1945 film dealing with American occupation of the Italian town of Adano.
John Hodiak portrays a sympathetic officer who understands the need of the town.-food and water to survive.
He shows kindness to the people of the town, many of whom are comical characters. William Bendix plays his assistant in his usual comic form. However, when Hodiak has to leave, Bendix is excellent when he has to tell him the news. He is so upset by this, he is terribly drunk.
Gene Tierney is terribly miscast as a daughter of a fisherman, who seeks Hodiak out to find out information on her lover. Before he can act, Italian POW's return to the town, and one of them, Richard Conte, tells her what has happened to her beloved. If you were an anti-fascist who campaigned against the Mussolini regime, why would you be the first to go when Italy entered the war on Nazi Germany's side? The lover died for patriotic reasons though he was bitterly anti-fascist. There is something wrong here.
The film deals with military bureaucracy and bungling by Roy Roberts. Such bungling costs Hodiak to be transferred. This was when the film was getting better. Too bad it ended at this point.
The town of Adano needed a bell to carry on its daily life. Hodiak was successfully able to get the bell. The bell tolls for him when he leaves the town. Irony, not at its best, but when is irony actually good?
John Hodiak portrays a sympathetic officer who understands the need of the town.-food and water to survive.
He shows kindness to the people of the town, many of whom are comical characters. William Bendix plays his assistant in his usual comic form. However, when Hodiak has to leave, Bendix is excellent when he has to tell him the news. He is so upset by this, he is terribly drunk.
Gene Tierney is terribly miscast as a daughter of a fisherman, who seeks Hodiak out to find out information on her lover. Before he can act, Italian POW's return to the town, and one of them, Richard Conte, tells her what has happened to her beloved. If you were an anti-fascist who campaigned against the Mussolini regime, why would you be the first to go when Italy entered the war on Nazi Germany's side? The lover died for patriotic reasons though he was bitterly anti-fascist. There is something wrong here.
The film deals with military bureaucracy and bungling by Roy Roberts. Such bungling costs Hodiak to be transferred. This was when the film was getting better. Too bad it ended at this point.
The town of Adano needed a bell to carry on its daily life. Hodiak was successfully able to get the bell. The bell tolls for him when he leaves the town. Irony, not at its best, but when is irony actually good?