A Time To Love and A Time To Die: John Gavin Stars

This movie is based on the book of the same English title by German author Erich Maria Remarque. The German title is "Zeit zu Leben und Zeit zu Sterben," which translates as "Time to Live and Time to Die," and that, of course, is slightly different from its given English title. Remarque's antiwar novel "All Quiet on the Western Front" (German: "Im Westen Nichts Neues" = "Nothing New in the West") made the author a target of the Nazis when Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933, and Remarque's books were among those publicly burned by the Nazis. Many years ago I bought a paperback copy of the book. Remarque actually appears in the film as Professor Pohlmann, the former teacher of Ernst Graeber and Oscar Binding, and in real life, Remarque had been a teacher in his younger years. Remarque was a devout Catholic, and his religious faith is an important part of "A Time To Love and A Time To Die." Remarque moved to Switzerland in the pre-Nazi era and went to the United States in the 1930s, where he became a citizen within a couple of years of the end of World War Two (the Nazis had revoked his German citizenship in the late 1930s). Remarque's sister remained in Germany and she was beheaded by the Nazis during the war for "undermining morale" because of comments she made about the war being lost. Americans and others the world over need to refresh their memories about what their parents, grandparents, friends and neighbors did to prevent such things from happening everywhere if fascism had won. We've let our guard down and in so doing, we have dishonored the sacrifices made by so many people in the United States and all over the world during the war against fascism in World War Two. For Americans, remember that over 400,000 U.S. military personnel died during that war. The thing is, the war against fascism is never really over, but many people relaxed their vigilance, while the fascists never rested, and they often cloaked their bigotry, racism and hate in the guise of religion, patriotism and constitutionality.    

This movie was directed by Douglas Sirk, born Hans Detlef Sierck in Germany to Danish parents who had emigrated to Germany. He and his first wife divorced (she was a Nazi) and his second wife was Jewish, so he left Germany, eventually coming to the United States, where he changed his name to Douglas Sirk and he directed some well known films from the 1950s, often with Rock Hudson as the star: "Magnificent Obsession," "All That Heaven Allows," "Written on the Wind," "Battle Hymn" and others. "A Time To Love and A Time To Die" can be a little difficult to find on DVD, and apparently it has not been issued by a major home entertainment company in the U.S. I bought the South Korean DVD version a year or two ago, because there were no other versions available. Understand, the DVD is in English, as is the original film, but it has Korean subtitles available for those able to read that language. You can turn the subtitles "off" or "on." I'm pretty sure the movie is periodically shown on "TCM" (Turner Classic Movies), and you might also be able to view it by going to their website, or perhaps on other movie sites. It is well worth seeing.  

Main Cast:

John Gavin ...................................................... Ernst Graeber
Lilo (Liselotte) Pulver ..................................... Elizabeth Kruse
Jock Mahoney ................................................. Immerman
Don DeFore ..................................................... Hermann Boettcher
Keenan Wynn .................................................. Reuter
Erich Maria Remarque .................................... Professor Pohlmann
Charles Regnier ............................................... Joseph
Bengt Lindström.............................................. Steinbrenner
Thayer David .................................................. Oscar Binding
Dorothea Wieck .............................................. Frau Lieser 
John Van Dreelen ............................................ army political officer
Kurt Meisel ..................................................... Heini (SS officer)

Cast Notes: John Gavin was of Latino descent and later served as the U.S. ambassador to Mexico. "John Gavin" was his stage name. Lilo Pulver was from Bern, Switzerland and she appeared in many German language films. Jock Mahoney was known at about the time of this film for playing the role of Yancy Derringer on a CBS television series. He was also familiar to some for having appeared in several of the Three Stooges' short films, and a few years later, he played Tarzan in a movie. Don DeFore had been in movies and television, but he would become best known beginning a few years after this film for playing George Baxter, the employer of a maid named Hazel (played by Shirley Booth) a comedy series on NBC and later on CBS. Keenan Wynn was a movie and television actor, and he was the son of entertainer Ed Wynn. Charles Regnier was a German director and actor. He had French ancestry; thus, his family name. Bengt Lindström was a Swedish actor. John Van Dreelen was from the Netherlands and escaped the Nazi occupiers there and made it to England, then later to the United States, where he became a well known face, if not name, in movies and on television, often playing Nazis (he was fluent in German) and other villainous characters. "To my knowledge" he was Jewish on his father's side; thus more than the little need to escape the Nazis.

The film is set in Russia in 1944, as spring approaches. Ernst Graeber is a German soldier with forces opposing the Soviet Red Army. Some dialogue tells us the Germans are in retreat, as some of the men have been through this destroyed village before, and as Ernst Graeber notes, it was during the German advance. A hardcore Nazi in the unit, named Steinbrenner, takes issue with Graeber, as his super sensitive ego lashes out at anything even implying truth by declaring that Graeber is now meaning that German forces are retreating. His nasty tone, or maybe that should be "Nazi tone," brings another soldier, Immerman, to speak out saying, "The only person talking retreat around here is you." He goes on mockingly, "The rest of us know everything here is perfect. We're going to annihilate the enemy this year for certain ... we annihilate him every year, sometimes twice a year."

Four Russians in civilian clothes are thought to be guerilla fighters and are put to work digging their own graves. The German troops for the firing squad begin discussing the situation, with one complaining that they are soldiers and shouldn't be shooting civilians, but another answers that they can refuse and they themselves will be shot. Another says, "We didn't sentence them, we're not to blame," but another answers, "That's our excuse for everything." After the executions, one of the young soldiers who has only been with the unit for three weeks is so distraught, he shoots himself, but the captain wants the death reported as an accident, in spite of Steinbrenner the Nazi looking on. Graeber had put in for leave seven months earlier and it finally comes through. The captain tells him to get out quickly, in case leaves are canceled, "If you're not here, you're not here."

Graeber goes to the area behind the front to begin his trip back home. Food parcels are being given to home bound troops and a Nazi political officer tells the men that the food is being given to them to demonstrate to the civilian population that the troops are well cared for and can even bring food home. Further, he tells the men it is their responsibility "to comfort and cheer" their loved ones at home. He also reminds them that criticism is treason. Ernst gets to his hometown and tells an air raid warden that he's just come from the front. The man quickly becomes upset, asking, "The front? And what do you think this is?" He then tells Ernest the town has been bombed 6 times in 10 days and that his wife and child have been killed. Ernst gets no rest from the war, as the air raid warden tells him that the civilian population was being bombed "while you front line soldiers have been running away." The house where Ernst was born is a pile of rubble and no one knows the whereabouts of his parents.

Ernst goes to the home of Dr. Bernhard Kruse, his family's doctor, and he finds the house still intact. The doctor's adult daughter, Elizabeth, is there, but the doctor was taken away by the Nazis a few months before and he has not been heard from since. Frau Lieser, who is the neighborhood Nazi representative, has been placed in the house, after her own home was bombed. While Ernst and Elizabeth talk, the air raid siren sounds and "Frau Crocodile," as Ernst calls Frau Lieser, threatens to report Elizabeth if she doesn't go to the air raid shelter. Inside the shelter Ernst sees a middle aged neighbor couple and hopes they have word of his parents, but they do not. The despondent wife tells Ernst their own children have been killed. The woman is bitter and she begins to utter some critical statement, and the husband tells Ernst of his concern, because they have already been previously reported to the authorities for his wife's statements. Later at Elizabeth's home, Ernst and Elizabeth have a contentious time when he gives her his food packet and she assumes it is an offering for... ah ... a good time and she is offended. Ernst leaves. A former schoolmate, Oscar Binding, sees Ernst while driving by, and he stops and has Ernst go to his house. Oscar has become a Nazi Party official in the town and he has has a well kept house with plenty of food and beverages from all over Europe. Ernst tells him about his parents, and Oscar says he'll check into it. He also tells how people ask favors from him now that he's an important party official in town, including asking him to get loved ones out of concentration camps. He tells Ernst about a former professor of theirs, Professor Pohlmann, who gave Oscar a hard time about passing his school examinations, at a time when Oscar was more interested in the Hitler Youth. When Oscar became a Nazi official, he got the professor fired and then had him thrown into a concentration camp, but he was later released. Oscar lets Ernst bathe with finely scented soap and he gives him some liquor to drink and a bottle to take with him.

Ernst goes to see Elizabeth and she apologizes for her previous behavior. When she asks if Ernst has gotten any news of his parents, he tells her about Oscar Binding checking into it. She is upset that Ernst is using a Nazi Party official, and he says he couldn't turn down Oscar's help and that he was the first person to offer any help in finding out about his parents and that he's planning on asking Oscar about Elizabeth's father. Elizabeth says, "Murderers are never murderers 24 hours a day. Some adore their mothers, some cry when their dogs are dying, but it is enough when they are murderers for one minute a day... What's happened to you Ernst, are you blind, or don't you want to see?"

Elizabeth calms down and Ernst plans a splendid romantic evening for the two of them for the next day at a high priced restaurant patronized by many army officers. Ernst has his pay from two years saved up, and he's prepared to spend it lavishly on Elizabeth while he's on leave. He's seen lots of death and he knows people can be gone in an instant. The next evening they go to the restaurant and are drinking wine and having a good time when the air raid siren blares out its warning. They go to the restaurant shelter, and this time the bombs fall right in that neighborhood. Elizabeth and Ernst flee out to the street with the other people as the bombers fly off after delivering their destruction. When they return to Elizabeth's they hear orders being given out on the street. They look out the window and see concentration camp inmates working to clear the new rubble caused by the bombing raid. Elizabeth looks over the faces of the prisoners, thinking she might see her father, but he is not among them. She tells Ernst her father was arrested because he said Germany could not win the war, and someone reported him to the authorities. Ernst asks Elizabeth to marry him, but she gets offended again when he clumsily tells her that she would be entitled to some monthly money from the government if he is killed, as well as to a one time death benefit payment. She finally calms down again, although Ernst did make it sound like a business transaction. They get married and after a skirmish with Frau Lieser, things seem to settle down, with Elizabeth going to her job at a factory making army coats for the troops.

Ernst checks for notices left in the neighborhood in case someone answers his posted inquiry about his parents. The old air raid warden says a package came for him. Ernst opens it to find it's from his mother, who had sent it to his unit in Russia, and it has been forwarded to his hometown. His parents are alive and his mother will write with a new address soon. Ernst rushes home, but Frau Lieser is waiting with a notice for Elizabeth to report to the Gestapo the next day. Ernst knows where Professor Pohlmann is living, the man Oscar Binding had gotten fired and then temporarily locked up in a concentration camp. When he gets to Pohlmann's house, the Professor is worried that one of the men working out on the street is a Gestapo informer, so he tells Ernst to return later. Another air raid takes place as Ernst leaves, as the Allied aircraft bomb the town and some factory buildings, including the one where Elizabeth works. When Ernst gets home he finds the house is afire and greatly damaged by the bombing attack. Elizabeth makes it home later, but Ernst decides they should spend the night at the partially destroyed art museum, which is also near where Pohlmann lives. Ernst meets up with Professor Pohlmann, who is helping to hide a man named Joseph from the Nazis. Joseph is Jewish. Ernst tells the Professor everything that's happened and asks him if perhaps he should think about not returning to his unit when his leave ends, but Pohlmann tells him the Nazis will use Ernst's parents and wife to get to him, so he advises him to go back to his unit. Ernst tells him he doesn't believe in what is being done by Germans and he asks if there is anything worth believing in. The Professor says, "Yes there is ... God." Ernst asks, "You still believe in Him?" Pohlmann answers, "More than ever," which leads Ernst to ask if the Professor ever has any doubts, and this brings the reply, "Of course I have ... without doubts there would be no need for faith." Ernst asks how anyone could still believe in God in such a time, and Pohlmann sharply counters with, "God is not responsible to us, we are responsible to God for what is going on here." Ernst asks about personal responsibility and carrying out despicable orders and having duty turn into crime, and then blaming the leaders. Professor Pohlmann tells Ernst each man has to decide these things for himself and that the war is lost, and that IT MUST BE LOST for our country to regain its soul! The next morning Joseph comes to Ernst while Elizabeth is still asleep. He makes arrangements with Ernst in case Ernst feels the need to hide Elizabeth, but he still has not told her about the notice from the Gestapo for her to appear.

Ernst goes to see Oscar, who has had an all night party at his house. A drunken SS officer named Heini is playing the piano, and when Oscar tells him that Ernst is on leave from the Russian front, the SS man tells them he had his best time serving in Russia, because they have high alcohol vodka which the SS men poured down Russian throats and then set a match to them to turn them into "flamethrowers. "You should have seen them jump ... spitting fire. It was fun baby!" He goes on to explain how they killed other prisoners and he then leaves the room. Oscar tells Ernst that Heini is the new commandant at the nearby concentration camp, but that he (Oscar) doesn't agree with everything Heini does. This prompts Ernst to ask, "But you think it's alright if he does it?" Oscar says he's not responsible for what other people do, but Ernst says that's how he and others have done in Russia about killing hostages. Now Oscar says that since Ernst has shot civilians, "You're one of us," and Ernst says, "I guess I am."  Ernst leaves.

Ernst goes to the Gestapo office himself, without telling Elizabeth. It turns out he has to sign for the ashes of Elizabeth's father, whose cause of death is given by the Gestapo as "heart disease." He takes the cigar box with the ashes and goes to meet Joseph before Elizabeth joins them after her work, as he told her where to meet him. Joseph tells him Professor Pohlmann has been arrested and that he led the Nazis away from the house so that Joseph could have a chance to get away, which worked. Ernst says to Joseph, "How you must hate us," but he answers, "Hate makes one forget to be kosher." He then goes on to say how he prefers to remember the Germany where he grew up, well before Hitler and the Nazis. and he asks if he is supposed to hate Professor Pohlmann, who has risked his life to help him. Joseph says there are others like Pohlmann, although not enough, but that there is hope. Ernst is amazed by Joseph's optimism.

Elizabeth has made arrangements for the couple to stay at an older woman's house, and once there, Ernst lets Elizabeth know that her father is dead. Ernst tries to get an extension on his leave, but it is rejected. The night before Ernst must return to his unit, there is another air raid, but Elizabeth tells him she doesn't want to go to the shelter, so they stay in their room through the bombing. The next day, Ernst heads to the train station, but it takes him a couple of weeks to find his unit. When he gets there, the unit is under heavy artillery fire. Ernst's old friend Immerman is killed when an artillery shell explodes near him when he wades into a river to retrieve a barrel of beer. The shelling eases and the men stop for a rest. The mail is brought by courier and Ernst has a letter from Elizabeth. Steinbrenner brings some Russians in civilian clothes to the captain, telling him he's sure they're guerilla fighters, but the captain is doubtful. He doesn't want Steinbrenner in charge of the prisoners, so he sends Ernst and another man to lock up and guard the prisoners. Ernst takes the time to open and read Elizabeth's letter. She writes that they are going to have a child. Just then Steinbrenner comes running up. He tells Ernst the unit is moving out and that they aren't going to haul the prisoners with them. He prepares to shoot the prisoners, but Ernst blocks his rifle and knocks Steinbrenner to the ground. When Steinbrenner begins to stand up and raises his rifle to fire at Ernst, Ernst shoots and kills him. Ernst unlocks the door to where the prisoners are and tells them to go. He walks away and takes out Elizabeth's letter again. Two of the three prisoners run off, but the third prisoner stops and picks up Steinbrenner's rifle, calls to Ernst, and shoots him. Ernst falls by the river's edge and Elizabeth's letter slips from his hand into the river and he dies trying to grab it from the water as it floats off.

 Photo is of the South Korean imported DVD.

WORD HISTORY:
Scathe-This word goes back to Indo European "sket/sketh," which meant "to damage." This gave Old Germanic "skathonan/skaþonan (þ=th)"  which meant, "to damage, to harm." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sceaþian," meaning, "to hurt, to harm, to injure." This then became "scathen," seemingly influenced in pronunciation by Old Norse "skaða" (=skatha) by giving the English word the hard "k" sound, even though the spelling with "c" was kept,^ and finally the modern form. There is a noun form in English, although it is a rarity in modern times. It was "sceaða" (=sceatha) in Old English, meaning, "harm, injury," from Old Germanic "skaþon/skaþan," meaning "damage, harm." The adjective "scathing" (harsh, sharp words toward someone or something) is from the participle form of the verb (Example: "The editorial writer unleashed a scathing attack on the mayor for his administration's laxness in maintaining the streets.") Relatives in the other Germanic languages (I'll use the verb forms): German, Low German and Dutch have "schaden" meaning "to harm, to damage, to hurt (someone or something):" Frisian had "skatha/skathia" (not sure if that is also a modern form, but also "skea," meaning "damage" is likely a modern contracted form), Icelandic has "skaða" (to damage, to harm), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish have "skada" (to damage, to harm, to hurt someone or something).

^  Old Norse speakers, collectively called "Danes" by the English, landed and often settled in northern England and in parts of eastern England beginning in the 800s AD. This led to various influences by Old Norse on English. Like English, Old Norse came from the Germanic family of languages.