In Love and War (TV 2001)

Director:

John Kent Harrison

Writers:

Eric Newby (book), John Mortimer (teleplay)

Stars:

Callum Blue, Barbora Bobulova, Peter Bowles

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Callum Blue	...	Eric Newby
Barbora Bobulova	...	Wanda
Peter Bowles	...	Melville
Nick Reding	...	James
John Warnaby	...	Feathers
Toby Jones	...	Bolo
Robert Weatherby	...	Butler
Nicholas Gallagher	...	Duffy
Mark Whiteley	...	Bob
Maurizio Donadoni	...	Vincenzo
Rosa Pianeta	...	Rosa
Bianca Nappi	...	Dolores
Emanuela Macchniz	...	Bianca
Silvia De Santis	...	Valeria
Roberto Nobile	...	Wanda's Father

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

based on book

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Taglines:

A war brought them together. Now it could separate them forever.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 November 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hallmark Hall of Fame: In Love and War (#51.1)

Filming Locations:

Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Edited into Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951)

User Reviews

RE: Comments.

If you're talking about a wonderful true love story, that's fine... except Wanda is Slovenian, not Italian - get it right people, else never repeat your confusion to a Slovenian. :) Even readers of the book seem to skim over this fact:

(meanwhile, read the book it's much better)

"A tender and enormously inspiring little book about his experiences in Italy during World War 2, this is Eric Newby reflecting on his loss of innocence, twenty-eight years after the event. Newby would leave soldiering behind and go on to become a first-rate travel writer, a man capable of portraying passion, excitement and mystery in a calmly sophisticated prose style. In "Love and War in the Apennines" we get a mature account of his Italian exploits rather than a contemporary journal or diary. Newby makes no apologies for transforming his memories into a seemingly seamless narrative. He delivers an enriching and thrilling account of his experiences: life is experienced as a continuum, not as edited highlights, and life in the face of danger, in prison, or on the run from recapture is one long stream of conscious awareness of what might happen next day or next moment.

Newby was captured after an abortive attempt to play a rather amateurish 'special forces' role and blow up German bombers on a coastal airfield in Italy. He describes himself as a failed soldier, and the lack of planning, blundering ineptitude of the exercise, and the humiliation of capture still, evidently rankled twenty years later.

His captivity by the Italians would not last - Mussolini was deposed shortly after his incarceration and he was liberated before the Germans could take over his prison. There then followed a period of evading recapture, dependent on the good will and courage of the locals. The war is the backcloth against which this tale is told, but its subject is liberty, the freedom of people to maintain their humanity and their cultural integrity, and ... of course ... love.

Newby fell in love with the Italian girl with whom he shared an exchange of language - she taught him Italian, he taught her English. It's a sweet, almost coy observation of the emergence of a burning love. It's also an evocation of the way of life of the people who sheltered him and the emergence of his love for the simple honesty of their peasant economy and lifestyle. This, you imagine, is where Newby learnt his compassion and his willingness to understand other people.

This is a delightful commentary on war from the perspective of a man who sees nothing he does as heroic, but who sees heroism in everyone around him. It's also a useful corrective to fictional accounts of what it's like to be a prisoner of war - . A very human, humble, yet passionate work which will thoroughly entertain." - IMDb