Description

The Divided Heart 1954
1h 29m | Drama | 11 August 1955 (USA)
Storyline:A three-year-old orphan is adopted by a German couple shortly after World War II. On his tenth birthday, he is told that his mother, a Yugoslav refugee, is alive and wants him back. The case must be decided in court, which must decide with whom the boy will be better off.User review:I awarded this film 6/10 having seen it today 20/8/15 on “London Live” TV station who have been running a season of Ealing films from 2.00p.m on most weekdays. For a 69 year old this was the first time I saw this film which I found moving when a 10 year old Slovenian boy has to decide with whom he should live, either his natural mother or German adoptive parents. World War II caused many sad cases of orphans who had lost either or both their natural parents and a legal section of the U.S. War Commission as occupying country in West Germany had to make the decision whether to repatriate children once their natural parents had been found. This was decided in the film by a trio of international judges standing in for King Soloman.Yvonne Mitchell plays the Slovenian mother and I was impressed how she appeared to speak Slovanese and even Geoffrey Keen who played the administrator who mediates between the rival mothers. I assume a real Slovenian did the voice track with Yvonne lip-syncing to the spoken sound track. It would have been more realistic however if the German adoptive parents had spoken German in their scenes together. No spoiler from me about which of the mothers won the custody battle but the moral arguments from the three judges I found convincing.
Director: Charles Crichton
Writer: Jack Whittingham
Stars: Cornell Borchers, Yvonne Mitchell, Armin Dahlen
Country of origin: United Kingdom
Languages: English, Slovenian
Also known as: Das geteilte Herz
Filming locations: Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK
IMDB Profile tt0046915