Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

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

Release Date:

13 March 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 | Church | Beautiful Woman | Game Of Go | WWII

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

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

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

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Originally when filming began on Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), her co-star Robert Mitchum worried that Deborah Kerr would be like the prim characters she frequently played. However, after she swore at director John Huston during one take, Mitchum, who was in the water, almost drowned laughing. The two stars went on to have an enduring friendship which lasted until Mitchum's death in 1997.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Robert Mitchum is shown throughout the movie wearing a metal expansion bracelet for his wristwatch. Such bracelets were introduced by Speidel in the 1950s.

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)

On an island with you

Walter Huston loved to film on location; all his great movies reflect this predilection. It helps too, that Mr. Huston and John Lee Mahin produced a great screen play and the bonus was the casting of the two stars. 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. Allison, brings two people together from such different backgrounds, that under another direction wouldn't have played so well as it does in this movie. 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. There's an aura of sex between both of the actors without it being obvious, or on your face. It's the subtlety that makes this film work they way it does. Both Ms. Kerr and Mr. Mitchum would appear not to be ideal for these two characters, but they have the right chemistry to make us care for these two people stranded in the Pacific.