Lewis Milestone scored his greatest film success when he did the classic adaption of Erich Maria Remarque's novel All Quiet on the Western Front in 1931. It seemed a natural for him to do an adaption of another Remarque book, Flotsam, retitled here as Arch of Triumph. I guess that United Artists didn't want the audience to think the film was about sea refuse.

Unfortunately while All Quiet on the Western Front stayed very much on its anti-war message, Milestone opted to make one of those tragic romances that Frank Borzage was more noted for. The problem of all the refugees from all the political turmoil up to THAT time collecting in places like Paris was left very much in the background.

Charles Boyer is one of those refugees, a Czech who can't go back to his own country because of Hitler's bloodless takeover. He's a doctor who's been serving in Loyalist Spain and got run out of there. With no passport, he's an illegal alien in France in 1939 and subject to deportation which he is by the way at one point in the film.

He meets Ingrid Bergman who's also a refugee of sorts from a series of bad relationships. He saves her from suicide and a relationship develops. In fact when Boyer is deported, she does what she has to do to survive.

Louis Calhern may have the best role in the film as Boyer's friend and counselor, an exiled Russian Lieutenant Colonel of the Czar's guard who is a doorman at a swank Russian café. Charles Laughton is in here to as an S.S. officer who Boyer remembers killing his old girl friend back in Spain and who he hunts without mercy. Laughton has one of the smallest roles he ever did in a film and I wish there were more of him here.

Laughton is seen briefly at the beginning doing the torture in his best Inspector Javert manner. Later on when Boyer spots him and makes his acquaintance to lure him for the kill, he's an avuncular tourist, but clearly on some kind of mission. He's good in both sides of the same character.

It's a real downer of a film, Arch of Triumph. Good thing we know how history turned out because it sure doesn't look good for the good guys when this film ends.

Fearful refugees are flooding into Paris. Spain is about to fall. German refugee Dr. Ravic (Charles Boyer) survived Nazi torture. He helps other refugees despite not having any papers. He spots hated Nazi officer Herr von Haake (Charles Laughton) in civilian clothing for unknown reasons with war on the horizon. Von Haake had killed his beloved while torturing him. He encounters dispirited Joan Madou (Ingrid Bergman) on a bridge in a rainy night. They fall in love but he is arrested by the police. When he returns, she has become the mistress of a wealthy man.

This wants to be Casablanca but it's not quite the same. I like the dark tone and a realistic refugee situation. It might be too dark for its time. Maybe the audience is looking for something brighter after the war. Anyways, the story meanders a lot. I kinda want the story to stay much more closely with the Ravic Joan pairing. It doesn't get more dark gothic than a first meeting in the rain on a Paris bridge. I like parts of this but parts of this loses me. It feels like a long story being chopped up a little and squeezed into two hours.

Ouch. I noticed on IMDb that this film cost $5,000,000 yet earned a paltry $1,500,000--making it a HUGE loser at the box office. After seeing the film I can think of two main reasons for this. First, it's a drama about French just before and at the beginning of WWII. It's the sort of subject that would have played well DURING WWII--but by 1948, it was not exactly timely. Second, the characters are just a mess--an unlikable and confusing mess. It's a shame, as it should be a lot better considering it stars Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman.

The film starts in Paris. Boyer plays, inexplicably, an Austrian refugee who is living in the country illegally (why did they do this with his wonderful French accent?!). Apparently, he's fled Austria and is an anti-Nazi. Because he has no passport or visa, he tries to keep a low profile. However, when he meets a young woman who is lost in the rain, he takes her in and cares for her. Now comes the first goofy part of the film. When Boyer finally takes Bergman home, it turns out her lover killed himself in her absence. This is odd--but there's more oddness to come.

Soon Boyer and Bergman fall in love and they cavort about Paris and southern France for a bit. However, when he is caught by the police and deported, she is forced to wait and hope he can sneak back in the country. Well, despite her being desperately in love with him, after a couple months, she shacks up with a guy(?). When he returns, he's naturally not happy but she keeps coming to him--saying the other man isn't important and she really loves Boyer! This is not exactly romantic and by now, Boyer has become rather cold towards her. For the next half hour or so, both are bathed in ennui...LOTS.

In the meantime, there is a subplot involving Charles Laughton who is an undercover Nazi agent in Paris. Boyer can identify him since Laughton was the man who had previously tortured him--and Boyer is determined to exact revenge.

After Boyer gets his revenge, he gets a phone call from Bergman. Apparently she was shot by her lover and the lover also arrives at Boyer's apartment seeking his help--after all, Boyer is a doctor (how fortuitous). He operates on Ingrid but it turns out to be one of those lingering nasty film injuries and she's paralyzed and begs him to put her out of her misery. Whether or not he kills her is uncertain but she is soon dead. And soon the film fizzles towards its confusing conclusion--focusing, for no obvious reason, on the Arc du Triomphe.

As you read, you probably can tell I didn't like the movie. It's not just because the plot is too thick with disparate plot elements, but because the two main characters are really annoying. Boyer broods too much but the real problem is Bergman--who plays a really confusing mess of a woman. Her mood is all over the place and her actions often make no sense at all. All in all, a romance with little real romance and a script that seems like it was written by someone who had lost their mind. A huge misfire and a very unsatisfying film.