The Mortal Storm

Germany, in the mountains near the Austrian border, January 30, 1933–the 60th birthday of Professor Viktor Roth (Frank Morgan), a distinguished "non-Aryan" professor who is adored by his students and his family—his wife, Amelie; his daughter Freya, (Margaret Sullavan); his young son, Rudi; and his adult stepsons, Erich (William T. Orr) and Otto (Robert Stack) von Rohn. His class greets him with thunderous applause and a trophy presented by Martin Breitner (James Stewart) and Fritz Marberg (Robert Young). Roth is deeply moved: “into your young hands will be given the torch of science…” All sing “Gaudeamus igitur.” Cut to the family celebration, attended by Martin, a lifelong friend, and Fritz, who proposes to Freya. The professor is proud of his family's “tolerance and sense of humor.”

Suddenly, everything changes. The maid brings wonderful news: Adolf Hitler is Chancellor of Germany. Listening to the radio. Amelie worries. What will happen to free thinkers, non-Aryans?[3] The ecstatic young men leave for a meeting, except for Martin.

Later, Martin, Fritz, and Freya meet at an inn. Freya declares, “No politics!”, toasting friendship instead. The youth party leader calls for a song, and almost everyone gladly salutes and sings “Close up the ranks… “ At the line, “We are by birth, the rulers of the world,” he attacks Professor Werner for not singing. Martin steps in, and the bullies allow Werner to leave. Fritz gives Martin an ultimatum: Join the party or be wiped out with other “pacifist vermin.” Outside, the gang is beating Werner. Martin answers Fritz—“No”—and goes out to help. Freya follows, to her fiancé's dismay. On the train home, Fritz criticizes Freya for behavior unbecoming the daughter of a “non-Aryan”.

Professor Roth refuses to teach the doctrine of racial purity, and his classes are boycotted. Students—all in uniform, now—rally to burn banned books. Freya finally understands “the Germany that persecutes my people” and breaks her engagement.

When Martin brings Freya home, the waiting gang assaults him. Mrs. Roth intervenes, admonishing her sons, who move out of their home.

Weeks later, Freya comes to Martin's mountain farm. She wants him to meet their friends at the inn. (He has stayed away to avoid quarrels). He confesses his love to her. Professor Werner appears, begging for help: He is about to be arrested. That night, Martin takes him on skis through a secret pass to Austria, while the women successfully resist police attempts to intimidate them.

Professor Roth is arrested. Freya begs Fritz to find out where he is. Fritz reluctantly arranges a brief meeting between Viktor and his wife at the concentration camp where he is imprisoned. Viktor urges her to leave the country with Freya and Rudi.

Soon Otto comes home with news: The professor has died, supposedly from a heart attack. “These maniacs you believe in killed my father” Freya tells Otto.

At the border, Freya is detained for carrying her father's unpublished manuscript. Martin's mother writes to tell her that he is waiting at the farm to take her to Austria. They drink from the bride cup, with Hilda's blessing. Elsewhere, the Nazis beat Elsa until she reveals the pass. A Gestapo officer testing Fritz's loyalty makes him leader of the ski patrol. Fritz orders them to fire. Freya dies in Martin's arms, in Austria.

In the Roth's home, Fritz tells Erich and Otto of Freya's death and flees, crying “It was my duty!” Erich is furious that Martin is free… free to fight everything they stand for. “Yes, thank God for that,” Otto replies. Erich slaps him and marches out. The camera moves over the house as Otto recalls that happy birthday. We hear him running, the door shuts, and the camera pans down to his footprints at the gate, filling up with snow. Over celestial music, a man speaks: “I said to a man who stood at a gate, give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown. And he replied, go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than a light, and safer than a known way.”

• Margaret Sullavan as Freya Roth
• James Stewart as Martin Breitner
• Robert Young as Fritz Marberg
• Frank Morgan as Prof. Viktor Roth
• Robert Stack as Otto von Rohn
• Bonita Granville as Elsa
• Irene Rich as Amelie Roth
• William T. Orr as Erich von Rohn
• Maria Ouspenskaya as Hilda Breitner
• Gene Reynolds as Rudi Roth
• Ward Bond as Franz
• Russell Hicks as Rector of University
• William Edmunds as Lehman, University Doorman
• Esther Dale as Marta, the Roths' Maid
• Dan Dailey as Hal or Holl, Youth Party Leader (billed as Dan Dailey, Jr.)
• Granville Bates as Prof. Berg

The film is based on the 1937 novel The Mortal Storm[4] by the British writer Phyllis Bottome. Bottome moved to Austria in 1924 when her husband, Alban Ernan Forbes Dennis, was posted there. Dennis was a British diplomat and (secretly) MI6 Head of Station with responsibility for Austria, Hungary and Yugoslavia. In 1930, she moved to Munich. She was a witness to the rise of fascism, the rise to power of the Nazi party, and the transformation of Nazi Germany.

On Bottome’s reaction to the film, Crawford wrote: “Bottome believed that the film ‘brilliantly retained’ the ‘core and spirit’ of her novel. Nevertheless, its storyline was a considerable departure... Bottome’s only disappointment with the film was this: ‘What it is to be a Nazi has been shown with unequivocal sincerity and life-likeness, but in the scene between the Jewish professor and his son, Rudi, there was a watering down of courage. Those familiar with the father’s definition of a good Jew will miss its full significance in the film because the central idea has been overlaid by insignificant words,’ she wrote in an article when the film came out.”[5]

The Mortal Storm was one of the few directly anti-Nazi Hollywood films released before the American entry into World War II in December 1941. The film stars James Stewart as a German who refuses to join the rest of his small Bavarian town in supporting Nazism. He is in love with Freya Roth (Margaret Sullavan), the daughter of a Junker mother and a "non-Aryan" father. The Mortal Storm was the last movie Sullavan and Stewart made together.

It is implied that Freya, her father and Rudi are Jews, but the word "Jew" is never actually used, and they are identified as "non-Aryans". Erich and Otto von Rohn are children of Amelie's previous marriage. They are not “non-Aryan”, but they must fear guilt by association. The movie infuriated the Nazi government, leading to all MGM films being subsequently banned in Germany.

The supporting cast features Robert Young (a major romantic lead in many Hollywood films and later Jim Anderson on television's Father Knows Best, and the title role in Marcus Welby, MD), Robert Stack (The Untouchables, 1959–63), Frank Morgan (Professor Marvel and the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz the previous year), Dan Dailey, Ward Bond (John Wayne's co-star in 23 films, one of director John Ford's favorite ensemble actors, and later the lead in the television series Wagon Train), Maria Ouspenskaya, William T. Orr, and Bonita Granville, who was the first actress to play Nancy Drew onscreen.

Mountain snow scenes were filmed at Salt Lake City, Utah, and Sun Valley, Idaho.[6]

The score by award-winning composer Bronislau Kaper and by Eugene Zador was not credited to them, but rather to a pseudonym, "Edward Kane".

The film concludes with an excerpt from a poem, The Gate of the Year, which King George VI made famous when he quoted it in his Christmas 1939 radio broadcast.

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called it "magnificently directed and acted ... a passionate drama, struck out of the deepest tragedy, which is comforting at this time only in its exposition of heroic stoicism."[7] Howard Barnes' review in the New York Herald Tribune pointed out the chief difficulty with the film: By the time it was released, all Europe was at war. "...Less than a year ago, it would have had far more dramatic and emotional impact than it has at this time....It is not MGM's fault, but the timing on the making of The Mortal Storm has been extremely bad."[8]

A review in Variety stated: "It is not the first of the anti-Nazi pictures, but it is the most effective film exposé to date of the totalitarian idea, a slugging indictment of the political and social theories advanced by Hitler. ... Performances are excellent."[1] Harrison's Reports wrote: "This is the most powerful anti-Nazi picture yet produced. It excels in every department - that of acting, direction, production and photography."[2] Film Daily wrote: "Because of its virulent exposition of Nazi methods, this film must be seen by every American ... Magnificently directed by Frank Borzage, pulsating with dramatic power, and played up to the hilt by a transcendingly skillful cast, it will electrify audiences wherever it is shown."[9] John Mosher of The New Yorker praised the film's story for being presented "without any theatrical nonsense" and added, "What is outstanding about Frank Borzage's direction is its restraint. The cruel story is told without any of the highlights of horror. We feel that what lies behind is worse than what we are shown."[10]

The Mortal Storm ranked tenth on Film Daily's year-end nationwide poll of 546 critics naming the best films of 1940.[11]

The film holds a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 11 reviews.[12]

• List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a film review aggregator website

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Mortal Storm.

• The Mortal Storm at IMDb
• The Mortal Storm at AllMovie
• The Mortal Storm at the TCM Movie Database
• The Mortal Storm at the American Film Institute Catalog