Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison

Plot synopsis:
In the South Pacific in 1944, U.S. Marine Corporal Allison (Robert Mitchum) and his reconnaissance party had been in the process of disembarking from a U.S. Navy submarine when they were discovered and fired upon by the Japanese. The submarine's captain was forced to dive and leave the scouting team behind. Allison got to a rubber raft and after days adrift, reaches an island. He finds an abandoned settlement and a chapel with one occupant: Sister Angela (Deborah Kerr), a novice nun who has not yet taken her final vows. She herself has been on the island for only four days; she came with an elderly priest to evacuate another clergyman, only to find 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 fish Allison has caught, he sneaks into the Japanese camp for supplies, narrowly avoiding detection. That night, they see flashes from naval guns being fired in a sea battle over the horizon.
The Japanese unexpectedly leave the island, and in both celebration and frustration, Allison gets drunk on some sake left behind. He blurts out that he loves Sister Angela and that he considers her devotion to her vows to be pointless, since they are stuck on the island "like Adam and Eve." She runs out into a tropical rain and falls ill as a result; Allison, now sober and contrite, finds her shivering with chills. He carries her back, but sees that the Japanese have returned, forcing them to retreat to the cave again. Allison sneaks into the Japanese camp to get some blankets for her, but has to kill a soldier who discovers him in the act, which alerts the enemy to his presence. In an effort to force him out into the open, the Japanese set fire to the vegetation.
When a Japanese soldier finds the cave, Allison and Sister Angela are left with two choices: surrender or die from a hand grenade thrown inside. The ensuing explosion is not a grenade, but a bomb; the Americans have begun attacking the island in preparation for a landing. Allison comments that the landing will not be an easy one because when they returned, the Japanese brought with them four artillery pieces whose positions are well-concealed.
In what he attributes to a message from God, Allison comes up with the idea to disable the artillery during the barrage that will precede the American assault, while the Japanese are still in their bunkers. He is wounded, but manages to sabotage all the guns by removing their breechblocks, saving many American lives. After the landing, the Marine officers are puzzled by the lack of breechblocks in the guns.
Allison and Sister Angela say their goodbyes. He has reconciled himself to her dedication to Christ and she reassures him that they will always be close "companions". As Allison is carried down the hill on a stretcher, the film ends without him revealing what he had done to the guns, the implication being that virtue is its own reward.

Tags: violence

Review:
It's always interesting to hear what movie directors think of their own work, and John Huston once made a very insightful comment about this 1957 film which he made for 20th Century Fox:- "Allison is seldom referred to.
One of Huston's buried treasures,this offbeat tale of a nun and a marine stuck on an island.They say it was to be directed by Wyler,but he turned it down and went to make "desperate hours".Deborah Kerr had already played a nun in Powell-Pressburger's excellent "Black narcissus",and the part was tailor-made for her.The same goes for Robert Mitchum as a crude,simple,but with a golden heart marine.People cannot help but be struck with the analogies between "heaven" and "African queen" :both feature an odd couple,in jeopardy;that's why the former is overlooked today which is totally unfair.The two characters are extremely endearing and,when the movie is over,it seems we've always known Sister Angela and Corporal Allison.I dig the line:"it's a gourmet's dish" when the nun is eating turtle soup.I love the way the scenarists show the analogies between a nun's and a marine's lives.The Garden of Eden metaphor is obvious,but the story subtly progresses,and the Snake's temptation happens late in the movie.The cinematography is splendid,with a superb use of cinemascope,and Georges Delerue's score deserves admiration.Yes "heaven knows..." is certainly one of Huston's sleepers.But I wonder what Luis Bunuel would have done with such a screenplay..
In 1944, in South Pacific, the castaway Marine Corporal Allison (Robert Mitchum) drifts in a raft to the Tuasiva Island, where he meets Sister Angela (Deborah Kerr).
Stranded in the island, but with water, fish and fruits, their paradisiacal life ends when the Japanese arrive to build a base, forcing Allison and the nun to hide in a cave.
The crude marine provides the necessary supply for their survival and falls in love for the nun."Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison" is not a masterpiece, but it is one of my favorite movies ever.
The story has war, adventure, romance and drama, and is supported by the awesome direction of John Huston and the stunning performances of Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr in the roles of endearing characters.
The always brilliant Deborah Kerr is here a nun with a very character and humor, always able to understand the behavior of Mr. Allison (Mitchum).
One of the great injustices of Hollywood history is the fact that Deborah Kerr was nominated for Best Actress while Robert Mitchum got nary a mention for Best Actor in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison.
The African Queen was in World War I and this film is set on a backwater Pacific island in World War II.Corporal Allison, USMC arrives on a rubber raft after the Japanese opened fire on a submarine he was on.
Since it's a two character film, the director couldn't gamble with any light weight actors and it pays tremendously by the incredible performances Mr. Huston got from them.The story of the nun who is left behind in a Pacific island and the arrival of the shipwrecked Capt.
There aren't any false moments in the film.It is a credit to Mr. Huston the pairing of Deborah Kerr with Robert Mitchum, who are amazing in their roles.
Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr give beautiful performances in this touching study of a Marine and a young nun who find themselves stranded on a Pacific island during WWII.
Mitchum gives one of the finest performances of his career as the proud Marine who finds himself falling in love with his companion, and Deborah Kerr is unaffectedly enchanting as Sister Angela.
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..
Heaven Knows Mr Allison is not really a war film, it is simply an ideal excuse for the age-old story of two people thrown together by circumstance, and finding love in their unlikely situation.And here it really is just a tale of two.
However, under the steady direction of John Huston and supported by two very strong performances from Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr, this film more than rises to the surface but does very well in expanding its simple plot.As the story unfolds, we find that the Marine, Corporal Allison, has landed on shore after being stranded from his squad.
Mitchum is very good here as the beaten Marine who feels almost no connection with anyone until he meets this warm and sweet nun, played wonderfully by Deborah Kerr.
Mitchum plays the tuff marine and Kerr a Nun. Both shipwrecked on a Pacific Island in the middle of WW11.This movie was made in the late 50's so you can still tell the good guys from the bad.
Just good acting and a great story line that will hold your attention.Heaven Knows Mr. Allison is a classic movie that till this day, still hold's up well.
ALLISON is essentially a two-actor film and must have looked awfully good on paper whenever ROBERT MITCHUM and DEBORAH KERR read the script.
They knew they had the right attributes to play the leads--a tough U.S. Marine and a ladylike nun stranded on a Pacific isle during World War II, threatened by nearby Japanese invaders--and must have instinctively known that under John Huston's direction they would get good guidance.Well, they did.
ALLISON has an even tighter reign on the two actors as the main focus.Kerr may have deserved her Best Actress Oscar nomination, but why did Hollywood always fail to recognize Robert Mitchum's contribution to a good film?
Although Deborah Kerr received an Oscar nomination for this movie, Robert Mitchum did not.
During World War II, a marine is stranded on a Pacific island with a nun until the Japanese arrive, forcing them to go into hiding.
Despite the limitations of a two-character movie, it never drags, thanks to an engaging script that slowly builds the sexual tension as Mitchum starts to fall in love with Kerr.
John Huston virtually remade "The African Queen" as a two-hander but set during the Second World War and on a Pacific island occupied by the Japanese and on which are hiding an American marine, (Robert Mitchum), and a nun, (Deborah Kerr), the only other sole occupants.
Dextrously moving between scenes of genuine suspense, (will they be discovered), and real intimacy in which the comic as well as the dramatic potentials of the story are beautifully played out by both actors, Huston creates a film that works on a number of levels and shows real flair for the use of the widescreen imposed on him by 20th Century Fox. Indeed Kerr wears her habit as if to the manor born, (she's a much more relaxed nun than her Sister Clodagh in "Black Narcissus"), while Mitchum, with only Kerr to react to, has probably never been better.
I thought that Robert Mitchum is an boring actor.But after this movie I certainly changed my view!Mitchum is great!The way he talks and acts are just great!And the script is quite well also.Well some historical mistakes are in the film, but thats not the point.The point is the relationship between soldier and Nun.Director John Huston great director, just like Capra and Wilder he never makes an bad film.The only downside in this film is Deborah Kerr as Nun.She's not the best actress for that part.So that drops this movie from my Top-ten "All time greatest movies"-list, but certainly a good movie and worth of watching..
Mitchum and Kerr, the marine and the nun, at first alone on an island then visited by Japanese then alone again then visited again, are given scores of great two-person scenes together.
Very good film.A classic with great cinematography,directing,script/screenplay which all make up for the simple story.The editing could have been a tag better.The ending,though abrupt was powerfull for those who believe in an interactive God.The acting here was superb.Only for religion tolerant people,fans of less action WW 2 movies and fans of the lead actors.........
In essence, it is somewhat similar to the same director's THE African QUEEN (1951)  occurring a war later and in the Pacific rather than the Congo; the two leading characters are also virtually identical: an illiterate but rugged man-of-action and a religious woman (in this case, a nun as opposed to a missionary).The two leads, Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum, are very well matched and, in fact, they were teamed again in THE SUNDOWNERS (1960) and THE GRASS IS GREENER (1960)  plus one other time, much later, for a TV movie.
Kerr  who, of course had previously portrayed a nun in The Archers' breathtakingly beautiful BLACK NARCISSUS (1947)  was Oscar-nominated for her performance here (as were Huston and John Lee Mahin for their screenplay), but Mitchum's contribution is just as excellent and vital to the success of the film  especially one which, for the most part, involves just these two characters!
Combining action, adventure, comedy, drama and suspense, the end result is generally compelling, enjoyable, good-looking, even touching: marine Mitchum, whose past includes spells in an orphanage and a juvenile reformatory, can't understand how a beautiful woman could waste her life away by voluntarily joining a religious order, especially isolated the way they are and, at one point, drunkenly berates her for it  which leads to the nun falling seriously ill when his outspokenness drives her into the pouring rain for the night!.
I'll let you watch and see where the film takes it from there.Mitchum and and Kerr (she was nominated for an Oscar) are both excellent and have chemistry, as the film gradually turns into a love story/comedy.
On paper, you would think this teaming would never work - Kerr playing one of her various governess/nun personalities, Mitchum being one of his various hard guy types with a soul, but they play off of each other marvelously and are paired in three more films after this, the last one being in the 1980s.Oswald Morris did the fine cinematography.
Stranded on a Pacific island together, a marine and a nun plan to wait out the end of World War II, but their platonic friendship is tested when forced to hide out in a cave after Japanese soldiers take over the island in this solemn drama starring Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr.
They acted together four times, the first of which was in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, a fantastic love story from the 1950s.It takes place during the thick of WWII, and it addresses the age-old fantasy of being trapped on a desert island with one person.
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)John Huston made sure this was a rugged movie despite the fact there were only two characters, a man and a woman, working through themes of intimacy, integrity, and respect.
Robert Mitchum as a U.S. Marine washed ashore a South Pacific atoll, is resourceful but defers to Deborah Kerr as an Irish nun stranded alone there.
When you see that a movie has John Huston as a director, you want to see it.I thought that was true till I saw Heaven knows Mr Allison.
Cpl Allison (Robert Mitchum) washes ashore on an island in the South Pacific inhabited only by Sister Angela (Deborah Kerr).
Robert Mitchum talks like a Marine who just loves being a Marine (irritating) and Deborah Kerr is a nun who, very predictably, has an Irish accent (something she makes a complete mess of).
A Marine and a Nun, The Marine (Robert Mitchum) is shipwrecked on a Pacific Island and the Nun (Deborah Kerr) has been left behind there, they find comfort in one another as the two wait out the war.First, I want to say I think it is a shame that the Japanese actors are uncredited.
He is a WWII soldier stranded on a Pacific island with a Catholic nun, Angela (Deborah Kerr).
One might imagine that a the movie, Directed by John Huston, about a US Marine and Catholic nun marooned together on a South Pacific Island during World War II, to be quite different.
The pairing in this basically two-person movie, with Robert Mitchum (as Mr. Allison) and Deborah Kerr as the nun (Sister Angela), must have seemed as unusual as the pairing of the prim and proper Katherine Hepburn character, (Rose Sayer) with the uncouth African stream boat captain, Humphrey Bogart (Charlie Allnut), were in The African Queen (1951).
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.
"Heaven knows Mr. Allison" is a story of love and war on a South Pacific island swarming with Japanese troops in the second World War A man and a woman, the only ones to live through a storm, find each other at a deserted church There were few words when such people met; there was sympathy, but the sympathy was not expressed in words Together, they share many dangers Out of their trials grows a love which bring to each a new closeness to GodRobert Mitchum plays a United States Marine in serious trouble With an ordinary girl or woman, he would have just taken charge of her and he would have begun at once to do what he could for both of them But a woman in holy orders was a great mystery to him A nun was something outside his experience He had believed that nuns were delicate creatures, living far from the roughness of the world Nuns were strange, mysterious beings, behind the walls of secret, quiet, holy places But here he was one of them alone in the jungle, in the middle of war and danger And she apparently believed that he, Private Henry Allison had been brought here by God's hand just for the purpose of helping herDeborah Kerr plays Sister Angela, the nun who was expecting someone when Mr. Allison came Her face, almost hidden by the white head-dress, looked surprising young There were shadows of worry under her eyes, but the eyes themselves were almost like a child'sTo her, there was no importance in the fact that Allison was a man Her faith, her years of religious training, the high purposes of her life, all placed her above and beyond the things of the earth To Allison she appeared sexless in the sense that she was beyond her sex To him she was a being who ate and drank and slept and had to be protected In other ways, she was a complete mysteryThe adventure, beautifully filmed in the West Indies, is a touching story of unrequited love and an expert acting duet by two legendary stars.
The script and direction are good, but the success of the movie rests entirely on Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr, who give two of the most beautiful performances I've ever seen.
Heaven Knows Mr. Allison is directed by John Huston and stars Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr.During the Second World War United States Marine, Cpl.Allison(Robert Mitchum)abandons ship during an attack and floats across the pacific in his life raft.He ends up on a small island with a few thatched shacks and a church and soon discovers he's not alone.
Cpl. Allison soon finds himself falling in love with a woman (who for obvious reasons)he can't have.A touching and well made film about survival and love this is well worth watching.There are some similarities to be found in this to The African Queen, with two people thrown together in unusual circumstances who are complete opposites but can work together to get out of or make the best of the situation their in.Mitchum and Kerr are both superb and have beautiful chemistry in this.
I never thought I would ever see a movie where the lovely gracious actress Deborah Kerr (and wasn't she), playing Sister Angela, would team up with the crude outspoken hard drinking U.S. marine soldier Allison (played by Mitchum) in this epic story of two persons, finding themselves stranded together on a lonely Pacific Island during WW2.
"Anastasia", "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness", much of Hitchcock's output, "The Journey" – all great 1950s films."Heaven Knows, Mr Allison" is really all about the interaction, the inner and outer life, between two people who didn't choose to be where they are (stranded on an island in the thick of danger), but make the best of it: Robert Mitchum's marine, Corporal Allison, a practical, man's man, rough and tough but with a good heart; and Deborah Kerr's nun, Sister Angela, whose motivations are more opaque, but who shows nevertheless a soldier's resilience.
A cast of only two, Robert Mitchum as Corporal Allison USMC and Deborah Kerr as Sister Angela are stranded.
You have a pretty good idea where the dynamic between the principals is going shortly after the shipwrecked Corporal Allison (Robert Mitchum) meets Catholic Sister Angela (Deborah Kerr) on a tropical island somewhere in the Pacific.
Modest Payoff After a Very Slow Build Up. Heaven Knows, Mr. AllisonHeaven Knows, Mr. Allison stars Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum and is directed by the great John Huston in 1957.
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison is about a relationship between a nun stranded alone on an island in World War II and the U.S. Marine that washes up on the island shore in a raft.
The very talented Deborah Kerr and the tough guy Robert Mitchum, who is often good in the right role, didn't convince me that their characters were growing close, let alone falling in love.
If you are a Robert Mitchum or Deborah Kerr fan, Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison is worth watching out of curiosity.
Limited in plot options, performances, direction and screenplay.Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, 1957, Starring: Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr Directed by John Huston 7/10 (B-)(This is part of an ongoing project to watch and review every John Huston movie.