UNCERTAIN GLORY (1944)

WWII.  Errol Flynn is a prisoner in Nazi-controlled Paris who is literally walking out to the guillotine when an air raid blows up a bunch of shit and he escapes (kinda like in Skyrim 62 years later). After a brief taste of freedom, he's tracked down and apprehended by an Inspector (Paul Lukas). During the train ride back to Paris the Inspector reads a newspaper story about how a saboteur blew up a nearby bridge and if the saboteur isn't caught within three days the Nazis are going to execute 100 innocent men. Flynn preys on the Inspector's patriotism and tells him that he'll turn himself in as the saboteur in order to free the innocent men. He's just saying this in order to find an convenient moment to escape. How noble. But of course you would have to be a complete fucking idiot not to expect Flynn to have turn of heart by the end of the film, most likely because of a beautiful girl. And...

That's exactly what happens. How exciting. I was mildly entertained by Flynn just because I'm a fan of his acting style, but even at 102 minutes this movie seemed like it went on for like 150. I own it, because it's part of the "Errol Flynn Adventures" box set, but while I'll definitely be revisiting OBJECTIVE, BURMA! and EDGE OF DARKNESS,UNCERTAIN GLORY will never ever see that light of day again. I hope it enjoys it's spot on the shelf.

Skip it with a vengeance and take a nap instead.

EDGE OF DARKNESS (1943)

The small Norwegian fishing village of Trollness (pop. 800) has been under Nazi control for the last two years. The citizens have tried a few small things to undermine the Germans (ruining the canned fish coming out of the cannery, random fires, etc.), but without weapons they have no hope of overtaking the 150 Nazi soldiers.

Errol Flynn and Ann Sheridan both live in Trollness and are lovers. Flynn is a fisherman and looked upon as the unofficial leader of the Rebellion. Sheridan is the daughter of the only doctor in town and he disapproves in her involvement with the Resistance Movement. To complicate matters even further, her brother and uncle are in cahoots with the Nazis. Also, the young German commandant of Trollness is a go-getter and wants to make a name for himself by crushing the Rebels once and for all.

If you were expecting EDGE OF DARKNESS to be overly melodramatic and sentimental just because if came from the early 1940's you'd be partly correct, it had a few sappy moments, but at the same time it didn't shy away at all from showing the Nazi's just straight up mowing down town folk with machine gun fire. Also, in the most shocking part of the film it strongly implies that Sheridan was raped (off screen) by the Nazi's!

Good acting, exciting story, nice scenery, plenty of action (and one awesome explosion stunt), a young Ruth Gordon, piles of dead bodies, blood soaked shot of a guy's head after committing suicide with a gun...I say check it out. It's not the most action-packed WWII movie ever, but the story is intriguing and I enjoyed myself from beginning to end. I would love to see a remake or even play a video game version of this story.

Look at how young Ruth Gordon is!

DESPERATE JOURNEY (1942)

An Royal Air Force bomber is shot down deep in Nazi territory and now the surviving crew, lead by Errol Flynn, must make their way back to England, but not without making a few detours to cause some chaos and crack a bunch of jokes. I was a little bit taken back by the light-hearted nature of the film, but once I understood that the film was probably meant to cheer up Americans back home I got into and enjoyed the film for what it was. The chemistry between the leads is good and I was pleasantly surprised to see Raymond Massey as Nazi Major hot on their trail.

For an old WWII propaganda film, DESPERATE JOURNEY is entertaining enough, but honestly with a cast like that (not to mention director Raoul Walsh) I was expecting more. Worth watching, but nothing to get overly excited about.

Hardy-har-har. You get it? His last two movies co-starred Ann Sheridan.