The Mortal Storm
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| The Mortal Storm | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Frank Borzage |
| Starring | Margaret Sullavan James Stewart Frank Morgan Robert Young |
| Release date(s) | June 14, 1940 |
| Running time | 100 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Mortal Storm is a 1940 film that was one of the most direct anti-Nazi Hollywood films released before the American entry into the Second World War. It stars James Stewart as a German who refuses to join the rest of his small Bavarian town in supporting Nazism. He falls in love with "non-Aryan" Freya Roth (Margaret Sullavan). Freya and her family are implied to be Jewish but the word "Jew" is never used and they are only referred to as "non-Aryans." Another interesting fact is that, though it is understood to be Germany, the name of the country is never mentioned except at the very beginning in a short text of introduction. The supporting cast includes Robert Young (Father Knows Best), Robert Stack, Frank Morgan (who played the title role in The Wizard of Oz the year before), Dan Dailey, Ward Bond, Maria Ouspenskaya, William T. Orr, and Bonita Granville. The movie infuriated the Nazi government and it led to all MGM films being banned in Germany, which was a large market for American films at the time.
