This Land Is Mine - 1943
- Director Jean Renoir
- Product Code: NA-1988-GUE-LT
- Availability: In Stock
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The Germans have just invaded and are now occupying another town in an Allied country in western Europe and the German district commandant is Major Erich von Keller (Walter Slezak). Like other such occupied towns, the Germans are keeping it a supposed free city in return for citizen cooperation. Some of the town's leading citizens, such as Mayor Henry Manville (Thurston Hall) and the railway station master George Lambert (George Sanders), encourage citizen cooperation outwardly to maintain peace, while such persons are able to profit individually in being in Von Keller's proverbial back pocket. Paul Martin (Kent Smith), a railway switch-man and George's best friend, has gone even further by befriending occupying German soldiers. On the other side, the school headmaster, well-respected Professor Sorel (Philip Merivale), and young schoolteacher Louise Martin (Maureen O'Hara), Paul's sister and George's fiancée, openly but quietly resist although do not totally defy German orders. Louise's fellow schoolteacher, middle-aged Albert Lory (Charles Laughton), is a timid man, his self-admitted cowardice exacerbated by his overbearing mother, Emma Lory (Una O'Connor). Coddling him, she in return expects that he will never leave her. Albert is secretly in love with Louise, which most in town know, it being more of a joke to them than anything as they know he will never admit such in his cowardice. Someone or some faction in town has been clandestinely printing and distributing anti-German leaflets. In addition, an act of sabotage at the railway yard which was intended to thwart the Germans resulted in two German soldiers being killed. As such, Von Keller is determined to find out the person or people behind these acts. If he is unable, he will not hesitate to imprison and execute innocent people to make them examples to the townsfolk. When the supposed saboteur is discovered and shot by the Germans, Albert gets caught in the middle, and his life is on the line. In this situation, the townsfolk may get a true picture of what it means to be a coward or a hero.
| Technical Sheet | |
| Title in Brazil | Esta Terra é Minha |
| Original Title | This Land Is Mine |
| Title in Portugal | Esta Terra é Minha |
| Year | 1943 |
| Language | English |
| Subtitle | English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, European Portuguese |
| Colors | Black and white |
| Gender | Drama, War |
| Duration | 103 Min. |
| Direction | Jean Renoir |
| Countries of origin | United States |
| Cast | Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara, George Sanders, Walter Slezak, Kent Smith, Una O'Connor, Philip Merivale, George Coulouris, Thurston Hall, Nancy Gates, Ivan Simpson, John Donat |
| Other details | |
| Observation | This film has subtitles for hearing impairment in SDH |
| Did you know? | |
| Curiosities | The singing of "Die Lorelei" by the German soldiers was a subtle dig at the anti-semitic regime of the Nazis, since the words were written by banned Jewish poet Heinrich Heine. Many of his books, considered "un-German," were burned in the book-burning episode at Opernplatz, Berlin, Germany, on 10 May 1933. However, his works were so popular that they were still published, but "author unknown" was the listed writer. In his 1821 play "Almansor," Heine also prophetically wrote "Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen" ("Where they burned books, they will in the end burn people"). |
| Bloopers | After the initial credits, there is a notation "Somewhere in Europe ..." All the signs and notices are in English, so there is no specific country identified this way. The film could be set in Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Norway or any of the other occupied territories. However, when Professor Sorel, Louise Martin and Albert Lory examine the school textbooks for what must be removed, all the references are to French history and literature, squarely placing the film in France. |
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