4 dans une jeep

Recently, during a discussion of films made a few years after the end of WW2, I mentioned Four In A Jeep. No one had ever heard of it. I recall seeing it in the early 50s and being impressed by it--possibly because of the times--it was the Cold War, and I was very political then--leftie to the core. This storyline of 4 soldiers of different nations--former allies, patroling a conquered city was just my cup of tea. I found it or wanted to find it-- a plea for peace. The main story itself, trying to reunite 2 lovers torn apart by war and a difficult peace, was secondary to the 4 men themselves; especially the American (Ralph Meeker who was getting recognition in Hollywood,) and the Russian, Voroshenko. Because of the Cold War, they could have made Voroshenko the villain, instead he became for me the pivotal character torn between instinct (perhaps love) and duty. He and the American sergeant were pitted against each, but developed respect toward the other rather than hatred. I found this film to be a good companion piece to The Third Man--same period, many similar situations. Too bad it will probably be seen by so few--no DVD for this one--a real pity!

Chris

... But this is NOT "Four Jills In A Jeep". That was a musical comedy and this one is a post-WWII melodrama set in Vienna in the years just after the war. Like Berlin, Vienna was divided into fourths; American, French, Russian and British. The picture captures the tension between the four powers as well as the desperation of the Viennese, trying to get on with their lives and serve four masters at the same time.

There are some heartbreaking scenes at the train station as relatives wait for their returning sons and husbands, recently released POWs - some are waiting in vain but don't know it until the train arrives. There are also stark scenes of wrecked and ruined buildings that were bombed during the war, but are nevertheless occupied by hard-up tenants.

In the midst of this destruction Viveca Lindfors waits for her husband, uncertain whether he will be released. American MP Ralph Meeker takes an interest in her predicament, but mostly in her. Meeker is the nominal star but the acting honors go to Ms. Lindfors, who acts circles around Meeker, who was in only his second picture. All other actors are very competent but are no-names.

This is an excellent movie and holds interest throughout. Like "Decision Before Dawn" which came out the same year, there is an aura of realism about it which war pictures made during the war did not duplicate, and gives it a little more bite. My copy was poorly done, with uneven clarity and a sometimes garbled soundtrack. The website says it is coming out on DVD in Oct.'10. It is worth whatever it costs as it is a cut above many pictures, war or otherwise.

When "Karl" (Hans Putz) manages to escape from a Soviet prison in post-war Vienna, it falls to the four occupying powers to work together to re-apprehend him. This task ought to be a fairly routine one for them. Briton "Stuart" (Michael Medwin), American "Long" (Ralph Meeker), Frenchman "Pasture" (Albert Dinan) and the Soviet "Voroshenko" (Yossi Yadin) make up a group that regularly patrol the city in their jeep and know their way around. It's also quite astonishing, in their Babel-esque linguistic maelstrom, that these men can hope to accomplish anything at all but they are soon on the trail of this man and his wife "Franziska" (Viveca Lindfors). Quite quickly, they begin to realise that "Karl" is no danger to anyone and that his imprisonment isn't exactly just. Three decide to help him instead but their problem is that "Voroshenko" isn't convinced. He has much less latitude than his cohorts and it soon proves a much more delicate, even dangerous, mission for him. Can they manage to re-unite this couple in freedom? This starts off as quite an effective illustration of the loose confederation of warring tribes scenario that prevailed after the Nazi defeat, but as the characterisations develop it becomes a little meandering and undercooked and the appearance of the rather wooden Lindfors doesn't really help much. The narrative starts to become more of an anti-Russian propaganda exercise and sadly rather predicable thereafter. There is some potent imagery - especially as the beleaguered refugees arrive home at the railway station to an awaiting crowd of hopeful relatives, but the use of each other's language, though useful at the start, starts to grate after an hour. It's an interesting concept and the actors do an adequate enough job, but it becomes just all a little too messy and black and white for me.

Set just after WWII in Viena, in the 4 different districts, French, English, American and Russian. The viewer follows a jeep with one military of each country. They help a woman who searches her husband, played in too much melodramatic way for myself (played by Swedish Viveca Lindford). The main interest for me is the casting of Ralph Meeker as the American (in his first movie and yet a solid presence) and Dinan as the dynamic french military (and Paulette Dubost as his even more dynamic wife, her numéro with policemen searching is funny). The Swiss director Leopold Lindtberg does competent work, he has directed a few other movies on WWII. The sequence of the return of prisonners of war is interesting.

In post-war Vienna, four sergeants, each from a different occupying power, share a jeep patrolling the International Sector at the heart of the old city. They get along pretty well -- American Ralph Meeker and Russian Yossi Yadin had actually met during the War -- but when Viennese Viveca Lindfors enters their view, matters become confused. She is waiting for her husband, Hans Putz, to be released from internment camp in Hungary. Word comes he will be in the next batch, but he fails to show up; he escaped just days earlier. It's obvious he's making his way to Vienna and his wife. Meeker, the French sergeant, and the British one are pretty easy-going about the situation, but Yadin has orders to capture him.

It's a well written, shot, and acted drama about the attitudes of the non-coms; even as the tension surrounding the Berlin Air-Lift roils international relations, Vienna is a city in which the occupying powers are still cooperating. Unfortunately, the last half hour is shot at night-time, and the print I looked at was pretty dark, so it's sometimes hard to tell what's going on during the pursuit of Putz. Still, there are plenty of good moments here, and it was time well spent watching this.