Main Cast: Anne Baxter, William Eythe, Michael O'Shea, Vincent Price, Ruth Nelson
Release Year: 1944
Country: US
Run Time: 96 minutes
Plot
Maxwell Anderson's Broadway play Eve of St. Mark is here brought to the screen by 20th Century-Fox. William Eythe and Anne Baxter are young lovers whose plans for the future are interrupted by the pre-war military draft. Eythe is shipped to the Philippines, where he is trapped on a small and desolate island after reinforcements are called away by the attack on Pearl Harbor. Down but not out, Eythe and his buddies undergo numerous grueling and uplifting experiences. The boy is sustained by Anne's letters from home, which give the courage to persevere. The film ends with the boy's ultimate fate still unresolved, a reflection of the fact that the war was far from over in 1944. Eve of St. Mark features Vincent Price in the uncharacteristic role of a poetic Georgia private. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
While time has lessened some of its impact, The Eve of St. Mark is still a crackling good war film, thanks largely to its cast and to John M. Stahl's energetic direction. Not that Eve's screenplay doesn't deserve a fair share of the credit; although the ending has been changed from the play's bleak despair to one which offers the promise of hope, the rest of the piece has been transferred to the screen relatively intact. Maxwell Anderson's dialogue, reshaped and slightly transformed by scenarist George Seaton, is definitely theatrical (some might say "stagey"), but it's also quite powerful and dramatic. Many of the plot points and much of the subject matter has been covered by many other films down through the years, which does dampen Eve a bit, but the structure is sound enough to make it work. Of the cast, lead actor William Eythe struggles a bit with his role, not always able to make some of the more "heightened" dialogue sound natural enough. The rest do anywhere from just fine to excellent. Vincent Price, given one of his fairly rare "good guy" roles, is quite good as the sensitive poetry-quoting soldier, and Anne Baxter does wonders with a fairly typical "girl back home" role. Even better are George Mathews' hard-as-nails sarge and Michael O'Shea's silver-tongued private. Stahl's direction is able to navigate the many changes of mood in the film quite adeptly, resulting in a fine film that deserves to be better known. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Ray Collins - Deckman West; Stanley Prager - Pvt. Glinka; Henry Morgan - Pvt. Shevlin; Robert Bailey - Cpl. Tate; Joann Dolan - Lill Bird; Toni Favor - Sal Bird; George Mathews - Sgt. Ruby; John Archer - Pvt. Carter; Murray Alper - Sgt. Kriven; Dickie Moore - Zip West; Harry Shannon - Chaplain; David Essex - Guide; Arthur Hohl - Sheep Wagon Driver; Roger Clark - The Captain; Jimmy Clark - Neil West; Reed Hadley - Radio Voice; Milt Kibbee - Peter Peller; George Tyne - Polinski; Blake Edwards - Soldier
