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Arch Of Triumph

1948, Movie, NR, 120 mins

Arch Of Triumph: Review

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Boyer is a refugee physician without passport, operating illegally in Paris under an assumed name. He spots a drifter, Bergman, as she is about to throw herself into the Seine. She explains that her lover has committed suicide and she is at wit's end. He returns with her to her room, arranging for her to avoid prying questions from police and coroner, finds a room for her and a job singing at his favorite club, the Scheherazade, a gathering place for White Russian emigres and the social elite of Paris; his best friend, Calhern, a one time colonel in the Czar's Imperial Guard, is the club's doorman. Bergman falls in love with Boyer but he is afraid to return that love, knowing that at any moment he might be picked up and deported. The two share calvados, meet in their lonely rooms and draw closer together in a world where the German war machine is about to attack France. There is the air of doom and foreboding everywhere. Bergman learns that Boyer was in Spain during the Civil War, serving the Loyalist cause. When she asks what he did in Spain, Boyer blurts, "Cut off legs." They vacation briefly on the Riviera, meeting socialite friends, but Boyer's own kindness is his undoing. Once back in Paris he stops to help an injured workman in the street and an officious French plainsclothesman, Conrad, insists upon seeing his papers. Boyer is deported after calling his only friend, Calhern, and instructing him to tell Bergman nothing. By the time he returns he finds that she has quit her job and is now the mistress of Bekassy, a rich, possessive playboy. He meets with her in her lavish new apartment but refuses to go on seeing her while she is with another man. Boyer has other things on his mind; he has spotted Laughton, a brutal SS leader visiting Paris, the same Nazi thug who murdered Boyer's wife. Ingratiating himself to Laughton who does not recognize a former victim of his tortures, Boyer takes the Nazi for a drive through the Bois where he kills him. To accomplish this mission he has staked out his victim, waiting for days in a hotel room for a phone call, totally ignoring Bergman who wants to return to him but thinks he is seeing another woman. By the time Boyer disposes of Laughton, Calhern tells him Bergman has been shot by her jealous lover. He rushes to her side to ease her pain in her dying moments. The next day war is declared between France and Germany and Boyer leaves his hotel with Calhern to be processed by police, knowing he will again be deported. The two friends promise to meet when the war is over. In undertaking the widely popular novel by Erich Maria Remarque, veteran director Milestone (who had directed another Remarque story, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, with great success) had to deal with a large, complicated story and capture the forlorn and dismal mood of its protagonists, and the oppressive suspense of a country waiting to be attacked by its neighbor. All of this Milestone managed, but the story, overlong in itself, bogged down his direction which has great moments. The acting by all is superior; Boyer is ideal as the displaced physician, matched in melancholy by Bergman. Calhern enacts one of his best roles as the jaunty, jocular Russian philosopher. Laughton's Nazi is a caricature, however, and his accent is positively atrocious. The film is much better than the estimates rendered by critics of the day, with high production values and unforgettable scenes that can only be attributed to master director Milestone. The unfavorable criticism, however, coupled with the public's desire to forget the recently finished war, contributed to the film's box office failure. The newly created Enterprise Studios invested more than $5 million in this sprawling tale, earning back only a third of that amount, causing the company to be stillborn. leave a comment
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