We Are Not Alone (1939)

Let's be realistic.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

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.

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.

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.

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.