Somewhere in Europe, the Nazis are on the march, conquering one city after another. While the citizens of each occupied city are encouraged to trust the new regime, resistance literature urges them to drive the conquerors out, lest they become their slaves. In one such town, the word has come down that several of the school's textbooks have unacceptable pages which must be destroyed. While timid, milque-toasty schoolmaster, Albert Lorry (Charles Laughton), meekly instructs his students to remove the offending pages from their books, his fellow teacher, Louise Martin (Maureen O'Hara), with whom Albert is secretly in love, vehemently announces that the day will come when she will paste the pages back.
In the midst of the school day, the air raid siren blares, and the students and their teachers take to the shelter, with Albert's controlling, overbearing mother (Una O'Connor), who lives nearby, joining them. As the planes roar overhead, Albert cowers in his mother's arms. Later, Albert admits his cowardice to the schoolmaster, who reminds him that the truth can be kept alive if the children believe in them and admire them, because those whom children admire, they will follow; therefore, in order to conquer the Nazis, they all must be the kind of men the children will desire to follow.
Other residents of this little village are Paul Martin (Kent Smith), Louise's brother and a resistance worker, and George Lambert (George Sanders), Louise's fiance, who, unbeknownst to her, is a Nazi sympathizer. Believing that democratic ideas ruined his country, George wants the "new order" and works in collaboration with them to achieve it.
When a grenade thrown by a resistance fighter kills two German soldiers, ten of the local townspeople are taken hostage and threatened with execution unless the criminal gives himself up. Albert, eventually, is one of those arrested, and when he is put on trial---and comes face to face with his fear of what the Nazis will do to him---he finds that he is not a coward after all. With his courage shining brightly in the face of fear, Albert uses the courtroom to inspire people everywhere to keep on resisting the invading evil.
What they call a "propaganda piece," This Land Is Mine is an inspiring, encouraging, well-acted drama. Made in the middle of the war, when the tide had not yet turned and there was no way of knowing how much longer it would go on, this film was obviously a boost to homefront morale. Mr. Laughton's performance is spectacular...not quite up there with The Hunchback of Notre Dame (which, as I said in a review earlier this week (HERE), I think has to be the performance of his career), but terrific nonetheless. The way he changed from a cowering bowl of jello to a man of conviction and strength was beautiful to watch. And his speeches---wow. Such great truth in every word he uttered, and that truth is as relevant today as it was 70 years ago.
Maureen O'Hara is quite wonderful in her role as well. She brings her fiery, passionate character to life with much believability. Plus, she's so lovely, and it is always a delight to watch her. The supporting players---Una O'Connor, Kent Smith, George Sanders, and Walter Slezak---all are very good in their roles.
This Land Is Mine is out on DVD and is available through Classic Flix. It is also on the TCM schedule for Sunday, November 17th, at 6:15 a.m. (ET). I hope you get a chance to see it, as it is a very inspiring film.
Happy viewing!
