Main Cast: Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr, Jason Robards, Jr., Robert Morley, E.G. Marshall
Release Year: 1959
Country: US/AT
Run Time: 125 minutes
Plot
The two romantic leads in this standard but well-acted political drama renew a famous pairing that began with The King and I in 1956. Deborah Kerr is Lady Diana Ashmore, caught at the wrong side of the Hungarian-Austrian border in 1956, and Yul Brynner is Major Surov, a Russian commander who works at the border crossing. With the outbreak of the 1956 rebellion, the Budapest airport is shut down and Diana, along with other international travellers, are forced to reach Vienna by bus. Along for the ride is one of the Hungarian dissenters hunted by the police, Paul (Jason Robards, Jr. in his screen debut). Diana and Paul are in love and she is determined to protect his secret. Major Surov suspects a rebel is hidden on the bus, but he does not know which passenger is the guilty one. As interaction continues at the border, Diana is attracted to the Major and his complex character, even against her will. Their developing relationship and strong personalities carry the story from start to finish. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Review
The Journey is only an average drama, but it has one element that is indisputably outstanding -- the powerful, magnetic performance of Yul Brynner. Brynner is so good, in fact, that it's rather surprising that Journey has become an almost totally forgotten film. The actor was always charismatic, a fact that could sometimes work against him in other films, when he would steal focus in a way that worked both to his and the film's detriment. Director Anatole Litvak keeps that under control here -- and besides, the character itself has such a central role that focus naturally goes to him. Brynner doesn't coast on his magnetism here, nor on the sensuality that manages to be simultaneously open and guarded. His Russian officer is -- very surprisingly for the era -- quite sympathetic and entirely human. In the actors' hands, he is a complete person, and a very engaging one. None of this is to give short shrift to co-star Deborah Kerr, who is quite good and makes sure that Brynner doesn't steal her scenes. But her character is less developed somehow; despite efforts to give her depth, the writing of her character simply doesn't come together the way it is intended to. And much of the supporting cast, good though they are, also have to contend with characters that don't quite ring true. The Journey is supposed to be a Grand Hotel-ish experience, but the strands don't weave into a tapestry as intended. Still, it's worth viewing for Brynner's marvelous forgotten performance. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Kurt Kasznar - Czepege; David Kossoff - Mr. Avron; Marie Daems - Francoise Hafouli; Gérard Oury - Teklel Hafouli; Maurice Sarfati - Jacques Fabbry; Anne Jackson - Mrs. Margie Rhinelander; Siegfried Schürenberg - Von Rachlitz; Jerry Fujikawa - Mitsu; Anouk Aimée - Eva, Freedom Fighter; Flip Mark - Flip Rhinelander; Ivan Petrovich - Szabo Bacsi; Charles Regnier - Capt. Ornikidze; Ronny Howard - Billy Rhinelander
Credit
Isabella Schlichting - Art Director, Werner Schlichting - Art Director, Rene Hubert - Costume Designer, Anatole Litvak - Director, Dorothy Spencer - Editor, Georges Auric - Composer (Music Score), Michel Michelet - Composer (Music Score), Jack Hildyard - Cinematographer, Anatole Litvak - Producer, George Tabori - Screenwriter
