Three Comrades

Again and again I find material that could play as corny or trite in less sure hands is wonderfully involving and humane in Borzage’s. This is also Fitzgerald’s only writing credit, despite his long stint paying for his high life in Hollywood, and his script was tampered with, of course: most of what I gather was a hard criticism of post-WWI Germany is toned down, but the menace in the streets is there, the tensions are palpable if unnamed, and a vigilante act is well-motivated. Anyway, this is probably one of the most heartfelt examples of both male camaraderie and the weepie’s final self-sacrifice, the story of three war buddies and the woman who changes all their lives. All the performances are first-rate, but Sullavan has the most interesting character as a girl with a life-threatening chronic lung condition who yearns to live wildly and freely — well there you go, it’s silly on paper and would be too on film were it not for Borzage, who I now trust implicitly to keep things light, kinetic, engaging and finally deeply felt. Beautiful photography too and I don’t know how anyone can resist this kind of artificial but grand set design.