On the Russian front in 1944 German Private Ernst Graeber receives a leave to visit his family in Germany - but Germany is not the same country he left behind.
Directed by: Douglas Sirk
Writers: Orin Jennings (screenplay) Erich Maria Remarque (novel)
Starring: John Gavin, Liselotte Pulver, Jock Mahoney
Douglas Sirk (born Hans Detlef Sierk, 1897 – 1987) left Germany in 1937 because of his political leanings and his Jewish second wife. Still in Europe he worked on films in Switzerland and the Netherlands. In 1939, on arrival in the United States, he changed his name to Douglas Sirk and by 1942 he was under contract to Columbia Pictures.
His only son Klaus who stayed with his mother in Germany died on the Eastern front in 1944.
He is best known for his melodramas of the 1950’s, which at the time were not critically well received, however since the late 60’s his reputation has been revived and his films have been greatly appreciated.
