''Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison'' is a 1957 American

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its cr ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed by

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...

. It stars

Deborah Kerr Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE (30 September 192116 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr (), was a Scottish actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first person from Scotland to be no ...

as an Irish nun and

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He is known for his antihero roles and film noir appearances. He received nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. He received a star on the Holl ...

as a U.S. Marine, both stranded on a Japanese-occupied island in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The film was adapted by John Huston and

John Lee Mahin John Lee Mahin (August 23, 1902, Evanston, Illinois – April 18, 1984, Los Angeles) was an American screenwriter and producer of films who was active in Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1960s. He was known as the favorite writer of Clark Gable a ...

from the 1952 novel by Charles Shaw and was directed by Huston. It was nominated for

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

for

Best Actress in a Leading Role 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 ...

(Deborah Kerr) and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. The movie was filmed on the islands of

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

in what was then the

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were the territories in the West Indies under British Empire, British rule, including Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Antigua and Barb ...

. Producer Eugene Frenke later filmed ''

The Nun and the Sergeant ''The Nun and the Sergeant'' is a 1962 Korean War drama film starring Anna Sten and Robert Webber in the title roles. It was produced by Sten's husband Eugene Frenke, who had produced the 1957 film ''Heaven Knows, Mr Allison'', also a pairing o ...

'', a low-budget variation on the story, (1962), starring his wife

Anna Sten Anna Sten (December 3, 1908November 12, 1993, born Anna Petrivna Fesak) was a Ukrainian-born American actress. She began her career in stage plays and films in the Soviet Union, then traveled to Germany, where she starred in several films. Her p ...

Plot

In the South Pacific in 1944, U.S. Marine Corporal Allison and his reconnaissance party are disembarking from a

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

submarine when they are discovered and fired upon by the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

(IJA). The submarine's captain is forced to dive and leave the scouting team behind. Allison reaches a rubber raft and, after days adrift, reaches an island. He finds an abandoned settlement and a chapel with one occupant: Sister Angela, a novice Irish nun who has not yet taken her final vows. She has been on the island for only four days, having come with an elderly priest to evacuate another clergyman only to find that the Japanese had arrived first. The frightened natives who had brought them to the island left the pair without warning, and the priest died soon after. For a while, they have the island to themselves, but then a detachment of Japanese troops arrives to set up a meteorological camp, forcing them to hide in a cave. When Sister Angela is unable to stomach the raw fish that Allison has caught, he sneaks into the Japanese camp for supplies, narrowly avoiding detection. That night, they watch flashes from naval guns being fired in a sea battle over the horizon. The Japanese unexpectedly leave the island and Allison professes his love for Sister Angela, proposing marriage. But she shows him her engagement ring and explains that it is a symbol of her forthcoming final holy vows. Later both in celebration and frustration, Allison gets drunk on

sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...

. He blurts out that he considers her devotion to her vows to be pointless since they are stuck on the island "like

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

." She runs out into a tropical rain and falls ill as a result. Allison, now sober and contrite, finds her shivering. He carries her back, but the Japanese have returned, forcing them to retreat to the cave. Allison sneaks into the Japanese camp to get blankets. He kills a soldier who discovers him, alerting the enemy. To force him into the open, the Japanese set fire to the vegetation. When a Japanese soldier discovers the cave, Allison and Sister Angela have two options: surrender or die from a hand grenade thrown inside. An ensuing explosion is not a grenade, but a bomb; the Americans have begun attacking the island in preparation for a

landing Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown" or " spl ...

. Allison comments that the landing will not be easy because when they returned, the Japanese brought four

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

pieces Piece or Pieces (not to be confused with peace) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Piece (chess), pieces deployed on a chessboard for playing the game of chess * ''Pieces'' (video game), a 1994 puzzle game for the Super NES * ...

and concealed them well on the island. Responding to what he attributes to a message from God, Allison disables the artillery during the barrage that will precede the American assault while the Japanese are still in their bunkers. He is wounded but sabotages all the guns by removing their

breechblock A breechblock (or breech block) is the part of the firearm action that closes the breech of a breech loading weapon (whether small arms or artillery) before or at the moment of firing. It seals the breech and contains the pressure generated by ...

s, saving many American lives. After the landing, the Marine officers are puzzled by the missing breechblocks. Sister Angela and the wounded Allison then say their goodbyes as the Marines begin occupation. Allison has reconciled himself to Sister Angela's dedication to Jesus, but she reassures him that they will always be close "companions." After being found, Allison is transferred by the Marines to the ship, with Sister Angela walking beside him.

Cast

Production

John Lee Mahin, who wrote the script, called the original novel "a very dirty book" and claims producer Gene Frenke kept pushing for more sex to be added. However this was resisted by Mahin and John Huston. Filming took place in Trinidad and Tobago, allowing Huston and Fox to use blocked funds in the UK, receive British film finance and qualify for the

Eady Levy The Eady Levy was a tax on box-office receipts in the United Kingdom, intended to support the British film industry. It was introduced in 1950 as a voluntary levy as part of the Eady plan, named after Sir Wilfred Eady, a Treasury official. The lev ...

. The film was set later in the war than it was in the novel, which had Allison escaping from the

Battle of Corregidor The Battle of Corregidor (; ), fought on 5–6 May 1942, was the culmination of the Empire of Japan, Japanese Philippines campaign (1941–1942), campaign for the conquest of the Commonwealth of the Philippines during World War II. The Bat ...

. In the film, the Allies are on the offensive and U.S. Marines capture the island. The screenplay compares the rituals and commitment of the Catholic Church and the United States Marine Corps. The

National Legion of Decency The National Legion of Decency, also known as the Catholic Legion of Decency, was an American Catholic group founded in 1934 by the Archbishop of Cincinnati, John T. McNicholas, as an organization dedicated to identifying objectionable content i ...

monitored the production of the film closely, sending a representative to watch the filming; Kerr and Mitchum ad-libbed a scene (not included in the final print) in which their characters wildly kissed and grabbed at each other. The Marines provided troops for the invasion climax. Six Japanese persons living in Brazil played some of the leading Japanese characters, and Chinese people from some of the laundries and restaurants of Trinidad and Tobago played the rest of the Japanese soldiers. Screen Archives Entertainment released ''Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison'' on Blu-ray on June 10, 2014.

Reception

According to ''Kinematograph Weekly'', the film was "in the money" at the British box office in 1957. The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' critic wrote, "Both stars' performances are excellent. However, I fail to see why Miss Kerr was hampered by the necessity to assume a

brogue Brogue may refer to: Language * Brogue (accent), regionally accented English, especially Irish-accented * Mission brogue, an accent of English spoken in the Mission District of San Francisco * Ocracoke brogue, a family of English dialects in the S ...

, which doesn't come naturally. Mr. Mitchum has the edge on her as far as being well cast, and will, I think, be most believeable to the average audience, altho I doubt that any veteran Marine would stand out and do a jig under shellfire—even if it comes from the guns of the United States Navy as a prelude to a welcome American invasion. The film, in script and direction, was obviously aimed at mass audience appeal. That it probably will have." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' was complimentary: "That frequent and often popular story of a pious woman and an impious man cast together in circumstances that test the righteousness and fiber of each is tackled again by John Huston (he tackled it last in ''The African Queen'')....And once more, Mr. Huston comes up with a film that is stirring and entertaining....with Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum in the leading roles—indeed, the only real roles in the picture—he has got it buckled to solid characters....If there does seem to be some repetition, that is something that has to be blamed on the singleness of the location and the meagerness of the cast. There are not many variations to be wrung from the situation. However, the location is exciting...and it is drenched with atmosphere. And the cast, while small, is excellent." Crowther, Bosley. "Screen: 'Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison." ''The New York Times'', 15 March 1957, 22.

Plot

Cast

Production

Reception

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links