Watch on the Rhine (1943)

Plot:   Based on the Lillian Hellman Play. In April 1940, an anti-fascist Refugee and his family go to his Mother-in-Laws DC Mansion for rest - but a Romanian Count complicates matters.
Stars:  Paul Lukas, Bette Davis, Emily Watson

This movie surprised me. I thought it would be a total dud, full of windy anti-fascist speeches, but its well-acted and -at times - interesting and well-written. Unfortunately, the best part, the conflict between the villain (Count "Tek") and Kurt  Mueller doesn't start till the 45 minute mark. Before then, we get a long, somewhat dull, set-up of the situation/players and some drawing room comedy. Even worse, after Kurt leaves,  we suffer through an unnecessary 15 minute epilogue.  But for about an hour, its pretty good. Other comments:

Paul Lukas  certainly deserved an Oscar Nomination, if not an Oscar win. Lukas takes some terrible dialogue, like: "I fight against fascism. That is my trade." or "We sang this as we marched to fight those German Swine" and makes it half-way believable.  I guess playing the part on Broadway, 300 times, helped.

Bette Davis  does well enough, but she's stuck with being the boring, supportive wife.  Ninety percent of her dialogue consists of variations on: "Kurt is great, I love him" - "Fascism is awful" and "Kurt, you're absolutely right".  Of course, Bette Davis can't truly support anyone. She's too charismatic. Whenever she casts warm, supportive glances at Kurt, she's so intense you expect Lukas to melt under the heat.

The Robo-kids of Mueller's are the worst part of the play. Who's to blame, the actors or the dialogue? In any case, they're the least believable kids ever. One is pedantic, and *tries* to be funny and the eldest comes off as a rigid, anti-fascist robot.  Sample kid -Parent dialogue:  "We have had a most enjoyable life, Papa" and "You are a fine investment in our work...".  Hellman was childless and Hammett left his kids when they were six, which no doubt accounts for it.

Direction and Music are mediocre.  The score is intrusive and heavily underlines every emotion/scene with "God Bless America",  "We must fight Fascism", "This is funny" or "This is dramatic" music. It gets annoying. OTOH, the direction is more or less non-existent.  There's almost no camera movement and very few reaction shots.  They open up the play - but I'm not surprised that Harold Shumlin only directed two movies.

 The Unreal Anti-Fascists - once again Hellman shows her inability to create realistic "good guys". Despite Lukas' best efforts, Kurt comes off as a fanatic.  He actually starves his kids, so that EVERY penny of the $23,000 can go to fight Fascism (In 1940, you could buy a full steak dinner for $1).  People try to reason with him:  Hey Kurt, don't you deserve a rest? No, must fight fascism.  Hey Kurt, what about your Kids? No, Kids are expendable. Must fight fascism. Kurt's the kinda guy who supported firebombing Dresden and giving Stalin half of Europe because "We must fight fascism" 

The Queasy Morality of Killing Tek -  The oddest thing in the movie is how everyone accepts - or even celebrates - Kurt killing Tek.  Yes, Tek is blackmailer, and could identify Kurt to the German Embassy. But Kurt is in no danger (they won't touch him on US Soil) and Tek has promised to keep his mouth shut.  But Kurt kills him in cold blood anyway because he doesn't "gamble" (!) And I love how Liberal "Mama" (Emily Watson) not only accepts this, but gives Kurt $$ and helps him cover up the murder. I mean Tek had been under her roof for weeks, and she just met Kurt yesterday.  Talk about fickle. Well, that's liberals for you.