Uncertain Glory (1944)

Directed by Raoul Walsh; produced by Robert Buckner

In German-occupied France, Jean Picard (Errol Flynn) is a career criminal whose career has at last caught up with him. Inadvertently causing the death of a watchman during a robbery, he is sentenced to death. A timely air-raid, however, causes enough havoc at the prison for him to escape. Before long, he is re-captured by his old enemy Inspector Bonet (Paul Lukas). But Picard has a proposition for Bonet: in order to die with dignity - in front of a firing squad - Picard will give himself up as a saboteur, thus saving the lives of a hundred hostages. But can Bonet trust Picard to do what is right? And can Picard trust himself?

This is an unusual war movie and an unusual movie for Flynn. Firstly, though it takes place during the Second World War, and involves sabotage and resistance, there is no action of the conventional sort. There is tension, but it comes from conflict within and between individuals. This conflict is, in fact, the core of the story. The writing is quite good, creating a pair of well-defined characters in Picard and Bonet. The latter is seen as a single-minded man, a defender of the law at all costs, but also a patriot for his country. The offer Picard makes him produces indecision in him, possibly for the first time in his career.

Picard, on the other hand, has no such interior battle. He is out for himself, though this changes as the story progresses. He becomes engrossed in the notion of a noble death, taking time to memorize all that is necessary to fool the Germans into thinking he is the saboteur they are hunting. Yet the audience may not be convinced that his selflessness is genuine. And this keeps the audience guessing. The problem with this is not that the transformation of Picard is too sudden, but that it is not entirely supported by the movie.

This flaw is, in turn, countered by the acting. Flynn does a better job as Picard than he does in most of his other movies. He might be seen as a mere action-hero, someone who is needed only to speak lines convincingly, flash a sword, win the lady and save the day. But here, he is rather more than that. His character is not an angel. He shrugs off his killing of the watchman, which may possibly be regretted, as seemingly of little consideration. One gathers that with Picard, once something has been done, there is no point in crying over it. That trait, important to the story, is due to Flynn’s acting.

Lukas does as well with a rôle that isn’t less showy - since Flynn’s is not spectacular - but more stolid. Less is expected from Bonet than from Picard, and, consequently, there is less opportunity for Lukas to evolve the rôle. Even so, he admirably fulfills his part.

Other characters are also in conflict. A sub-plot deals with villagers wrestling with the possibility of blaming strangers - Bonet and Picard - for the sabotage, so that their friends and relatives will not be killed as hostages. This aspect of the film is not as important as it may have originally been intended, as it feels apart, separated, from the principal story-line.

The direction, by veteran Walsh, is good, as one would expect, but does not contribute a great deal that a lesser director would have achieved. The tension in the movie, one feels, is generated by the actors, rather than the director. Thus, the latter’s work appears more ordinary than it may be.

Uncertain Glory is a good movie, though not very good. It cannot be rated as exciting, but few character studies can be. It benefits greatly from the two stars, and particularly shows Flynn in a good light. The final image of his face, as he realises the enormity of his decisions and what they will mean, depicts a talented actor getting across exactly what his character is feeling, without words or actions. If the rest of the film doesn’t quite measure up, it is nonetheless a worthy effort.