We Are Not Alone (1939) User Reviews

Paul Muni is a pleasure to watch

[smrhyne · 8/10 · 24 June 2002]

I have watched this movie many times because I always enjoy watching Paul Muni, no matter what role he is in. This movie is an opportunity to see Muni without the heavy make-up that he wore in many of his movies. Although I like this movie a lot, I was rather disappointed in the ending. It seemed to change gears about halfway through. The movie goes from being a poignant love story to making a political statement about war. But I still recommend it. Muni, Flora Robson and Jane Bryan all give excellent performances and Muni's relationship with his son is beautiful to see.

James Hilton takes on "The Crippen Case"

[theowinthrop · 8/10 · 14 April 2005]

James Hilton's track record in movies based on his novels is pretty good. LOST HORIZON, GOODBYE MR. CHIPS, and RANDOM HARVEST were turned into first rate films. RAGE IN HEAVEN was less successful. But there is also this fine tragedy about two simple people who are embroiled in circumstances that not only destroy them but blacken their memories. Paul Muni is a doctor in a small country town, married to Flora Robson. They have a son. Robson is a tad domineering, and Muni is subservient. Jane Bryan is a German woman who is in England just as World War I begins. Hated by the xenophobes in the country, Bryan is hired as a nanny by Robson. She gets closer to Muni and his son, much to the dismay of Robson. Robson is a hypochondriac, and when she has a headache she wants some medicine. Her son brings the wrong pill, and she dies as a result. Bryan was preparing to leave the town with Muni's assistance, when they are arrested (appearing as they do to be about to skip out). They are tried for the murder, and circumstantial evidence conspires to condemn them. They are executed before the movie ends.

The description does not do justice to the story. Hilton's novel is based loosely on the Crippen Case (see THE SUSPECT), except that it is taking the point that Crippen was not guilty (some people who felt sorry for Dr. Crippen felt he was never been able to show he did not commit his wife's murder). Also, Hilton is reexamining the extreme xenophobia that swept Great Britain in 1914-1918 towards Germany and it's people and culture (a similar xenophobia would hit the U.S. from 1915 to 1918, culminating in such acts as calling frankfurters "hot dogs" and banning German operas from the Metropolitan Opera House). In this respect the film is of considerable historical interest. Finally Hilton is into the running irony of the plot. While in prison Muni philosophizes about the circumstances leading to his and Bryan's fates, and it turns out that he realizes that the powers that be that have helped craft their ill-deserved demise are the same bunch of idiots causing the massive slaughter known as World War I. Hence the ironic title of the film - it is more than the story of the destructions of two innocent people in a botched trial. It is the story of the destruction of millions by elected fools.

Of particular note in an outstanding cast are Henry Daniell and Una O'Connor. Daniell is as unsympathetic as normal, but here he actually is the public prosecutor. While the film audience realizes he has misread the evidence and is railroading two innocent people to the gallows, one has to remember he does not know this but looks at the evidence as accumulating to pointing out the guilt of Muni and Bryant. Actually he is a very effective prosecutor (and his character, Sir Ronald Dawson, seems based on Crippen's very effective prosecutor, Sir Richard Muir). O'Connor is Bryant's foe due to Bryant's German background, and she does testify against her. But as she does she slowly realizes that she is putting the noose around the necks of both Muni and Bryant, and it does not sit well with her. The last three minutes of the film concentrate on her, as she realizes Muni and Bryant are dead, and as she confronts evidence that they have not lived in vain. The conclusion is reaffirming and heartbreaking at the same time.

beautiful performances in a flawed film

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 24 November 2017]

Noel Coward said Jane Bryan was one of the best actresses on the planet after seeing "We Are Not Alone," from 1939. This beautiful woman led a charmed life. After making two more films, she married the owner of Rexall Drugs and retired. I'd say she did okay.

"We Are Not Alone" is based on the novel by James Hilton and stars, besides Bryan, Paul Muni, Flora Robson, and Una O'Connor. I didn't read the novel, so I'm unclear whether it was a love story or a story making an antiwar statement, or managed to do both things in a less choppy manner than the film. In any case, the film, set in England at the start of World War I, does a complete turnaround midstream and becomes about something else.

Muni plays an absent-minded, sweet, respected doctor, David Newcombe, who lives in a village with his wife Jessica (Robson) and young son Gerald. Gerald is overimaginative, easily frightened, and his mother's response is to be too harsh and disciplinary. Fortunately, he has his father to balance things out.

David encounters Leni (Bryan) when she becomes his patient. She's Austrian and is a dancer, but when she becomes injured, her work becomes too difficult. At one point, he brings Gerald with him when he treats her, and, hearing about how good she is with the boy, Jessica thinks she might be a great nanny. She hires her.

It's not long before gossip starts, and Jessica becomes jealous and also doesn't like the fact that Leni was "on stage" and at one point attempted suicide. She and David argue, with David refusing to fire Leni. Jessica angrily brings the boy to live with her brother.

When the town erupts in anti-German sentiment, David realizes that he has to get Leni out of the country immediately.

This is a disappointing film, to say the least - I mean, what happened to the Hayes code? The Hayes code wanted everybody punished for their sins, so how come people are punished when they don't commit any? I really had a major problem with this.

Una O'Connor as the troublemaking maid is a shrew right out of hell. The little boy, played by David Severn, is adorable, and his innocent smile at the end of the film will make you cry. Someone wrote that the end is life-affirming. In a way, I guess it is. Still, it bothered me.

So much for wanting to end Thanksgiving on an upbeat note.

The seams show

[jaykay-10 · 14 April 2002]

Part One of this interesting film concerns the loveless marriage of a kindly, patient and gentle village doctor to his cold, repressed and shrewish wife; each of them, as well as their young son, becomes a victim of this unfortunate union. Further domestic complications ensue when a young woman, adrift in the world and manifesting suicidal tendencies, enters their lives. Her obvious capacity to give and receive love captivates the doctor and his son, but increases the wife's bitterness and adds to the already considerable domestic tension. But all of this becomes secondary about 2/3 of the way through when a contrived circumstance results in the wife's death, which we know to be accidental but the law sees as a conspiracy between the doctor and the young woman to murder her. Thus, Part Two: arrest, incarceration, trial. Following a guilty verdict, the miscarriage of justice moves to the background, and we are given Part Three: scenes of stoic acceptance and acknowledgement of a highly spiritual love between the doctor and the young woman, both of whom have been condemned to die.

This promising tale loses its way not once, but twice. The unity it requires is noticeably lacking. A further distraction (because it does not meld with the main story) is the screen time devoted to villagers persecuting Germans earning a living in England as the clouds darken with the imminence of World War II.

There are excellent performances by two of the cinema's very best: Paul Muni and Flora Robson. The rest of the cast is impressive as well. If only the writers and director had been more conscientious about joining the parts.

a superb film

[bailodhia · 10/10 · 19 June 2005]

This movie could have been an all-time classic, except that it's timing was disastrous - an anti-war film seeking sympathy for a Germanic heroine released in the second week of 1939!

But, now, removed from the immediate patriotic passions of that time, we can objectively appreciate the quality and meaning of the film. It was ahead of its time also in the fact of it not following the strict constraints of 'genre' films - it had a very complex story to tell and told it truthfully and unflinchingly. I notice that several of the reviews posted here criticize the film for "being two different movies", or "changing gears midway through and becoming another film." Sorry people, that was the whole point of this cinematic exercise - a unique and totally challenging film. I'm afraid that these critics are used to getting their films rigidly by the numbers and can't take complexity or surprise. This is an extremely complex film and, while straightforwardly entertaining, can be understood on so many different levels of meaning. There is absolute genius in the subtle symbolism of some of its messages, and the more thoughtful, analytical, and sophisticated the viewer - the more they will get from it. Heartbreaking, I believe, is the word which best describes the feeling one comes away with. The film's deceptive surface simplicity absolutely devastates the viewer by the end. Most people I've watched this with, men and women both, are shaken and in tears at the end - even the most jaded of viewers Jake an excuse to leave the room for a while in an effort to resist the emotion.

Emotion - the key to the film's success is almost entirely due to the exquisite and incomparable musical score of Max Steiner. MAX STEINER wrote the score in 7 days, working night and day, so that he could be able to depart from Warners and go to Selznick studios to begin his commitment to writing the music for "Gone with the Wind". As monumental as that score was, his intense effort for "We Are Not Alone" is even greater. The scoring is not only melodic and beautiful, but the choice of orchestration grabs the heart and the thematic expertise emotionally is the soul and guiding force of the film. And Tony Gaudio's excellent photography conveys a nice pictorial compliment. Needless to say, the acting is superb, especially Jane Bryan, who Noel Coward called the finest movie actress in the world after seeing this film.

This is a one and only, and if you're a sensitive, intelligent lover of true beauty - it's for you. There will never be an equal.

a few plot holes but a wonderful film

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 12 September 2005]

Okay, I'll admit this is NOT a perfect film. However, given the talent of Paul Muni, an interesting story by James Hilton AND the full MGM treatment, this is still an exceptional film. Two things that stand out particularly for me is the amazing awfulness of Muni's wife--she's so bad you can't stop watching. Second, is the very unusual plot involving the advent of WWI and xenophobia run amok that results in the public condemning an innocent woman simply because she is Austrian. ABout the only people I would NOT recommend this to are people who HATE older movies (I feel VERY sorry for you) and people who really need happy endings (you won't find one here).

A doctor takes care of a patient proving a hard test for the conscience of humanity

[clanciai · 10/10 · 2 March 2018]

This was James Hilton's most upsetting novel, a parallel to Hans Fallada's "Was nun, kleiner Mann?" about the plight of small humble people at the mercy of a world of inhumanity. Paul Muni makes one of his finest performances ever as a good and decent but not very clever small town doctor, who is governed by a bit too orderly wife (Flora Robson), who doesn't like music, while Paul Muni actually plays the violin and does it well. As one of his patients he takes care of a young dancer who has broken a delicate bone, but she is foreign (Austrian) and has no one to turn to when she falls out of luck, deserted by her dancing company and attempting suicide in her abandoned despair. She proves to have a very good hand with children, and the doctor and his wife need a nanny for their young son (about 5 or 6), so even Flora welcomes her. But she becomes such good friends with both the son and the musical doctor, that Flora feels bypassed and takes action, ordering her to leave. There the trouble begins.

It coincides with the outbreak of the first world war, and as an Austrian the delicate Jane Bryan finds herself a declared enemy in a very hostile country, where the small town folk don't hesitate to lynch local Germans. And so it goes from bad to worse.

Edmund Goulding has much of the credit for this extremely human and touching film, which could make anyone's heart melt. A sure thing is you will never forget it. It completely dwarfs "Good-Bye Mr Chips" of the same author and almost the same year for its deeper human poignancy. "We Are Not Alone" refers to the fact which the doctor quietly observes, that those who suffer as martyrs for meaningless hatred in local places indeed are not alone, since hundreds of thousands of innocents are martyred at the same time in the trenches of the war.

There are many delicate details in this film making it worth seeing again now and then, since situations like this always will remain actual and important reminders.

A good cast wasted on a downer melodrama

[van-83714 · 5/10 · 18 December 2023]

The good are stereotypically good and the bad are bad through and through. When a child makes a fatal error, the worst possible result occurs. Threadbare circumstantial evidence is used at trial to send the innocent and virtuous to the gallows. Then, the overprotective father refuses to communicate with his son ever again, when it is the only hope for saving the lives of those condemned. It is pretty clear that all the cards are stacked against them. And how do the screenwriters put a positive spin on this melodrama? This is how I interpreted it: Yes, two innocent people will die, but maybe it is okay, considering millions of young men will die in the next four years in war. This rationale seems like a bunch of fatalistic nonsense. Maybe the only good to come out of this story is as an argument against capital punishment.

one of the 10 best films of 1938

[shelley-6 · 8 March 1999]

Paul Muni and Jane Bryan give an outstanding performance in this drama. Taken from a novel by James Hilton, this story concerns a village doctor, his wife, and a plain German girl who became their little boys governess. Most of the movie is of the trial of the doctor and the governess who are accused of killing the mean spirited doctor's wife. The love between the simple doctor and the German governess is so tender that your heart goes out to both of them.. Jane Bryan, a young actress from the Warner lot was an outstanding actress, but a few years after making this movie, she quit making films and seemed to disappear completely. It was our loss.

Not very romantic

[HotToastyRag · 5/10 · 4 March 2019]

Anyone want to hear Paul Muni talk in a British accent? Those of you who raised your hand, go out and rent the romantic drama We Are Not Alone. He's never usually the romantic lead, so I was very excited to see this movie. As it turned out, the romantic portion of the story was very brief, but it was still entertaining.

Doctor Paul and his wife, Flora Robson, have different parenting approaches about their slightly difficult son, Raymond Severn. Flora takes a stern hand and locks him in a dark room when he gets scared and emotional; Paul cuddles him and gives him loving support. Then, when Paul hires a nanny, Jane Bryan, Flora feels resentful. Jane is a former patient, and she seems to easily attract the love of both Paul and Raymond.

You can rent this movie if you want to, but don't expect Gone With the Wind. It's not the most romantic movie in the world, and although it's rather sad, it doesn't leave you with a very good feeling. Just to give you a clue, when Jane complains to Paul that they're being punished for something they haven't done, Paul says, "We are not alone." Have another movie handy for a double-feature or make this a matinee.

Downbeat ending to a poignant story...(POSSIBLE SPOILERS)

[Doylenf · 22 September 2003]

WE ARE NOT ALONE is one of James Hilton's lesser works, perhaps because it is a somber drama with a downbeat ending--and somewhere there's a message trying to get out. Whatever it is, it remains ambiguous as the ending itself.

The performances are expert, the tale is told with sensitivity--but somewhere along the way the plot goes off on a different tangent and we're left with an unsatisfying conclusion.

Paul Muni as a gentle doctor faces his imminent death with more noblesse oblige than Sidney Carton ('A Tale of Two Cities')--in fact, he makes Carton look like a coward. Jane Bryan as the German girl who becomes a nanny for his son, and Flora Robson as his shrewish wife (the kind who deserves their fate) is excellent.

Little Raymond Severn gives an appealing performance as Muni's child and his scenes with his father have genuine warmth.

But that ending...what were they thinking???