David-240 Review of The Four Companions

The Four Companions (1938)

A glowing Ingrid Bergman is the main reason to see this curiosity piece

[5/10 · 9 July 2023]

An earlier review called this a feminist film but it is the exact opposite. Although not an obvious Nazi propaganda film, it does push the Nazi belief that a woman's place is in the home. From the beginning the film ridicules the women's attempt at having careers and asserts that what they really want is to get married, stay home and look after their husbands. Stefan knows this from the start and just patiently waits for Marianne to get that 'career nonsense' out of her system. Kathe and Lotte run off with their men even sooner than Marianne -although Kathe's pre-marital pregnancy is an unusual addition to the plot. Perhaps the most interesting character is Franziska, who is not given a male love interest and does appear to be pursuing a serious career as an artist (is there even a slight suggestion she may be lesbian? - hard to believe in a Nazi era film). Fortunately there is no blatant propaganda here - there's no anti-semitic dialogue, no one says 'Heil Hitler' and there's not a swastika in sight - maybe that's why Hitler reportedly didn't like the film. The performances of the four leading women are really good but Bergman truly shines out from the screen with all that star quality that would soon launch her into Hollywood stardom. Thank God she didn't hang around in Nazi Germany!