ID

FBW001250      Fiction

Country / Year

USA, 1940

Original Title

The Mortal Storm

Other Title(s)

Tödlicher Sturm (German)

Directed by

Frank Borzage

Produced by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) (Loew's, Inc.), Culver City, CA (New York, NY)

Staff

Producer: Sidney A. Franklin, Victor Saville; Assistent director: Dolph Zimmer, Sandy Roth, Walter Strohm, Al Shenberg, Lew Borzage; Script: Claudine West, Hans Paul Rameau (als: Anderson Ellis), George Froeschel; Based on: Phyllis Bottome (Novel); Camera: William Daniels; Cameraman: Lloyd Knechtel, Leonard Smith; Editing: Elmo Vernon; Sound: Douglas Shearer; Art direction: Cedric Gibbons, Wade B. Rubottom (Associate); Technical direction: Henri S. Noerdlinger; Set decoration: Edwin B. Willis; Costumes: Adrian (=Adrian Adolph Greenberg), Gile Steele (Men's Wardrobe); Makeup: Jack Dawn; Haidressing: Sydney Guilaroff; Music: Edward Kane, Eugene Zador; Musiv, var: Bronislaw Kaper (Additional Music); Press: Howard Dietz; 2nd unit, director: Richard Rosson (Sun Valley, ID)

Cast

Margaret Sullavan (Freya Roth); James Stewart (Martin Breitner); Robert Young (Fritz Marberg); Frank Morgan (Prof. Viktor Roth); Bonita Granville (Elsa); Robert Stack (Otto von Rohn); Irene Rich (Emilia Roth); William T. Orr (Erich von Rohn); Maria Ouspenskaya (Hilda Breitner); Gene Reynolds (Rudi Roth); Russell Hicks (Rector); William Edmunds (Lehman); Esther Dale (Marta); Dan Dailey, Jr. (Hal); Granville Bates (Prof. Berg); Thomas W. Ross (Prof. Werner); Ward Bond (Franz); Sue Moore (Theresa); Harry Depp (Colleague); Julius Tannen (Colleague); Gus Glassmire (Colleague); Dick Rich (Guard); Ted Oliver (Guard); Howard Lang (Man); Bodil Rosing (Woman); Lucien Prival (Passport Official); Dick Elliott (Passport Official); Henry Victor (Gestapo Official); William Irving (Waiter in Cafe); Bert Roach (Fat Man in Cafe); Bob Stevenson (Gestapo Guard); Max Davidson (Old Man); John Stark (Gestapo Official); Fritz Leiber (Oppenheim); Rudolf Amendt-Anders (als: Robert O. Davis) (Hartman)

Length

2754 m / 100'39''

Format

35mm/sw/1:1,37

Dates

- 08 Feb 1940-19 Apr 1940: Shooting period
- 10 Jun 1940: Preview, New York, NY (Projection Room)
- 10 Jun 1940: Copyright LP9722
- 14 Jun 1940: US release date
- 20 Jun 1940: Release date, New York, NY (Capitol)
- 31 Oct 1957: First run, GFR, Frankfurt am Main (MGM-Theater)
- 15 Nov 1957: Release date, GFR
- 12 Feb 1988: First broadcast, GFR, ARD
- 11 Jun 1989: Rerun, TV, HR3
- 20 Feb 1990: Rerun, TV, Eins Plus

Remarks

1. Den Quellen zufolge ist umstritten, ob Victor Saville zeitweise Frank Borzage bei der Regie vertreten resp. erstetzt hat.
2. Als Darsteller waren zunächst vorgesehen: Judith Anderson als Emilia Roth u. Scotty Beckett als ihr Sohn Rudi.

Further Remarks

- Tonsystem: Western Electric
- PCA Cert. No.: 6230
- Außenaufnahmen: Salt Lake City, UT; Sun Valley, ID

Abstract

Viktor Roth, a Jewish Professor, lives in a small German university town in 1933. A birthday celebration for him is interrupted by the news that Hitler has been appointed chancellor. Roth, his daughter Freya, and Martin Breitner, a family friend who loves Freya, are apprehensive about Hitler's rise, but Roth's stepsons Otto and Erich von Rohn, and Fritz Marberg, Freya's new fiancé, are enthusiastic. Martin, rejected by Freya, returns to his farm in Austria, he being violently opposed to Hitler's regime. When quizzed by his students about Aryan supremacy, Prof. Roth ridicules the master-race notion and is quickly removed from his position and placed in a concentration camp where he ultimately dies. His sons Otto and Erich become members of the Nazi Youth Organization but young Rudi, Mrs. Roth, and Freya, who has broken her engagement with Fritz for his political views, now attempt to reach Martin in Austria. While taking a train out of the country, Nazi guards search their luggage and find a manuscript written by Prof. Roth. Freya's passport is revoked. But she convinces her mother and little brother to continue their journey to freedom. Later Martin comes to Germany. Together with Freya he attempts to cross the border in the mountains on ski. A patrol led by Franz and Fritz follows the fleeing pair and fires at them. Freya is mortally wounded. Martin, at her request, picks her up and skis into Austria so she can die in a free country.

Subject Terms

Anti-Nazi films (US); Germany (1933-1945); Families; Persecution of the Jews; Concentration camps; Austria

Holdings

- Kinemathek Hamburg, Hamburg
- National Film and Television Archive (NFTA), London: 2754 m / 100'39''; 35mm

Materials

- New York Public Library, New York, NY; Pressbook
- USC (University of Southern California), Los Angeles, CA: MGM Collection; Briefe, div.

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