Review of Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison

What are the chances of two people from different backgrounds developing a friendship amid the horrors of war? That's the scenario depicted in John Huston's "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison". Robert Mitchum is a cast-away hard-ass marine who lands on an island where a pious nun (Deborah Kerr) has taken up residence during World War II. I think that the movie would have been more interesting if the Japanese troops had gotten depicted as more than simply the empty antagonists. As an adventure story it works well, showing the corporal and the sister having to figure out things like catching a sea turtle. A particularly effective scene shows Mitchum hiding amid the rocks, using the waves as cover while the Japanese search the area.

So, I wouldn't go so far as to call this movie a masterpiece, but I did enjoy it. If anyone ever tells you that history is boring, use this movie to disprove that comment.