Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

John Lee Mahin (screenplay) and
John Huston (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

7 November 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | War

Plot:

A Marine and a Nun, both shipwrecked on a Pacific Island, find solace in one another as the two wait out the war.

Plot Keywords:

Nun | Japanese Army | Church | Game Of Go | Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Deborah Kerr	...	Sister Angela
Robert Mitchum	...	Cpl. Allison, USMC

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording) | 4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #18380) | UK:PG | West Germany:12 (f) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Mitchum was very enthusiastic about playing the role of the marooned corporal until he learned that director John Huston had first tried to interest Marlon Brando in the role.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning of the movie, Cpl. Allison's raft nears the island. He slowly looks over the edge of the raft and sees the island, his hair quite disheveled. Then it cuts to a shot from behind him and his hair is matted down (possibly wet from a previous take of when he jumped in the water).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Cpl. Allison, USMC: Let's just keep it quiet, ma'am. You speak English?
Sister Angela: Yes.
Cpl. Allison, USMC: Are there any Japs around?
Sister Angela: You're... You're an American.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Sopranos: For All Debts Public and Private (#4.1)" (2002)

Wonderful Mitchum

I'm wondering if Robert Mitchum ever play in a bad movie. This one is another winner from this great actor.

There's a lot of tension in this movie especially when the Japaneses arrive and set up their campement in the island. The marine and the nun spend a lot of their time in a little cave, trying to steal some food to the Japaneses, and waiting with the hope of the end of the war.

I've never heard of this movie before, it seems to be a forgotten classic, it deserve to be shown for a large audience.