The other night, I was in the mood to watch a good horror movie. After spending several minutes browsing the various streaming services that I subscribe to, nothing hit me. Since my family still owns cable, I also have access to STARZ, Showtime, and a few other platforms. So I decided to check out the Turner Classic Movies app. TCM often has classic horror movies ranging from the silent era all the way to the 80s and is the best place to find monster movies during certain times of the year. However, this apparently was not that time of the year.
Like most streaming apps, the movies on TCM have a very short shelf life. If you leave a movie in your queue for too long, it’ll be gone by the time you get around to wanting to watch it. The only horror movie they had was Psycho. And while I think Psycho is an excellent movie, it still was not quite what I had in mind. So I decided to see what else was on TCM. And that’s when I saw the uniquely titled “Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison”.
You know those movies that you put in your watchlist when you first get a streaming service and for whatever reason you’ve never gotten around to seeing it? Well, “Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison” is that movie that has been on my watchlist for years. I don’t quite remember why I put it in there, to be honest. Most likely, it was because the unusual title caught my eye.
Also, back when I first got Netflix back in high school, my friend Matt Grindstaff and I would exchange DVDs. I had a lot of movies that he had never seen and he had quite an impressive collection of movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood. I was fascinated and impressed with the way that they were able to make those films without modern technology such as computer editing software.
And they had much stricter film ratings back then. Either the movie was approved or not. There was no G, PG, or R rating back then. Many of these films have been rated since then (if they were released to theaters that is), but not all of them. But I digress. Whatever the reason, last night I decided to watch Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) starring Deborah Kerr (The King and I) and Robert Mitchum (The Longest Day) and directed by John Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre). And now I wish I had watched it sooner!
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison is about a marine named Corporal Allison (Robert Mitchum) whose submarine is blown up by the Japanese on the Pacific front during World War II. The film opens with his life raft adrift in the open sea. The opening credits alone would make a good short film.
But this is just the beginning. Allison’s raft washes ashore on a seemingly deserted island, but he soon sees a church building in the distance. Dehydrated and starving, with possible danger lurking in enemy territory, he slowly stumbles his way to the church. This is where he meets our leading lady, Sister Angela (Deborah Kerr). Sister Angela, or “Ma’am” as Allison calls her, is the sole inhabitant on the island.
She was accompanying a catholic priest on a rescue mission to save another priest, but there was no one on the island. The boat that dropped the pair off deserted them on the island. The catholic priest died the day unexpectedly. An unlikely friendship develops between the pair and they help each other stay alive through plane bombing (which destroys the raft), Japanese occupation of the island, and starvation, just to name a few.
The pair have to stay alive without being spotted by the occupying soldiers, which leads to many intense scenes of sneaking around and trying not to get caught. While these scenes are very entertaining, perhaps the best part of the film is the chemistry between its stars.
Robert Mitchum said that Deborah Carr was his favorite actress he ever worked with and it shows on screen. The way they talk about their lives and backstories with each other makes you feel like you are getting to know the characters as well. I don’t want to give away too much about the movie, as these interactions truly make the film.
Robert Mitchum is perfectly cast as Corporal Allison, or “Mr. Allison” as Sister Angela calls him. His performance reminds me a lot of Sylvester Stallone’s performance in the first Rocky and I mean that as one of the highest compliments I can give. He’s had a rough life and is still going through it. He mumbles over his words and is generally uneducated.
However, this does not make him unlikeable. Quite the contrary! Mr. Allison is always a gentleman to Sister Angela and is never pushy or overly controlling. He treats her like a person and shows genuine interest in getting to know her and understanding her.
Deborah Kerr is also perfectly cast as Sister Angela. Known for playing proper ladies, she fits into the role with ease. Sister Angela was a month away from taking her final vows in becoming a nun before being stranded on the island. Deborah Kerr portrays a woman who is confident in her decision and yet has some doubts lurking just under the surface. In other words, her words say one thing, but her expressions can give herself away. Kerr plays her as professional, yet very approachable.
She also takes a genuine interest in Allison’s life and does not look down upon him for being ignorant of her religion. They learn that even though their upbringing was very different, they also have some things in common, such as their devotion to their career paths. John Huston is the man, whether he is behind the camera (such as The African Queen) or in front of the camera (such as in Chinatown) and this movie solidified him for me as one of the all-time greats.
In addition to the screenplay and the actors, I believe John Huston’s directing is one of the main reasons that Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison still holds up to this day. He is equally as talented at directing dialogue as well as the stealth sequences.
Take John Woo. He is an excellent action director, but he always used assistant directors when filming the dialogue scenes for his Hollywood movies. But not John Huston. He directs both dialogue and stealth with cinematic excellence. And I know what you all are thinking: why is this movie called “Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison”? To be honest, I have no idea. You’d think Sister Angela would say it near the end or something, but nope. The line is never said. Not one time.
The explosive finale is one that you don’t want to miss! John Huston makes you feel like you are in the middle of a bombing. I have seen several scenes where bombs are going off and this is one of the best.
According to the opening credits, this movie is an adaptation of a 1952 novel by the same name, so maybe the line is in the book? I’m not sure. But don’t let the unique title of this film fool you. Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison is definitely worth a watch, especially if you are a classic movie fan. And even if you’re not, I think you’ll still enjoy it too.
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