United States to live with his uncle Mike Frame along with his cousin of the same age Pat Frame, and Mike’s Jewish fiancée Leona Richards.  Emil’s father was sent to a concentration camp and ultimately killed for his ideals, and Emil became immersed in the Hitler Youth which is the antithesis of what his father believed.  Spouting Nazi ideology, Emil quickly alienates himself from his family, the other children at school, even the Frame’s maid Frieda who he tries to get to conspire with him.  At every time, his speech and behavior is rejected and when confronted he quickly backs down or literally strikes when the other persons’ back is turned.  As the film reaches its’ climax, Emil seems like a lost cause and drives the Frames to their breaking point, until Leona is able to get him to realize what he has done and start to question what he was taught.  Skip Momeier as Emil gives an excellent performance, no doubt aided by his playing the role on Broadway for 500 performances.  The strength of this film is that is shows regular people, including Emil, and how they handle the situation they find themselves in; not everyone handles Emil’s behavior and words with grace which is far more relatable and understandable than characters only having ‘ideal’ actions and reactions.  Basing the film on a play absolutely helped the structure and helped the whole film hang together well, making this one worth a watch!

Warnings: none

Available On: YouTube, Internet Archive

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The Bridge (1959)

Basic Story: Recently drafted German schoolboys attempt defend a local bridge alone.

Fan Thoughts: The Bridge, German title Die Brüke, follows a group of German schoolboys who get drafted in the late days of World War II and are tasked with guarding a local bridge from the rapidly advancing Americans.  Given a single day of training at the barracks, they are placed under the command of a veteran officer to ‘guard’ the bridge in an attempt to keep them out of harms way.  The bridge is slated to be destroyed to spare the town damage from fighting, and the officer goes to find the demolition team, but a patrol mistakes him for a deserter an ultimately shoots him, leaving the boys leaderless and without contact with their unit.  Despite seeing many trucks full of soldiers fleeing the advance, the boys stay because they never received orders to retreat.  When the Americans arrive, the boys put up a fight but ultimately are killed one by one until the American forces pull back and leave only two of the original seven boys alive.  Bernhard Wicki crafted a beautifully balanced film, with subtle foreshadowing in the beginning and creating tension and impact with each boys’ death despite the viewer instinctively knowing that they will die by the end.  Wicki’s direction of this film led to his co-direction of the iconic World War II film, The Longest Day.  The Bridge is a true drama that is engaging and thoughtful, hammering its message home with the closing text ‘This event occurred on April 27, 1945.  It was so unimportant that it was never mentioned in any war communique.’

Warnings: graphic death on-screen

Available On: Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV, Google Play

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Pilecki's Report (2023)

Basic Story: Follow the life of Resistance Fighter Wiltold Pilecki during WWII and post-WWII.

Fan Thoughts: Polish Cavalry Captain turned Resistance Fighter Wiltold Pilecki helped organize the Polish Resistance and voluntarily went to Auschwitz to build a resistance movement within the camp.  The film focuses mainly on the time period immediately after the war when Poland was under Soviet control and have arrested Pilecki because his reports on the conditions at Auschwitz threaten the communist party’s claim that Comrade Cyrankiewics was the one to set up the resistance while allegedly at Auschwitz.  The timeline cuts between Pilecki with the Resistance in Warsaw, at Auschwitz, and his imprisonment and interrogation by the Soviets in 1948; sometimes the cuts are confusing as to where they are in the timeline, especially when they show only his wife and family.  Graphic violence is a major part of the film, not only during the concentration camp scenes but additionally during his interrogation and show extremely graphic shots of Pilecki and other prisoners being beaten, sometimes to death.  While this film tells the story of an incredible man whose efforts were attempted to be erased from history, its’ graphic nature makes it extremely difficult to watch.

Warnings: graphic on-screen beatings, executions on screen (including children and babies), graphic torture, nudity (non-sexual), mentions of cannibalism

Available On: Netflix

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The Spy (2019)

Basic Story: Based on the true story of Sonja Wigert, a Norwegian-Swedish actress who became a spy for the Swedish government.

Fan Thoughts: Sonja Wigert’s true story as an actress turned spy turned fake double agent is a rather tragic one.  A Norwegian actress, she moved to Sweden with her husband in 1939 and became a very popular actress there as well.  Fearing the Nazis were coming for Sweden next, the Swedish military approached Sonja about being a spy, promising to help release her ailing father from a Nazi prison.  Sonja agrees and begins relaying information she learns from Josef Terboven, Reichskommissar of occupied Norway.  As she continues spying on the Nazis, they ask her to spy on the Swedish government for them and she begins faking being a double agent.  Unfortunately, the film focuses mostly on her using a femme fatale façade to get close to her targets and less about her balancing being a spy, as well as her coping with the consequences to her career when the Nazis began painting her as a collaborator.  The acting is mostly solid, the cinematography make the most of the cities and landscapes, there is just a lack of depth to the story that leaves the audience wanting more.

Warnings: attempted rape

Available On: Prime Video, Tubi, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play

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The Young Lions (1958)

Basic Story: German Christian Diestl becomes more and more disillusioned with his country's ideology as Americans Noah Ackerman and Michael Whiteacre figure out here roles in the Army on their march across Europe.

Fan Thoughts: The Young Lions is based on a novel of the same name, however significant changes were made to German character Christian Diestl (Marlon Brando), making him more sympathetic on-screen by portraying him as a man tricked into his role in the war rather than corrupted by power.  Despite this choice somewhat taking the teeth out of the role, Brando puts in an arresting performance that makes this film worth watching just for his acting.  On the other side of the war, Noah Ackerman (Montgomery Clift) and Michael Whiteacre (Dean Martin) meet during their Army draft physical and Whiteacre invites Ackerman to a party he’s throwing; Ackerman meets his future wife Hope Plowman there.  The film follows these three men throughout the war until their dramatic meeting during the final act.  That switching between different characters is the only thing that could be improved in this film; it is slow to jump between the different characters, staying with one or the other for so long the audience starts to forget about the other characters existence. However, the acting, the sets, the cinematography, every piece of the production all make this a gripping film that holds the audience’s attention throughout!

Warnings: non-graphic fighting sequences, mention of suicide

Available On: Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Vudu, Google Play

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Good (2008)

Basic Story: John Halder's novel attracts the attention of the Nazis and he is is drawn into the Party while ignoring the actions they are taking.

Fan Thoughts: John Halder is the face of banal, casual evil in this film as he somewhat floats from his position as a professor to SS Officer without facing the beliefs his uniform represents.  Halder is an apple that is hard to put a shine on in both his personal and professional lives.  His home life is chaotic with his mother suffering from dementia, two children to care for, and his wife too focused on her music to help; he ends up having an affair with one of his students and ultimately leaves his wife to marry her, which does not paint him in a sympathetic light.  Halder’s relationship with his mother results in his writing a novel about his situation and his controversial opinion in favor of human euthanasia.  His novel catches the attention of the Nazi Party in the late 1930s, and they ask him to write a paper justifying his stance, offering him a position as an officer.  Meanwhile his close friend and psychiatrist Maurice Glückstein, begs Halder not to join the Party and later to help him flee Germany as he is being targeted for his Jewish heritage.  Halder not only joins but refuses to help his friend, fearing the consequences for himself and insisting that Glückstein is overreacting.  When Glückstein goes missing during a roundup, Halder tracks him to the concentration camp where he was taken and finally realizes his contribution to what is happening.  While the quality is serviceable and the acting is decent, the film itself is dull and Halder is an unsympathetic main character, making this a frustrating film to watch.

Warnings: none

Available On: Prime Video, Tubi, YouTube, Peacock, Google Play, Apple TV

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The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Basic Story: Three World War II veterans come home and struggle to adjust to civilian life.

Fan Thoughts: Coming in with the knowledge that this film won seven academy awards, including Best Picture, set high expectations for this film.  The Best Years of Our Lives is unusually long for a film from 1946, clocking in at two hours and fifty two minutes long, and while it does feel a bit long at times there is enough going on that it makes the best of its’ long runtime.  Three veterans from different branches of different ranks come home and find they struggle in different ways to adjust to life at home.  Homer Parrish is the most significant character for a number of reasons; played by non-actor and actual veteran Harold Russell who lost his hands in an explosion caused by a faulty fuse and lost both his hands, using two hooks in their place.  In the film, while he is comfortable with his fellow veterans, he begins to lose confidence as his friends and family treat him differently because of his disability, excluding his fiancée Wilma who supports him and refuses to let him push her away.  Al Stephenson is the oldest of the three returning home, with a wife and teenage children waiting for him, while seemingly returning to his old life easily, he begins drinking heavily which is not missed by his wife.  The last of the three, Fred Derry, was originally a soda jerk living in a poorer part of town before the war, but his situation improved during the war as he attained the rank of Captain in the USAAF; his wife from a short courtship enjoyed his Army pay and having an airman on her arm and their marriage begins to fall apart when he comes home and cannot find a job better than soda jerk again.  Not only do the stories being told in this film feel real for their content, the execution in their telling by the actors and the direction is excellent; Harold Russell was given an honorary Academy Award for his participation as a non-actor, then also won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.  While long, this film covers a topic that was rarely put on film in the 1940s, and does it well with nuance and understanding for each character and is absolutely with taking the time to watch!

Warnings: none

Available On: Peacock, Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube TV, Vudu

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Twelve O'Clock High (1949)

Basic Story: After a string of disastrous missions, the 918th Bomb Group gets a new commander to try to get things back on track.

Fan Thoughts: Twelve O’Clock high is another film based on a novel of the same name, following the American 918th Bomb Group based in Archbury, England.  The group commander Colonel Keith Davenport (Gary Merrill) has a defeatist attitude that only worsens with each poorly executed mission and having bonded with the men under his command, is unwilling to reprimand them for even costly mistakes.  After observing this behavior in his friend, Brigadier General Frank Savage (Gregory Peck) relays this information to the Major General, who promptly replaces Davenport with Savage.  While Savage is brought in to whip the group into shape, it doesn’t fall into any training montages or the majority of tropes films with this plotline take.  The audience gets to see that while Savage is a much harder hand with command, he helps his crews become more competent and believe in their own abilities, ultimately leading to more successful missions and fewer losses.  Gregory Peck turns in an excellent performance, as do the other actors, everyone is believable in their roles.  Additionally, the pacing gives the audience enough time to absorb what is happening without lagging.  This was a pleasant film to watch with enough action to keep the audience engaged but plenty of character-building scenes to add depth.

Warnings: none

Available On: YouTube, Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu

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The War Lover (1962)

Basic Story: A Captain and co-pilot pursue the same woman during World War II.

Fan Thoughts: Steve McQueen plays cocky B-17 pilot Buzz Rickson opposite his steadier co-pilot Ed ‘Bo’ Bolland (Robert Wagner) in this film about the early days of the war.  Rickson is bold and insubordinate, but always comes home with his crew intact so his crew and superiors let his abrasive attitude slide.  While on leave, Rickson and Bolland meet Daphne Caldwell, an Englishwoman and while she is interested in both men she ends up starting a relationship with Bolland.  As Bolland’s tour is coming to an end, he makes it clear that his relationship with Caldwell will end when he leaves.  Knowing this, Rickson shows up to Caldwell’s flat and attempts to make his move, forcefully.  Bo and Rickson return to base and take part in a massive mission, with disastrous consequences for their plane and some of the crew.  While the bones of this story have potential, the characters fall flat, with Caldwell suffering the most from a lack of depth and realistic reactions. Rickson could be an interesting, if unsympathetic, character but any attempt to explain his actions is surface level at best.  The redeeming quality of this film are the missions, the cinematography and inclusion of archival footage keeping them fast-paced and engaging.

Warnings: injuries shown on screen (non-graphic), abuse of women

Available On: Prime Video, Tubi

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The Captain (2017)

Basic Story: Deserter Willi Herold finds a Captains uniform and soon becomes lost in his false authority.

Fan Thoughts: Every aspect of this film contributes to the feeling of bleakness that acts almost as another character that the characters play against.  The black and white landscapes are desolate and empty, and from the beginning the absurd circumstances start piling up.  Our titular ‘Captain’, Willi Herold, finds a Captain’s uniform in an abandoned staff car and quietly assumes the role, encouraged by a lost soldier finding him and immediately treating him according to his rank.  As they begin travelling across the countryside finding more stragglers (and a flak gun), Herold is very cautious in his new role, especially when one of the men, Kipinski, notices that his uniform doesn’t fit but plays along with the charade.  The longer Herold plays the role, the more he finds confidence and once watching the sadistic actions of Kipinski at a camp for German deserters, leans into his darker impulses.  Once leaving the camp, Herold and his self proclaimed Kampfgruppe Herold terrorize a local town until caught by military police.  Herold’s fall into violence with the power of his stolen uniform seems inevitable, especially when paired with the utter hopelessness felt on the end of the war.  While dark and at times difficult to watch, The Captain is a well crafted film that highlights how easy it is to ‘go mad with power’ as well as the chaos that happened at the end of the war.

Warnings: on-screen beatings, on-screen executions, nudity

Available On: Prime Video, Tubi, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube

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Stalag 17 (1953)

Basic Story: A group of airmen in a POW camp barracks believe one of their own is informing on them to the Germans.

Fan Thoughts: Somewhere between a comedy and a drama, Stalag 17 tells the story of a barracks in a POW camp that suspects they have an informant in their midst.  This film feels like it has two sets of characters, the comedy relief characters namely Stanislas ‘Animal’ Kuzawa (Robert Strauss) and Harry Shapiro (Harvey Lembeck) who provide slapstick and banter filled scenes to balance out the tension from the other set of characters, those who are looking for the informant in the barracks, J.J. Sefton (William Holden) and Duke Musgrove (Neville Brand).  While Stalag 17 has a high rating on Rotten Tomatoes, personally it felt disjointed to me with the mystery of finding the informant and then the ridiculous antics of Animal and Shapiro just not fitting together well.  Otherwise, the performances are all competent, the plot of how the informant is getting information to the Germans and how he is finally caught actually works well.  There are plenty of strong points in this film, it just comes down to whether you like the comedy aspect thrown in as well!

Warnings: several inappropriate scenes surrounding women

Available On: Prime Video, Tubi

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Enemy Lines (2020)

Basic Story: A team of British and one American are sent to rescue a scientist being held by the Germans in Poland 1943.

Fan Thoughts: This was film was really hard to get into, right from the first scene, there’s something about the sets and costuming that feels fake.  The uniforms’ only accuracy is that they are form the correct countries, and everything worn on screen looks like it came right out of the package, nothing has wear and tear or stains despite them traveling through the woods for most of the film.  The writing is weak, both in the plot which has gaping holes and the dialogue which is stiff and unrealistic.  Despite the number of seasoned actors present, all the acting is wooden and flat making it hard to connect with the characters.  It is easy to tell this is a low budget film, all aspects are simply not executed well, and the historical inaccuracies are glaring. There are far too many other well-made films, both well-known and hidden gems, to make this one worth watching.

Warnings: brief nudity

Available On: Tubi, Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play