Released a year before the United States entered World War II, “The Mortal Storm” was MGM’s first feature film to openly criticize the Nazi regime. At the time, most Americans were opposed to entering the war in Europe. Members of Charles Lindbergh’s America First isolationist organization complained that the art of filmmaking should only be used to entertain and not to depict Europe’s war, especially not in a sympathetic way that could sway the sentiments of the nation.
Starring Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart, “The Mortal Storm” follows a close-knit German family that is torn apart when Hitler becomes chancellor in 1933. The “non-Aryan” Roth family quickly shifts from beloved members of the community to targets of persecution. At the center of the story is beautiful young Freya (Margaret Sullavan), whose fiance, Fritz (Robert Young), is swept up in the Nazi party.
As a forebearer to moments like Viktor Laszlo leading a defiant rendition of the French national anthem in “Casablanca” and Captain Von Trapp tearing the Nazi flag in “The Sound of Music,” “The Mortal Storm” is both a sobering warning and rousing call to fight fascism wherever you can. Best experienced on a big screen, director Frank Borzage was inspired by German expressionist filmmaker F.W. Murnau. Borzage himself made history as the first recipient of the Academy Award for Best Director, winning for his 1927 film, “7th Heaven.”
Classic film fans will know Jimmy Stewart (Martin) from “The Philadelphia Story,” “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Vertigo” among others. Stewart plays a familiar character, upstanding and righteous, and he is also romantically attached to our heroine, Freya. Stewart and Sullavan acted together in three other films, including Ernst Lubitsch’s “The Shop Around the Corner.” Freya’s father is played by Frank Morgan, the title character from “The Wizard of Oz.” The film also stars Robert Stack as Otto Von Rohn, Freya’s stepbrother.
“The Mortal Storm” was the first major feature film to mention Hitler by name, and after the film was released Germany banned all MGM films in its territories. A powerful and moving story about the rise of authoritarianism and the menace of the Third Reich, “The Mortal Storm” did successfully inform American audiences what was at stake in the war in Europe. Still, there was backlash to the film in the states, with some arguing that it was unnecessarily harsh on Nazis. One year later, the United States joined the Allies. Stewart had already enlisted in the army, before Pearl Harbor. In fact, he was the first major American movie star to enlist. He was sent to England and served in the 703rd Bomb Squadron where he flew B-24 Liberators.
See “The Mortal Storm” on the big screen, Tuesday, May 5, at 7 p.m. as part of the Tuesday Nights at the Movies series at Woodmere. 9201 Germantown Ave., Chestnut Hill. Doors open at 6:30 and light refreshments will be provided prior to the screening. Tuesday Nights at the Movies screenings are free to the public, but donations are greatly appreciated.
