Today is the 16th anniversary of the first post on this blog. I am proud that I have continued for this long and have no plans to end any time soon. At the time I started, it was a project to watch all of Military History magazine's 100 Greatest War Movies. One per week. That turned out to be wildly optimistic, especially since I soon decided to review other war movies. And then when I completed all 100 of the supposed greatest war movies, I moved on to my own 100 Best War Movies. If you had told me in 2010 that I would write reviews for over 700 war movies, I would have laughed and said "There are not 700 war movies". Well, it turns out there are a lot more than 700, so I still have a long "to be reviewed" list. Thanks to all who have followed this blog.
For this anniversary post, I chose a movie that is not well known. One goal of this blog is to introduce war movie fans to movies they have not seen. "Morituri" has a special connection to me because I watched it when I was at my grandparent's home after my grandma died. Funny how movies can be memorable because of the situation when they were watched.
“Morituri” is based on the 1958 book by German author Werner Luddecke. He got the title from the gladiator salute: “Morituri te salutant” (“We who are about to die, salute you.”). It was directed by Bernhard Wicki (“Die Brucke”). The movie was a bomb, despite its stellar cast. It didn’t help that Marlon Brando had to be forced to do a publicity tour due to contractual obligations. At his first press conference, he said: “You will be unable to proceed in life unless you see Morituri.” The studio shut down his tour. The movie was well received by critics and nominated for Academy Awards for Best Black and White Cinematography and Best Black and White Costume Design (for a movie that is almost totally on a cargo ship). It was rereleased as “The Saboteur: Code Name Morituri”.
The movie begins in 1942 Japan. A British colonel (Trevor Howard) blackmails a German explosives expert into doing a special mission that will win the war. Crain (Brando) is a pacifist who left Germany because of Nazism. The job is to disarm the scuttling charges on board the SS Ingo, so it can’t be sunk before a British warship intercepts and boards. The ship is carrying a cargo of rubber to France. For some unspecified reason that rubber can not make it to the German war machine. (Don’t ask why the British don’t just sink the ship.) Captain Mueller (Yul Brenner) is an anti-Nazi with a past. He lost a ship because he was drunk. He does not welcome Crain aboard because Crain’s false identity is that of an SS officer. Mueller’s executive officer Kruse is happy to have a kindred spirit on board. The ship has a motley crew that includes political prisoners who are being punished for their anti-Nazi views. Crain secretly meanders the bowels of the ship disarming the explosives. Things get complicated when the ship encounters a Japanese sub with German officers on board. They transfer some American prisoners and a Jewish woman named Esther (Janet Margolin). She has been raped several times, but remains feisty. The movie builds to a climax that includes a mutiny and a change of Crain’s plans.
I saw “Morituri” when I was a
freshman in college and it was memorable.
It took me several decades to watch it again. The film is not well-known, partly as a
result of it being deemed a failure. It
is an odd bird. It certainly has an
imaginative plot. Unfortunately, to get
where it is going, it has to jump through some hoops that make some of the
developments implausible. That does not
mean that the movie is laughable. This
despite having Wally Cox in the cast. He
plays a doctor who is addicted to morphine!
It is actually a pretty good performance. In fact, the best thing the movie has going
for it is a good cast that gives fine performances. The pairing of Brando and Brenner is worth
the watch although neither had the movie at the top of their resume. (I found it sad to watch Brenner
smoking. He died of lung cancer and
before he passed, he made an anti-cigarette commercial.) The characters in the movie are
intriguing. Esther stands out in spite
of her being included to get a reference to the Holocaust into the film. The movie avoids most cliches, but it does
have the Cold War trope of a good German (Mueller) versus an evil Nazi (Kruse).
The movie is entertaining mainly due to the performances. Another strength is the Oscar-nominated cinematography. The shots of Crain meandering through the insides of the ship are impressive. And you have to credit the screenplay with being unpredictable. It does take a long time to get there, but it’s worth the wait.
GRADE
= B-
