Film

Escape (1940)

Director: Mervyn LeRoy

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Glossy wartime sentiment from MGM, as American widow Shearer turns against her German lover (Veidt in his Hollywood debut) to help a young compatriot artist (Taylor) rescuehis mother from a pre-war Nazi concentration camp. Adapting from a bestselling novel by Ethel Vance, LeRoy forsakes the hard-nosed 'realism' learned during his days with Warners, and goes all out for a well-crafted, controlled, but finally rather bland weepie. Supporting roles are performed by the usual group of stock European actors - Bressart, the Bassermans, all highly watchable - and there's an added bonus in Taylor's incarcerated mother being played by Nazimova, exotic temptress of silent movies, here returning to the screen after an absence of 15 years. But lacking the romantic conviction of Borzage, LeRoy all too often seems stranded in a smooth, unruffled sea of MGM banality.

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