''Arise, My Love'' is a 1940 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by

Mitchell Leisen James Mitchell Leisen (October 6, 1898 – October 28, 1972) was an American director, art director, and costume designer. Film career He entered the film industry in the 1920s, beginning in the art and costume departments. He directed his fir ...

and starring

Claudette Colbert Claudette Colbert ( ; born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin; September 13, 1903July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures ...

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985. He is remembered for his Academy Award and Cannes Film Festival Award-winning ...

and

Dennis O'Keefe Dennis O'Keefe (born Edward Vanes Flanagan, Jr., March 29, 1908 – August 31, 1968) was an American actor and writer. Early years Born in Fort Madison, Iowa, O'Keefe was the son of Edward Flanagan and Charlotte Flanagan, Irish vaudevill ...

. It was made by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

and written by

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holl ...

Charles Brackett Charles William Brackett (November 26, 1892 – March 9, 1969) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He collaborated with Billy Wilder on sixteen films. Life and career Brackett was born in Saratoga Springs, New York, the son of ...

and

Jacques Théry Jacques Théry (1881–1970) was a French novelist, playwright and screenwriter. He worked in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood during the 1940s. His collaborator Charles Brackett considered him to be an "outspoken, hard-line communist".Brack ...

. Containing an interventionist message, it tells the love story of a pilot and a journalist who meet in the latter days of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

and follows them through the early days of World War II. Colbert once said that ''Arise, My Love'' was her personal favorite motion picture of all the films she had made. ''Arise, My Love'' is based on the true story of Harold Edward Dahl. During the

Dahl, who was fighting as a pilot for the

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics ('' Aeronáutica M ...

, was shot down and taken as prisoner of war. Initially sentenced to death, there were some diplomatic movements to free Dahl. His first wife, Edith Rogers, a known singer of impressive beauty, was said to have visited Francisco Franco herself to plead for his life. He remained in prison until 1940 and then returned to the United States.

Plot

American pilot Tom Martin (Ray Milland) is a soldier of fortune who went to Spain to fight in the Spanish Civil War. During the summer of 1939, he is languishing in a prison cell while awaiting execution. Unexpectedly granted a pardon on the morning that he is to face a firing squad, Tom's release has been managed by reporter Augusta "Gusto" Nash (Claudette Colbert), who posed as his wife. When the prison governor learns of the deception, the pair has to run for their lives. Ending up in Paris, Tom tries, without success, to woo Gusto. When she is sent to Berlin as a correspondent, Tom pursues her with both of them again on the run as Hitler invades Poland. Booking passage on the ill-fated , the ship is torpedoed by a German submarine. After their rescue, Tom joins the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

while Gusto remains in France as a war correspondent. At the fall of Paris, Tom is reunited with Gusto, and both decide to return home to convince Americans that a real danger awaits.

Cast

as Augusta (Gusto) Nash *

as Tom Martin *

as Joe "Shep" Shepard *

Walter Abel Walter Abel (June 6, 1898 – March 26, 1987) was an American film, stage and radio actor. Life Abel was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the son of Christine (née Becker) and Richard Michael Abel. Abel graduated from the American Academy o ...

as Mr. Phillips *

Dick Purcell Richard Gerold Purcell Jr. (August 6, 1905 – April 10, 1944) was an American actor best known for playing Marvel Comics' Captain America in the 1943 film serial, co-starring with Lorna Gray and Lionel Atwill. Purcell also appeared in fil ...

as Pinky O'Connor *

George Zucco George Zucco (11 January 1886 – 27 May 1960) was a British character actor who appeared in plays and 96 films, mostly American-made, during a career spanning over two decades, from the 1920s to 1951. In his films, he often played a suave ...

as Prison Governor *

Frank Puglia Francesco Giuseppe "Frank" Puglia (9 March 1892 – 25 October 1975) was an Italian-American film actor. He had small, but memorable roles in films including ''Casablanca'' (a Moroccan rug merchant), ''Now, Voyager'' and ''The Jungle Book''. ...

as Father Jacinto *

Esther Dale Esther Dale (November 10, 1885 – July 23, 1961) was an American actress of the stage and screen. Early years Dale was born in Beaufort, South Carolina. She attended Leland and Gray Seminary in Townshend, Vermont. In Berlin, Germany, she stud ...

as Secretary *

Paul Leyssac Paul Andri Jurgensen Leyssac (21 June 1881 – 20 August 1946) was a Danish writer, and stage and film actor. He played Abraham Lincoln in the 1937 British film ''Victoria the Great''. He also was a translator of the works of Hans Christian Ander ...

as Bresson *

Ann Codee Ann Codee (born Anna Marie Vannuefflin, 5 March 1890 – 18 May 1961) was a Belgian actress with numerous hit films on her résumé, such as '' Can-Can'', ''Kiss Me Kate'', and ''Interrupted Melody''. Born in Antwerp, Belgium, her name was s ...

as Mme. Bresson *

Stanley Logan Stanley Logan (born Stanley William Maurice Logan; 12 June 1885 – 30 January 1953) was an English actor, screen writer, theatre director and film director. Biography Stanley Logan was born on 12 June 1885 in Earlsfield, Greater London, Englan ...

as Col. Tubbs Brown *

Lionel Pape Edward Lionel Pape (17 April 1877 – 21 October 1944) was an English born stage and screen actor. His acting career begun in his native UK with eventual migration to the US. He appeared on the Broadway stage in over 20 productions between 1 ...

as Lord Kettlebrook *

Aubrey Mather Aubrey Mather (17 December 1885 – 16 January 1958) was an English character actor. Career Mather was born in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, and began his career on the stage in 1905. He debuted in London in '' Brewster's Millions'' in ...

as Achille *

Cliff Nazarro Clifford Nazarro (January 31, 1904 – February 18, 1961) was an American double-talk Double-talk is a form of speech in which inappropriate, invented, or nonsense words are interpolated into normal speech to give the appearance of knowledg ...

as Botzelberg

Production

Filming for ''Arise, My Love'' began on June 24, 1940, on the Paramount lot and lasted until mid-August 1940, with the script continuously updated to incorporate actual events, such as the sinking of the SS ''Athenia'' and the signing of the armistice between France and Germany in the

Forest of Compiègne The Forest of Compiègne (french: Forêt de Compiègne, ) is a large forest in the region of Picardy, France, near the city of Compiègne and approximately north of Paris. The forest is notable as the site of the Armistice of 11 November 1918 b ...

.LoBianco, Lorraine
"Articles: Arise, My Love (1940)."
''Turner CLassic Movies''. Retrieved: October 31, 2014. The character of Augusta Nash was reputedly based on that of

Martha Gellhorn Martha Ellis Gellhorn (8 November 1908 – 15 February 1998) was an American novelist, travel writer, and journalist who is considered one of the great war correspondents of the 20th century. Gellhorn reported on virtually every major worl ...

. "Dream Lover", composed by

Victor Schertzinger Victor L. Schertzinger (April 8, 1888 – October 26, 1941) was an American composer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. His films include ''Paramount on Parade'' (co-director, 1930 in film, 1930), ''Something to Sing About (1937 fil ...

, lyrics by

Clifford Grey Clifford Grey (5 January 1887 – 25 September 1941) was an English songwriter, librettist, actor and screenwriter. His birth name was Percival Davis, and he was also known as Clifford Gray. Grey contributed prolifically to West End and Br ...

, was sung and hummed by Claudette Colbert. The song was originally introduced in ''

The Love Parade ''The Love Parade'' is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film, directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, involving the marital difficulties of Queen Louise of Sylvania (MacDonald) and her consort, ...

'' (1929). A Stinson A trimotor was featured in the film as a Spanish aircraft. Aerial coordinator

Paul Mantz Albert Paul Mantz (August 2, 1903 – July 8, 1965) was a noted air racing pilot, movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid-1960s. He gained fame on two stages: Hollywood and in air races. Early years Man ...

flew the aircraft.Farmer 1984, p. 294.

Reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

, film reviewer for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' considered ''Arise, My Love'' a cynical way to exploit the war in Europe: "it is simply a synthetic picture which attempts to give consequence to a pleasant April-in-Paris romance by involving it in the realities of war—but a war which is patently conceived by some one who has been reading headlines in California. Miss Colbert and Mr. Milland are very charming when tête-a-tête. But, with Europe going up in flames around them, they are, paradoxically, not so hot. Same goes for the film."Crowther, Bosley
"Arise My Love (1940); The screen:'Arise My Love' at the Paramount."
''The New York Times'', October 17, 1940.

Adaptations

''Arise, My Love'' was adapted as a radio play on the June 8, 1942, episode of ''

Lux Radio Theater ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...

'' with Milland joined by

Loretta Young Loretta Young (born Gretchen Young; January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the fil ...

. It was also presented on the June 1, 1946, episode of '' Academy Award Theater'', with Milland reprising his role.

Awards and nominations

''Arise, My Love'' won the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

for Best Story (

Benjamin Glazer Benjamin Glazer (May 7, 1887 – March 18, 1956) was a screenwriter, producer, foley artist, and director of American films from the 1920s through the 1950s. He made the first translation of Ferenc Molnár's play ''Liliom'' into English in 1921. H ...

and

Hans Székely Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...

), and was nominated for

Best Music Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

(

Victor Young Albert Victor Young (August 8, 1899– November 10, 1956)"Victor Young, Composer, Dies of Heart Attack", ''Oakland Tribune'', November 12, 1956. was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. Biography Young is commonly said to ...

), Best Cinematography (

Charles Lang Charles Bryant Lang Jr., A.S.C. (March 27, 1902, Bluff, Utah – April 3, 1998, Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situat ...

) and Best Art Direction (

Hans Dreier Hans Dreier (August 21, 1885 – October 24, 1966) was a German motion picture art director. He was Paramount Pictures' supervising art director from 1927 until his retirement in 1950, when he was succeeded by Hal Pereira. Hans Dreier was born i ...

and Robert Usher)."Details: 'Arise My Love' (1940)."
''The New York Times'', 2010. Retrieved: October 31, 2014.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Dick, Bernard F. ''Claudette Colbert: She Walked in Beauty''. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2008, . * Farmer, James H. ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation''. Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: Tab Books Inc., 1984. . * Paris, Michael. ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema.'' Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. .

External links

* * *
''Arise, My Love''
on Academy Award Theater: June 1, 1946 * by

Jeanette MacDonald Jeanette Anna MacDonald (June 18, 1903 – January 14, 1965) was an American singer and Actor, actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier (''The Love Parade'', ''Love Me Tonight'', ''The Merry Widow (1934 ...

{{Mitchell Leisen 1940 films 1940 romantic comedy films American aviation films American black-and-white films Films scored by Victor Young Films directed by Mitchell Leisen Films set in France Paramount Pictures films Spanish Civil War films World War II films made in wartime Films that won the Academy Award for Best Story Films with screenplays by Billy Wilder Films with screenplays by Charles Brackett American romantic comedy films American World War II films 1940s English-language films