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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
It's not Hitchcock, but it could have been
By
Bruce Dancis
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (MCT)
"Night Train to Munich" was not directed by Alfred Hitchcock, but the stylish espionage thriller has been linked to the Master of Suspense ever since its release in 1940. While a new DVD of the film reveals many connections to Hitchcock and his body of work, it also demonstrates the obvious talent of young English director Carol Reed and his fine cast (Criterion Collection, $29.95, not rated). Reed would later make the taut post-war thrillers "Odd Man Out" and "The Third Man" before finally winning an Oscar late in his career for the musical "Oliver!"
Set in the year leading up to Germany's invasion of Poland and the start of World War II in September 1939, "Night Train to Munich" tells the story of a Czech scientist (James Harcourt) and his adult daughter (played by Margaret Lockwood, one of Britain's biggest film stars at the time) trying to escape the clutches of the Gestapo. It's a chase that extends from Prague to London to Berlin to Munich before its climactic scene in the Swiss Alps. Rex Harrison, in his first major leading role, costars as a British double agent, while the Austrian actor Paul Von Hernried (who would later become famous in America as Paul Henreid, the costar of "Casablanca" and "Now, Voyager") appears in a crucial supporting part.
The DVD's two main special features, a new 29-minute video conversation with film historians Bruce Babington and Peter Evans, authors of books on the screenwriters Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder and director Reed, and an essay by film critic Philip Kemp, provide needed background material about the movie's genesis, cast and crew, and historical context.
Kemp cites film historian William K. Everson's contention that Hitchcock would have "undoubtedly" been assigned to direct "Night Train to Munich" had he stayed in Britain. Like "The Lady Vanishes," the next-to-last British film directed by Hitchcock before he moved to Hollywood, "Night Train to Munich" includes many tense moments on a railroad train and shares the same leading lady (Lockwood), screenwriters (Gilliat and Launder) and two characters, British salesmen Charters and Caldicott (Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne) on board to provide comic relief. Like Hitchcock, Reed brings to the film a comic touch that complements the story's non-stop tension and a visual style that often uses imagery in the place of dialogue. And the screenwriters employ such Hitchcockian touches as providing a leading couple who at first do not get along, and a suave (and surprising) villain.
But there are major differences between "The Lady Vanishes" and "Night Train to Munich," much of them having to do with the outbreak of war. Where "The Lady Vanishes," released in 1938, somewhat veiled its anti-German point of view, "Night Train to Munich" makes it explicit with documentary newsreel footage of German soldiers marching into conquered nations, ranting speeches by Hitler and scenes set in concentration camps.
Made in early 1940, "Night Train to Munich" captures the British mindset as the nation was confronting a Germany that had already conquered most of Europe and was threatening to invade England. It features daring secret agents and plucky ordinary citizens fighting to save their country, as well as dry humor directed against the Nazis. A running joke has one of the British salesmen trying to learn about the Germans by reading Hitler's "Mein Kampf."
Some lines, however, will seem harsh and insensitive to modern viewers. When Lockwood's character first meets Harrison's and they begin their love-hate relationship, he had been posing as a not very good street singer at an English seaside resort. Her critical comment to him -- "Nothing that happened to me in that concentration camp was quite as dreadful as listening to you day after day singing those appalling songs" -- would be in particular bad taste from a post-1945 context, when the Nazis' genocidal policies became well known to the world. But in 1940, concentration camps were still viewed as brutally harsh prisons, not centers for the extermination of millions of human beings..
If there's a weakness in "Night Train to Munich," it is the film's budget constraints that prevented the scenes in the Swiss Alps from appearing realistic. The mountains look terribly fake, even by 1940 standards.
But this is easily offset by Gilliat and Launder's clever and intrigue-filled screenplay, strong performances by the cast -- Lockwood makes an appealing and intelligent heroine, while Harrison exhibits the aristocratic "annoyance," "detachment" and "flippancy" (as Babington and Evans put it) that would become the trademarks of his long career -- and the vibrancy of Reed's direction. In leading this fast-paced, well-plotted and extremely suspenseful thriller to its abrupt but satisfying conclusion, Reed showed himself to be a worthy successor to Alfred Hitchcock.
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