Muukalainen käsivarsillani

After working in the Third Reich era (his works were light and neutral) , Helmut Kautner became the best German director just after the war ;those who might attack him for desecrating a would be American hero should see his movies in which he took a firm stand against the Nazis horrors ( Des Teufels General,1955 ) or in which he displays a pacifist attitude ("die letzte Brücke= the last bridge" 1954) or "die Gans von Sedan ".

"Thousands of soldiers were killed in action, says the hero (Chandler) ,only four got this medal!"; this is mainly the story of an over possessive mom (Astor) who seems out of a Tennessee Williams play (Mrs Venable in "suddenlly last Summer " comes to mind when they visit the greenhouse); her house is almost a museum dedicated to her beloved son, mother's pride : his widow (Allyson) is nothing but another piece in it .

Little by little, with flashbacks introduced all along the movie at the right place, one discovers that the picture of the so called hero was not the man the ceremony celebrates .It may sometimes sound soap opera, which Sandra Dee's presence reinforces ,but, all in all, it may also represent a plea for a square deal for the true heroes who died unsung (and for those who survived and to whom the society was not always fair and grateful).