The chemistry between sweet Berlin street girl Constance Bennett and British soldier Douglas Montgomery makes this World War I melodrama palatable. Montgomery, pretending to be a German soldier, is arrested and sent to a prison camp which he manages to escape from as well. Meeting pretty Bennett on the street, he hides out in her flat where their romance convinces her to escape to Holland with him. But with determined German detective Oscar Homolka on his trail, it becomes two lives at risk. At times, you may wonder if she's really protecting him or setting him up to collect a reward. Or is he using her too in order to get out of harm's way. Depressing, often humorless, this doesn't fully ring true, but there's enough tension in key scenes to bring you back into the romantic obstacles they face. While Bennett's "profession" is never confirmed, key scenes with various "boyfriends" of hers makes it pretty obvious. This is more interesting for the technical achievements than for the writing or directing even though the acting is fine. Then there's the use of a spiritual theme which comes and goes but helps wrap this up in an organ music finale. A church-less wedding sequence arranged by Montgomery is quite romantic, reminiscent of the "One Hand/One Heart" between Tony and Maria in "West Side Story".

Michael Balcon was ever the ambitious producer. In 1934, he decided to make a movie that would play overseas, so he hired a couple of American stars, Constance Cummings and Douglas Montgomery and made a movie about an escaped Prisoner of War falling in love with a poor German girl in this movie. Given the cast and the setting, he hoped this would play in the U.S. and perhaps even Germany.Unfortunately, this movie did not work out as he had hoped. I attribute it to a schmaltzy story and lack of any distinction other than its stars. This production looks like something that John Stahl might have done at Universal. Neither do the stars offer any particular chemistry in this effort.Balcon would keep on trying to crack the American market. He would succeed with Hitchcock ... and lose Hitchcock to Hollywood. It would take greater American familiarity with Britain, gained during the Second World War, and a lighter touch for the Ealing comedies to break into the American market: movies that were successful because they were distinctively British... and funny... and were better movies, too.

Still trying to figure out what 'everything is thunder' means. It is uttered by the hero of the film, but it's difficult to guess why or what he means. It is uttered during one of the many protracted lulls in the action - in fact, all the action is in the very beginning and the very end of the picture.Douglass Montgomery is an escaped WW1 POW who makes his way to Berlin. There he meets Constance Bennett, and there the action stops, as the picture falls flatter than a pancake. It is a very unlikely and hurried romance as they fall in love, exchanging unusual dialogue in an as unconvincing a love story as you are likely to see. Some slight tension comes from the detective chasing him, played by Oscar Homolka, but he is underutilized.The pacing is very uneven, as mentioned, and the picture has an unsatisfactory ending, unexpected and anticlimactic. Montgomery is a weak lead and Miss Bennett has a thankless role, and it needed a stronger director. "Everything Is Thunder" could have been a much better picture under different circumstances and in different hands, and is recommended with a caveat; don't expect too much.

Hugh McGrath (Douglass Montgomery) escapes from a German POW camp. He's in big trouble coz not only has he escaped, but he has also killed a German guard in doing so. A nationwide search for him is launched. He makes it to Berlin where he takes shelter with Anna (Constance Bennett). However, Detective Gotz (Oskar Homolka) is never far behind....I felt that more could have happened in the film and I'm not sure what the title means. The acting is fine by all concerned, although it is slightly unbelievable how Anna and Hugh fall in love and marry in such a short space of time. The film is tense during two main sections - the beginning when Hugh makes his escape, and more notably, at the end, once Hugh and Anna make a break for it. In between this, we have quite an empty film with Hugh holed up in Anna's department. Still, it's an OK film - and I didn't expect the sacrifice at the end.