Uncertain Glory (1944 film)

Last updated
Uncertain Glory
Poster of the movie Uncertain Glory.jpg
Directed by Raoul Walsh
Written by László Vadnay
Max Brand
Based onoriginal story by Joe May and László Vadnay
Produced by Robert Buckner
Starring Errol Flynn
Paul Lukas
Cinematography Sidney Hickox
Edited by George Amy
Music by Adolph Deutsch
Production
company
Thomson Productions
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release dates
  • April 22, 1944 (1944-04-22)
(US)
1951 (France)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office1,022,524 admissions (France) [1] [2]

Uncertain Glory is a 1944 American World War II crime drama film, [3] directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn and Paul Lukas. [4]

Contents

Walsh later called the movie a "quickie". [5] François Truffaut admired the film. [6]

The title is a reference to a line from Shakespeare's play Two Gentlemen of Verona (Act 1, Scene 3): "O, how this spring of love resembleth/ The uncertain glory of an April day,/ Which now shows all the beauty of the sun,/ And by and by a cloud takes all away!" [7]

Plot

In Vichy Paris during World War II, career criminal Jean Picard awaits execution. French Sûreté Inspector Marcel Bonet has pursued Picard for 15 years, finally apprehending him for murder.

An air raid delivers a direct hit to the prison when Picard is at the guillotine. He flees to the apartment of his best friend, Henri Duval, and demands forged papers and 5,000 francs. While Duval is gone, Picard seduces his willing girlfriend Louise. In return, Duval betrays Picard to the Sûreté.

Bonet captures Picard in Bordeaux. Their trip back to Paris is delayed by a bridge, blown up by an unknown saboteur the night before while carrying a German troop train. The Germans round up 100 Frenchmen to be executed in five days unless the perpetrator is found. Thinking he can use his wiles to escape, Picard offers to give himself up instead, since he is already condemned to death. Extremely skeptical, Bonet nonetheless agrees, and prepares Picard so the Germans will be convinced he is the real saboteur.

Picard - now going by the alias Jean Emil Dupont - ducks into a shop, where he is immediately attracted to the woman behind the counter, Marianne. She is a ward of its owner, Mme. Maret, whose son is one of the hostages. Three days remain until the executions. While Jean works Bonet for some time to dally with Maryanne, Mme. Maret searches for a fall guy to hand to the Germans in return for her son and the rest of the hostages. Her first pigeon, Brenoir, proves too cowardly.

To clear the path, Bonet notifies his superiors in Paris that he shot Picard when he attempted to escape, with his body lost in a river.

Evidence gathered by the local gendarmes suggests there were three saboteurs. Noting two strangers in town who had not reported to submit their identification papers, its commander leads a detail to Bonet's hotel room, bringing a captured suspect. Thinking fast, "Dupont" reveals Bonet's real identity, giving Bonet a chance to claim both he and the captured man are both with the Sûreté, working undercover to capture the fugitive. Released, the "team" of Bonet and Dupont discover the fugitive to be Major Andre Varenne of the Free French Army, and aid him in his air evacuation to England.

The next morning Dupont leaves a flu-ridden Bonet behind to rendezvous with Maryanne after Sunday mass, planning to use a picnic with her to find an unguarded way out of town.

Meanwhile, the local priest, Father LeClerc, discovers a second plot by Mme. Maret, this time seeking to get three local men to frame the "innocent" Dupont. He rails that it would be murder.

Bonet's illness worsens, and he is confined to bed. Dupont uses the excuse of wanting to have the priest hear his confession to go out on his own. He meets Maryanne, who helps him evade a mob of locals, once again incited by Mme. Maret to turn him in. Again Father LeClerc quells the uprising.

When Dupont announces he is leaving for Paris, Maryanne goes with him, despite his confession that he is an unreliable and disreputable character. By morning they are traveling in a farmer's wagon. The old man and his wife say prayers for their son, one of the hostages. Dupont goes on his own to Paris, telling Maryanne he will get money from friends there so they can start a new life together in Martinique.

Back in Paris, Bonet is desperate. He resolves to turn himself in as the saboteur. Then in walks Jean, ready to do so himself, asking only that Bonet retrieve Maryanne from her futile vigil. Jean convinces the Nazis he was the sole saboteur. When Bonet goes to Maryanne, she asks Bonet, "What is he really like, deep in his heart?" Bonet pauses, then answers, "He was a Frenchman."

Cast

Production

In September 1942 it was announced that Flynn had signed a new contract with Warners for four films a year, one of which he was to also produce. [8] This was the first film produced under Flynn's new contract with Warners which allowed him a say in the choice of vehicle, director and cast, plus a portion of the profits. He formed his own company, Thomson Productions, to make Uncertain Glory and planned to make a series of films with director Raoul Walsh. [9]

Warners announced the film in June 1943. Flynn was assigned to it instead of Singing in the Wood, where he would have played John James Audubon, the naturalist. [10] That month Robert Buckner was assigned to produce. [11]

Max Brand reportedly worked on the script. [12]

Paul Lukas, who had just had a big hit with Watch on the Rhine , was attached in July 1943. [13] Faye Emerson and Jean Sullivan were signed to support. [14]

Shooting

Principal photography on Uncertain Glory started in August 1943. [15] During filming it was announced Warners would rush release plans on this and Passage to Marseilles , another drama set in occupied France. [16]

Some filming took place in the grape country in Escondido. While shooting there, labor-strapped farm hands insisted the unit had to pick grapes with them before they would allow filming to take place. [17]

Reception

A contemporary The Washington Post reviewer wrote "Flynn has never given a more restrained, earnest and believable portrayal ... there is guile, sly humour, an appealing bravado, grim rebellion, gentleness, charm, in his drawing of a character that is alternately enigmatic and transparent. Mr Flynn is more of an actor than many have thought." [18]

In 2019 Filmink magazine said "The story gets off to a terrific start" but that "about a third of the way in, it all goes haywire." [19]

Selected clip

Jean Picard (Errol Flynn), Inspector Marcel Bonet (Paul Lukas)


Clip: Jean Picard (Errol Flynn), Inspector Marcel Bonet (Paul Lukas)
Inspector Marcel Bonet:Well, it's been a long road, Jean. Hasn't it?
Jean Picard:Yes, but you see, it's come to the right ending.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Errol Flynn</span> Australian actor (1909–1959)

Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia de Havilland, and reputation for his womanising and hedonistic personal life. His most notable roles include Robin Hood in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), which was later named by the American Film Institute as the 18th-greatest hero in American film history, the lead role in Captain Blood (1935), Major Geoffrey Vickers in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), and the hero in a number of Westerns such as Dodge City (1939), Santa Fe Trail, Virginia City and San Antonio (1945).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raoul Walsh</span> American film director and actor (1887–1980)

Raoul Walsh was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh. He was known for portraying John Wilkes Booth in the silent film The Birth of a Nation (1915) and for directing such films as the widescreen epic The Big Trail (1930) starring John Wayne in his first leading role, The Roaring Twenties starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, High Sierra (1941) starring Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart, and White Heat (1949) starring James Cagney and Edmond O'Brien. He directed his last film in 1964. His work has been noted as influences on directors such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Jack Hill, and Martin Scorsese.

<i>Edge of Darkness</i> (1943 film) 1943 film by Lewis Milestone

Edge of Darkness is a 1943 World War II film directed by Lewis Milestone that features Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan, and Walter Huston. The feature is based on a script written by Robert Rossen which was adapted from the 1942 novel The Edge of Darkness by William Woods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Bruce (actor)</span> American actor (1914–1976)

David Bruce was an American film actor. He was a company member of Peninsula Players Theatre in Fish Creek, Wisconsin in 1939.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucile Watson</span> Canadian actress (1879–1962)

Lucile Watson was a Canadian actress, long based in the United States. She was "famous for her roles of formidable dowagers."

Robert Buckner was an American film screenwriter, producer and short story writer.

<i>Objective, Burma!</i> 1945 film by Raoul Walsh

Objective, Burma! is a 1945 American war film that is loosely based on the six-month raid by Merrill's Marauders in the Burma Campaign during the Second World War. Directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn, the film was made by Warner Bros. immediately after the raid. The plot of the film is almost a carbon copy of "Northwest Passage"; an MGM production which starred Spencer Tracy released in 1940.

George Joseph Amy was an American film editor. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and started his career at the age of 17, finding his niche at Warner Brothers in the 1930s. It was Amy's editing that was one of the main reasons Warners' films got their reputation for their fluid style and breakneck pace.

<i>They Died with Their Boots On</i> 1941 film

They Died with Their Boots On is a 1941 American biographical western war film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Arthur Kennedy. It was made and distributed by Warner Bros. and produced by Hal B. Wallis and Robert Fellows,

<i>Desperate Journey</i> 1942 film by Raoul Walsh

Desperate Journey is a 1942 American World War II action and aviation film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan. The supporting cast includes Raymond Massey, Alan Hale Sr., and Arthur Kennedy. The melodramatic film featured a group of downed Allied airmen making their way out of the Third Reich, often with their fists.

<i>Northern Pursuit</i> 1943 film by Raoul Walsh

Northern Pursuit is a 1943 American World War II adventure thriller film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn as a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) who tries to uncover a Nazi plot against the Allied war effort. The film was set in Canada during the early years of the war.

<i>Gentleman Jim</i> (film) 1942 film by Raoul Walsh

Gentleman Jim is a 1942 film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn as heavyweight boxing champion James J. Corbett (1866–1933). The supporting cast includes Alexis Smith, Jack Carson, Alan Hale, William Frawley, and Ward Bond as John L. Sullivan. The movie was based upon Corbett's 1894 autobiography, The Roar of the Crowd. The role was one of Flynn's favorites.

<i>Adventures of Don Juan</i> 1948 film by Vincent Sherman

Adventures of Don Juan is a 1948 American Technicolor swashbuckling adventure romance film directed by Vincent Sherman and starring Errol Flynn and Viveca Lindfors, with Robert Douglas, Alan Hale, Ann Rutherford, and Robert Warwick. Also in the cast are Barbara Bates, Raymond Burr, and Mary Stuart. The film was distributed by Warner Bros. and produced by Jerry Wald. The screenplay by George Oppenheimer and Harry Kurnitz, based on a story by Herbert Dalmas, has uncredited contributions by William Faulkner and Robert Florey.

<i>San Antonio</i> (film) 1945 western Technicolor film

San Antonio is a 1945 American Western film starring Errol Flynn and Alexis Smith. The film was written by W. R. Burnett and Alan Le May and directed in Technicolor by David Butler as well as uncredited Robert Florey and Raoul Walsh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Errol Flynn filmography</span>

The film appearances of movie actor Errol Flynn (1909–1959) are listed here, including his short films and one unfinished feature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory Gaye</span> Russian-American actor (1900–1993)

Gregory Gaye was a Russian-American character actor. The son of an actor, he was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was the uncle of actor George Gaynes.

Le Voyageur sans bagage is a 1937 play in five scenes by Jean Anouilh. Incidental music for the original production was written by Darius Milhaud and for the play's first Paris revivals by Francis Poulenc.

<i>Silver River</i> (film) 1948 film by Raoul Walsh

Silver River is a 1948 American western film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan and Thomas Mitchell. The film is based on a Stephen Longstreet story that was turned into a novel. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros.

My Wicked, Wicked Ways is a 1985 American TV movie based on My Wicked, Wicked Ways, the best selling memoir of Errol Flynn, with Duncan Regehr as Flynn and Barbara Hershey as Lili Damita.

Uncertain Glory may refer to:

References

  1. "Box office results of Raoul Walsh films in France." Box Office Story. Retrieved: January 26, 2015.
  2. "1951 Box Office Figures in France." Box Office Story. Retrieved: January 26, 2015.
  3. "Uncertain Glory (1944) TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2022-10-23.
  4. "Film reviews: Uncertain Glory". Variety . April 5, 1944. p. 14.
  5. Walsh, Raoul (1974). Each man in his time; the life story of a director. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 382.
  6. Higham, Charles (1979). Celebrity Circus. Delacorte Press. p. 315.
  7. "SCENE III. The same. ANTONIO's house". shakespeare.mit.edu. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  8. "Of Local Origin." The New York Times, September 30, 1942, p. 29.
  9. Thomas et al. 1969, p. 136.
  10. SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD New York Times 21 June 1943: 13.
  11. "Buckner Guides Flynn". Variety . 30 June 1943. p. 16 via Archive.org.
  12. west view: Max Brand: the great storyteller who became reluctant 'king of the pulps' Nolan, William F. Los Angeles Times 6 May 1979: s3.
  13. "Screen news here and in Hollywood." The New York Times, July 17, 1943, p. 8.
  14. DRAMA AND FILM: Wally Beery, Daughter May Do Film Together Constance Moore Will Appear Opposite George Murphy in 'Show Business' Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 27 Aug 1943: 12.
  15. "Film review: 'Uncertain Glory'." Harrison's Reports ; April 8, 1944, p. 59.
  16. DRAMA AND FILM: La Dietrich Will Give 'Three Cheers for Boys' Maureen O'Hara Today's Selection for Leading Femme Role in 'Army Wife' Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 9 Sep 1943: 17.
  17. ACTORS HAD TO HARVEST CROP Los Angeles Times 23 May 1944: A10.
  18. "'Uncertain Glory' Is An Able 'Acting Piece'." The Washington Post, June 10, 1944, p. 7.
  19. Vagg, Stephen (November 17, 2019). "The Films of Errol Flynn: Part 3 The War Years". Filmink.

Bibliography

  • Behlmer, Rudy. Inside Warner Brothers, 1935-51. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1987. ISBN   978-0-2977-9242-0.
  • Thomas, Tony, Rudy Behlmer and Clifford McCarty. The Films of Errol Flynn. New York: Citadel Press, 1969. ISBN   978-0-80650-237-3.