Silent Night in Algona (2022) User Reviews

Discover the Treasure; An Extraordinary Time & Outcome

[rjmurphy-65787 · 8/10 · 4 February 2023]

In a world where film 'ratings' often are based on the bizarre or the wicked, comes a true story where genuine humanity and relationships prevail during a dark and difficult time in our nation's history.

Discover the 'little known' story of a small rural Iowa town where a World War II prison camp housed thousands of young soldiers, far from their German homeland. Meet the families from the community who are suffering economically and without their own soldier men and sons available to support their farming and harvest operations.

And experience the relationships that are forged when 'enemies' are thrown together to help one another through difficult times.

Relationships from that time have endured generations. The amazing half-life size Nativity Scene (gift from the prisoners) is still viewed by thousands each year. See the film, visit the community, and immerse yourself in a heart-warming depiction of a historic tale that the news headlines did not cover.

It's not Citizen Kane, but entertaining

[rfritz-42890 · 6/10 · 5 March 2023]

It may not be fair, but I judge it against big budget movies. This movie obviously didn't have a big budget, but it is a solid effort, for what it is.

I love WW2 movies, and I think this is great that a movie was finally made about a military operation back here in the US, namely a POW camp.

I wish this movie was done as a streamable mini-series of half hour episodes than a movie. The movie was too long, and there were too many different plot lines. It either needed to cut some story lines and shorten the movie, or, expand them, and make some episodes and get more in depth.

The mad/crazy drunk guy, was that Shooter from Hoosiers? Chop.

Generally I am not a fan of CGI in movies, but what was used in this movie actually worked really well. It was sub-par CGI, but it was used for the boy's dream sequence to a good effect.

The acting in the movie was hit and miss. Taylor Nichols as the Chaplain did a great job, and totally believable as a WW2 back home in America based chaplain. B. Rader did a great job as Eduard as well. Terrence Knox is still top notch. Not a big role in this movie, but that guy makes any movie/show better.

Many of the others seemed weekend dinner-theatre level, but for the budget I'm sure they had to work with, it is what it is.

The part written for the wife was well done. I don't know if I've had a character in a movie recently that honked me off more than her. I'm watching the movie, and thinking, "That f-in witch!"

The plot of the boy at the end was a bit much for me. It was done with a 2020s lens. I think a what, (12-14 year old farm boy in the 1940s?) would be quite capable to go missing and fend for himself. Even in the 1970s, my parents wouldn't have arranged a search party for a town kid such as myself until at least midnight. 'He'll come home when he is hungry."

Knowing the story of Algona and the camps, I thought the ending was very well done, and quite satisfying.

I endorse the movie, especially if you are from a small midwestern town like me. Not a lot of movies about our world. Grab some popcorn and a Sprite and have a night at the movies.

A pocket of gold

[vhanwalker · 8/10 · 1 December 2023]

Silent Night in Algona is another story of the many untold in cinema from the World War 2 years. A (true ) story told in much use of the beautiful Iowa landscape.

A tumble weed of drama about a family and it's farm looking to enlist German POWs to tend to it's much needed labor. An assortment of characters with colorful personalities, some butt heads and others cheer with one another in a time of hardship and thanks.

The story is told with much clarity, I didn't find myself confused at any point.

Acting was generally good. The leads and strong supporting cast set the bar where as the day player actors often looked blank -- void of emotion and seemed as if waiting their turn to regurgitate scripted dialogue. Carl Dillard whom played William, though, was quite an exceptional performance. I very much enjoyed his character portrayal. Some other actors tried to milk moments that didn't need to be milked, some were too flashy and overboard, and some were down right annoying and unpleasant. But overall the mixed bag made it work for me. DJ Perry is another actor you really couldn't go wrong with.

I thought it was a genuine and interesting true story that I didn't know about. Being the grandson of a grandfather that faught with Patton's army in the war and annually examining his loot and written letters during the war has always had me looking for untold stories of that time so that they could be peiced together to complete the puzzle.

Very cheaply done

[jeanmondon · 3/10 · 9 February 2023]

In so many cases such as this, labeling a production a "family movie" is code for "very cheaply done." This movie is no exception. On family-friendly streaming sites, you can find hundreds of these kind of micro-budget movies. The only wonder about Silent Night is why, when it is blatantly and painfully obvious, that you don't have much in the way of money, would you decide to do a historical drama? Why would the producers purposely highlight their key weakness? And judging by other reviews I see here, that weakness is crystal clear to anyone who isn't somehow tied to the movie. (Just match up the review names with the individuals listed in the production.)

A movie that stirs all the emotions

[balks-67854 · 10/10 · 2 December 2023]

What a great story that was shared here and how it was back in Algona, Iowa during that time. This movie was absolutely terrific. The way the movie was produced I felt as if I was sitting next to the characters in the movie. The wide vary emotions of the different scenes took control and I was riveted trying to help those guys out. I loved the compassion and empathy that the LTC had for the German prisoners. I could connect with that feeling that he had hoping that our boys on the other side were being treated as well as they were treated here in the states. What a great example of leadership that he displayed for his men on how to treat the POWs correctly, including the the despicable Captain from the Provost Marshall office who needed it desperately.

I rented and have now purchased the movie. Definitely don't miss out on the history of WWII here in our country.

endless and stilted

[weatherby-46017 · 2/10 · 19 March 2023]

If you want to know why this movie is bad, just google "why faith (Christian) movies suck." The first thing you will notice is just how many hits you get with that inquiry. It's interesting to note that many of the articles about how really bad these movies are, are in fact written by very religious individuals. However, if you want the short version here it is: Christian movies are not made by artists but by people with a message. Dialogue, art direction, and photography all take a distant second to the message. Sentimentalism, lack of nuanced characters, endless platitudes, and total focus on the message, bludgeon the viewer with endless and stilted propaganda. This is not the recipe for a good story.

Great Movie

[sharibrink-06727 · 10/10 · 1 February 2023]

My son and I really enjoyed this movie and even though it is rather long, I stayed interested all the way through the end. I felt like it was a good movie with a history lesson as well. My sister lives near Algona and I live about 3 hours away. I was completely unaware there was a POW camp there. I plan on visiting Algona this summer to learn more about the history of this POW camp. It has peaked my interest to learn more about other POW camps in the midwest as well. I think it's important to learn about history and I plan to involve my grandchildren in learning more about this particular story.

Barely passable

[weldmfor · 2/10 · 21 January 2023]

The filmmakers bite off far more than they can chew. First of all, they should avoid making a period piece on a microscopic budget. There were so many obviously anachronistic things to spot in this movie. You could spend the whole time playing a game just looking for all of these issues. Secondly, the movie is far too long. It needs to be edited down by at least half an hour or maybe more. So much of the movie is wasted in a meandering and frankly boring way. Third, it is so obvious that these D-list actors didn't bring any kind of nuance or depth to the characters. I would also put this down to the fact that the budget did not allow for the time necessary to work on this aspect. 'You get what you pay for. All in all, a barely passable attempt at telling a story that is way beyond your means to pull off.

Great story and production!

[patrickmoug-41591 · 9/10 · 6 February 2023]

I love when forgotten true stories are brought to the screen! Tony Hornus does an outstanding job of directing DJ Perry's inspirational script. There are great performances throughout- especially the ones done in German with English subtitles which doesn't always play out well. Great great film that you can take the whole family to! The musical score compliments every scene and adds so much to what you are experiencing- the director of photography does a brilliant job of capturing the actors in a classic old Hollywood manner/ you feel like you are watching a Bogart and Bacall film in many scenes.

Really, really bad

[Mookster007-851-501368 · 1/10 · 28 January 2024]

I had high hopes for this movie. It is very poorly done, almost as if done by a small town community theater group with no rehearsals. The actors are wooden, the cinematography is poor and the special effects are amateurish. Is there any way I could get my money back. I should add that I have a very high tolerance for bad movies, but this sets a new standard, In order to submit a review you need to have like 400 characters. I really don't have a lot more to say, but I need to warn potential customers. In all my days I have only walked out of one movie. This was number two. I can't believe the few glowing reviews. Thank you.

Had potentiel

[sirfis · 5/10 · 28 January 2023]

While the premise of this movie is interesting it is however squandered by a much too long run time, too many characters, questionable special effects, a unlikeable lead character followed by some less then acceptable performances.

If anything, this could have been a really good episode of Rod Serling's the Twilight Zone. It would have benefitted from a shorter run time, tighter scope and a focus on the interpersonal relationships of the prisoners and townspeople following in the footsteps of Serling's writings.

We did not get that unfortunately. This movie was trying too hard to do it all and it didn't need to be. I left the theater thinking what could have been, it had potential.

This will quickly become your best Christmas movie of 2023.

[ronnieleerocks · 10/10 · 7 December 2023]

I will never sing Silent Night the same way again. I have seen several Collective Development Inc. Productions and have been anticipating the release of their new Christmas movie, Silent Night in Algona, directed by Anthony Hornus. I pre-ordered, and it was here to enjoy promptly on the 1st. Why hasn't this story been told before? Why did we have to wait so long? Screenwriter, Actor, and Producer DJ Perry has done his research well and composed a true-life narrative from the 1940s that can still be experienced today at the County Fair Grounds in Algona, Iowa.

This side of war has never been told before, and it will quickly become your best Christmas movie of 2023. Prisoners of war, many of them were forced to fight in a conflict they wanted no part of. On 287 acres of good Iowa corn farmland, over 10,000 German POWs were processed between 1943 to 1946. Their internment at Camp Algona was not the same experience as for US prisoners of war held in their homeland of Germany. It is hard to know who your enemies are when the worst enemy is within.

Supporting parts like Harriett Heckler, played by Melissa Anschutz, and Provost Marshal Klein, played by Shane Hagedorn, draw you in and make the moment personal. We all have dealt with a Provost Klein. And veteran actor of my favorite CDI films Big Foot, UFO's and Jesus, Josh Perry always steals the scene. No matter how small the part, he gives a memorable performance.

So, if you are a Die Hard Christmas movie lover planning on sitting Home Alone with your family this Christmas Vacation, to complete this time, you need to include this "Season Stealer" and enjoy Silent Night in Algona.

Ronnie Lee Rocky Lake Recording Studio.

minimal effort

[sydneypage-08486 · 2/10 · 1 February 2023]

I give this two stars just for the minimal effort. Beyond that, there isn't much else to recommend this movie. It looks incredibly rushed like it was made in just a couple of weeks, and obviously, they cut so many corners, that there isn't much left to give it merit. I can only compare the quality to the dull and uninspired stuff I see on PureFlix. Hallmark does a better job on their occasional period piece, and their stuff is woefully inadequate. Then to top all of this off, this Silent night clocks in at way over two hours. Seriously, this movie needs to be put on a diet! As it is, this movie comes across as an amateur effort, that lacked just about everything needed to tell a good story.

HUMANITY

[fcsports · 10/10 · 3 December 2023]

This movie displays the true meaning of HUMANITY. Whether if we are at war or peace, we heed to remember that we are all human beings and we need to treat everyone with that respect. We must treat these POWs as we would like our our service men and women to be treated in their country as POWs. This film delivers that.

This is the same high quality film that you would expect to see as you would in a Hollywood film. As I watched this film several times, I had noticed that the audience was very tuned in to the story. Very few people had left their seats to grab snacks or visit the restrooms. I highly recommend this film. You'll laugh and cry.

too long

[simonraspar · 2/10 · 1 February 2023]

This movie is about 2 hours too long. Perhaps it would have been an interesting short, but it fails in this longer form. The dialog is trite and unconvincing, the acting is sub par at best, and the production values do not do a period piece like this, justice. There isn't really much to recommend about this movie. I agree with another review that pointed out the simple fact that the production really didn't have enough financing to pull off. They didn't have enough time to really work on the story line. They didn't have enough money for wardrobe and scenery to accurately depict WWII Iowa. And they obviously could not afford enough extras to build an authentic POW camp.

Brave to Take On

[bieniasbozena · 9/10 · 16 March 2023]

My side against your side, my country against your country. And the protection of one's country and families can become brutal.

Good work at presenting the various characters and various inner conflicts that each had to work through. I applaud the use of the German language with subtitles. The authentic language is a large part of the culture. To his credit, the director honors the culture, other than American in this film.

As the plot goes, I wish the young man who tried to attract Keitz' wife was trying to sell her something, like the latest clothes washing machine, or a job that promised her success and money. Although I know there are some phony preacher types. The film direction shows the conflict between the man working with his hands, and not attending church with her, and the man of ideas and words that she hears at church. The preacher's demonstration of Christian faith is strongly skewed in the "holier than Thou" stereotype. A young preacher wants to impress a young woman, and she falls for the image "better than her man". A man with a disability is challenged to exercise his manhood, with resistance at home and in the community. The young wife has her own lesson to learn about the faith.

I applaud the presentation of the values of the U. S. military as they are upheld. We have seen incidents of the criminalization of segments of the military, in various countries, in WWII and the Vietnam War for example. This happened in the German military on an unprecedented scale in the Jewish Holocaust of 1942-1944. The film director did not minimize the reality of this. The guilt conflict of one POW was shown in a powerful way.

The film direction illustrates discipline from the U. S. military, when an officer or soldier's ethical conduct is below standard.

In a world of grey, routine days, human conflict is common. Humans need to clarify their values, and to act on them.

Institutions like the military also reflect this challenge. Values of human dignity, faithfulness in marriage, and the proper use of armed force are upheld in this film, to the credit of its director.

Whereas some would advocate for us to forget the past, this film helps us reflect also, on our present challenges.

Often there is a personal struggle as well as a struggle in relationship. This film shows many different characters, and the groups they were part of, in this process: the townspeople, families, the POWs as a group and as individuals.

Character change is not easy to show in a film, and with so many characters. I think the American colonel and captain could act, show more inner struggle, from beginning to end, to pull this off well.

Congratulations on the courage to present the historical account and show human conflict, and interpersonal conflict in so many characters, in a very tough time in world history.

A good movie before Christmas, reminding us of our common humanity and need.

My wife made me do it

[douglas-b-meyer · 2/10 · 6 February 2024]

I'm just a simple farmboy who grew up on that kind of farm (in Minnesota) in the early forties and left in the early sixties. Fifty years ago I married a "farmgirl" from Algona.

I know more than a few things about farming in the 'forties. And the 'fifties, etc.

And I have visited the POW museum in Algona, just a half block south of its hollowed-out main street (thank you, Big Box stores!). The museum has far more than they have room to display, and I urge you to visit there, if you have any interest in this corner of American war history. There's a lot more there than the nativity scene that the movie focused on.

All of the basic historical network that holds this plot together is true. But is it equally true is that the story of the crippled (somehow? Why?) farmer (why do we never see him actually working either his fields or maintaining his farm equipment?)???

If (when?) you actually visit the museum, you'll learn that the POW prison camp in the US, centered on Algona, IA, extended for a radius of around 200 miles, in all directions. There were subcamps in many agricultural areas in Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and likely other states. These camps all contributed many (mostly) German POWs to work during planting and harvest. It was a small win-win for everyone: farmers got help at times when labor was scarce, and many of the German POWs had themselves been farmers before being impressed into the German military.

And when (if?) you do visit this museum, you'll see that a kind of centerpiece is a Nativity Scene, carved by one of the prisoners, whose name I can't recall, but most definitely was a confessing Christian.

But thhere are so, so many anomalies, impossibilities, unnatural scenes in this movie that it's impossible to review by somebody who's actually lived there. The best words I can give you are these: if you are interesteed in the real story of how German POWs fared in mid-America after D-Day, and if you can manage an afternoon and overnight stay in/near Algona, go do the museum. Skip the movie. The movie's not real. (It's not even filmed in Algona, but in Whittemore!)

Doug.

A great reminder of forgotten stories.

[davidbayer-62671 · 10/10 · 2 December 2023]

"Silent Night in Algona" offers an exploration of faith amidst the harsh realities of the Algona POW camp. The film masterfully weaves together the personal journeys of diverse characters, highlighting the resilience and camaraderie that faith can foster even in the darkest circumstances. The cast delivers powerful performances, with standout moments reflecting the characters' struggles, growth, and unwavering faith. The screenplay navigates the complexities of wartime faith, showcasing the transformative power of spiritual connection. "Silent Night in Algona" is a moving testament to the human spirit's ability to find solace and redemption through faith, even in the harshest of environments. A great reminder that we're all human and in this race together.

Great story that needed to be told!

[btketner-23541 · 10/10 · 2 December 2023]

Every veteran should watch this movie! They understand the struggle of humanity vs humility.

Even today it shows that history even knew when to show some grace to others.

Those that served, if you know, you know!

Great acting, well captured scenes, the German was spot on. The messages were many, it makes you think, empty your cup and come away thinking.

You'd hope our POWs were treated as well or better.

Watchers needed to know about this story, the museum and the history of all of the camps in our nation.

War is tough....but grace is timeless!

Be happy and pass it on to someone struggling.

Not Hollywood...but that makes it better.

[stevekg · 10/10 · 9 December 2023]

This movie was very well written. I am a history fan so I eally enjoyed its the historical nature. The storyline really recreates the stuggle and fear of that time. It makes each of us think about our own fears that turn into bigotry.

We need more movies that like this that tell us to think...not what to think.

The actors did an excellent job of telling the story without you thinking they were "acting". Keep an eye out for future movies staring the child in this movie. He did a great job and I think he has a future as an actor. It seems that every movie the DJ Perry writes is better then the previous movie. He is truly perfecting is skills.