Paul Lukas (in an Oscar-winning performance) plays a German freedom fighter. He flees Europe to America with his wife (Bette Davis) to live with Davis' mother. At her house he meets a nasty Romanian count (George Coulouris) who is pro-Nazi...and begins to discover that Lukas is a freedom fighter.Based on a play written by Lillian Hellman this is well-done but ultimately doesn't work. People don't talk here--they give speeches. It gets annoying. Lukas and Lucile Watson give great performances but Coulouris and (surprisingly) Davis give terrible ones. It also moves slowly and their three kids are incredibly terrible. Even THEY stand around giving speeches. Not a bad movie but an underwhelming one.

The stage play opened on Broadway in April 1941 and closed after 378 perfor¬mances on 21 February 1942. It starred Paul Lukas, Mady Christians and Lucile Watson. Here's where I and contemporary critics part company. Watch on the Rhine undoubtedly had an effective message for early 1940's America, but that message is now way out of date. In any event, nothing can disguise the play's many obvious shortcomings: Instant information preaching from characters who are no more than walking puppets, mouthing pretentious platitudes; situations that are pure soap opera; and, above all, dullness. The only piece of action in the entire play (and the film) occurs offstage. In this movie version, no attempt whatever is made to handle the proceedings cinematically. Herman Shumlin's direction is incredibly old-fashioned, with the players studiously hitting their marks and rattling off their lines. The groupings are stage groupings, with the actors standing around, stock still, while waiting for their cues to bring them to life. In my opinion, Lukas did not deserve his Academy Award (which should have gone to Bogart for Casablanca), but Lucile Watson should have defeated Katina Paxinou. Only Miss Watson (who admittedly has the most interesting character and dialogue) can fully overcome the play's dated propaganda, though George Coulouris makes a good stab at the impossible role in which he is miscast (he is able to convey the seedier aspects of de Brancovis effectively, but misses out on the charm). Donald Woods is ridiculously gauche (though few players would have fared better with such a part). Davis and Fitzgerald act in the somewhat overblown style then fashionable on the contemporary stage.

Yes, Paul Lucas deserved best actor for this film. Bette Davis and a fine supporting cast bring out a terrific performance. The film is very well constructed by one would come to expect that when the author of the Broadway play brings that play to the screen with the help of the author of The Thin Man.There are many subtle points in this movie younger viewers miss. For example, the kids act robotic and unreal at times. The reason for this is because these kids were according to the story-line, schooled in Nazi Germany and that is how kids were schooled by Nazis. The youngest son particularly is alarming scripted as a Nazi Brainwashed Programmed Child. This is an extremely intelligent point most viewers miss now, as it has been a long time since this was written. Lucas as the father speaks to the children late in the movie about saving all children their "childhood". That is what this speech is about, not being brainwashed on how to think.Meanwhile, PC people have cringed at this movie being shown, so for years it did not get a lot of air play. That is because the black cast here is shown as servants, just like many films in this era. That is hard for the politically correct person to accept, because we are not supposed to show them reality. It reminds me of another Liberal view which justifies racism - "Black Slaves who came to America were not immigrants, because they were slaves." Now here is the definition of -im·mi·grantˈiməɡrənt/noun- a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country. Sorry, it does not matter if someone chooses or is forced to come to another country, once they do, by definition they are an immigrant if they live in that country permanently. This movies author is considered Liberal and even Communist by some. They are also quite Racist, and that is an important point to remember. Regardless of the authors intentions in writing the play, and helping to convert it into a film, the film accurately portrays many views at the time. Yes, this film is very much war propaganda. Bette Davis added needed star power to an outstanding cast and a well written script. It is really war propaganda more than anything else as in 1943, there were several films from Warner Brothers that were. In fact, several members of the supporting cast were regulars in Warners films that year.The alarm that should be raised by this movie is it illustrates how political views can be drummed into people to the point of making society dangerous. It is still happening today, and this film should be shown as a base primer on how it was done then, and remind us of how it is being done today.The last scene with Davis and the oldest son is an interesting epilogue. It presents the oldest son as loving his dad so much, that he wants to follow in his footsteps in hopes of finding him, and contributing to the cause his father stood for - freedom from oppression. It is a telling message.

A German-born engineer (Paul Lukas), his American wife (Bette Davis) and their children travel from Mexico to the United States to visit his brother but their plans are complicated by a Romanian count.Davis stated in a 1971 interview with Dick Cavett, that she played the role of the wife for 'name value' because the studio did not consider the film a good financial risk, and that her name above the credits would draw audiences. Davis gladly took the secondary role because she felt the story was so important, and that Miss Hellman's writing was 'super brilliant'. Incidentally, I believe Paul Lukas is the more interesting actor, but Davis would be right that she was the bigger draw... and went on to maintain stardom while Lukas is largely forgotten.I just happen to like the film because of the way it portrays Germans and Italians... there is a bit more nuance than you typically see in a film about World War II -- especially a film made right in the middle of the war!