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In Loew’s State, “The Adventures of Tartu,” is currently being showcased. Prepare for a lungful because Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is surely drowning us with drama. This film features Robert Donat and the lovely Valerie Hobson, and it revolves around a British spy who attempts to destroy a Nazi gas plant in Czechoslovakia. It is difficult to remember the last movie that was so unbelievable in its nonstop excitement. It is even more difficult to remember a movie that tries, even more unabashedly, to push the limits of the audience’s belief in such flimsy plots. It is entertaining, in spite of the ease with which it stakes its cards, for a lot of reasons, particularly the enthusiasm he bestows on the film. Just be prepared to fall over yourself with this one. If Mr. Donat is anything but Bozony’s deaf and dumb twin, I will eat this hat, for his fake mustached arms are decidedly legs, – spindly legs stretched out running towards the left, free. The power granted for the solo self covers himself with all sorts of improvised virtue so sweetly bestowed upon a dandyish one who speaks like a Romanian in Britain. It’s never easy for those who could double pretend, for those who could fool the Nazi’s grandmother and Czech underground.
But at long last he manages to complete his mission by finding the gas factory, putting in his small cylinders of high explosives, and then shooting it out with an entire regiment of Nazis pursuing him in a frantic dash through the maze-like underground corridors. In the fadeout, he and Miss Hobson, and this is now quite usual are seen flying off to England in a captured Nazi bomber. On the whole, “The Adventures of Tartu” goes to shocking extremes in pushing its nonsense. The legionary Nazis spraying their Tommy guns and pistols must be slackers as they are poor marksmen for they never hit, Mr. Donat always does. Admittedly, the script is so riddled with problems that it can double up as a net. But Mr. Donat, to quote his Rumanian accent or British appears to be the world’s happiest man, and with the stunning grace of Miss Hobson to urge him on, one can see how that could happen. Glynis Johns as a cute little Czech patriot and Walter Rilla as a ludicrous Nazi officer are both pitched against decent roles, but sadly so. So is the rest of the picture. Yet despite all its excesses, I must confess that it still retains a lot of thrill.
I was supposed to watch The Magic Box for Maddy’s ‘then, but it was unprimed, so it’s saving for later. As plan B, I went with The Adventures of Tartu from 1943, a rather interesting, albeit poorly done, bordering on romantic spy flick. Right off the bat, I had no clue what I was getting myself into but figured I’d at least give Tartu a chance.
tartu1Does everybody else have the habit of pronouncing tartu as “tartar”? I do. Somehow I do. Well, I guess that is the power of the subconscious. And “Tartar” isn’t the only phrase that has me pulling off the mask. Ugh. Let’s get back to the movie.
Captain Terence Stevenson (Robert Donat) is a bomb disposal expert, and his commanding officer has much bigger plans for him. This Romanian-born Brit who lives in Germany and speaks the language is ideal for one of these jobs. He is infiltrating to undermine the new gas fabrication in process. His cover is as Captain Jan Tartu, a chemist and master who bizarrely resembles Terence. This assignment is tailor-made for him because he happens to know a little bit about chemistry. It is evident that Terence has no background in spying or covert maneuvers, but that doesn’t matter he’s perfect for this assignment.
Tartu2 The Tartar, or er, Tartu, or Terence comfortably sneaks into Czechoslovakia, where his contact to the Underground is contacted immediately, but unfortunately, he is caught. Terence does not waste any time blending himself with the local Nazis, either, who, upon discovering his identity, purchase him as Tartu and have a uniform tailored for him with a position as a shift supervisor in the gas factory. He is great at acting like a loyal Nazi, “Heil” ing and pumping out fervent enthusiasm for anything and everything that the other officers state since he is all for Der Fuhrer.
Rooms must be reserved and lodgings arranged, so Terence gets a nice bed in a boardinghouse. However, there are no free beds, but Inspector Otto Vogel (Walter Rilla) has a way Anna (Phyllis Morris), the landlady, can spend the night in the kitchen as Tartu takes her room. After Vogel leaves, Terence says he will stay in the kitchen, much simpler for hosting the ladies, he claims.
Tartu3 The kitchen is infused with a lot of secrets and one of these is rather funny. It seems Anna’s daughter, Pavla (Glynis Johns) is a member of the Underground. The first time Terence comes across her, she walks in after eliminating a Nazi officer. Once the coast is clear, Terence tells both Anna and Pavla the truth.
It seems the boardinghouse is an Underground hotspot as there is a diva-like lady called Maruschuka Lanova (Valerie Hobson). This woman has Pavla wait on her and is very particular about everything to the point of annoyance. Her roomations are reminiscent of Greta Garbo’s with fancy furniture and fluffy curtains. Maruschuka is the only one who catches Terence’s attention and therefore, stays physically close to him all the time. Unlike Terence, I’m certain that she does not bother him. On the contrary, he has even invited her for dinner.
Tartu4 Now that we have firmly established and appreciated our main character’s background, let’s delve deeper into his world. What we learn earlier is great on its own but stepping one level deeper helps us understand the motivation and mentality behind the actions taken. His world is full of criticism and despair. At the same time, everyone is trying their best to live their daily lives without fear of getting accused of something they did not do. People seem to live from day to day and do their best survival tactics.
There is no denying that Pavla wanting to go along the factory protocols had all the right intentions, all the way until she didn’t. I would like to think that it was the absolute dread of getting shot in her mind that made her beg Terence to pull out and hide. Instead, she ended up getting shot, which essentially highlights both her desperation and our hero’s friendship.
Because of everything we have unlocked up to this point, we understand why Maruschuka’s behavior raises suspicion. Everything we have revealed makes Pavla’s willingness to betray our hero take center stage. The fact that she provided Vogel information is the cherry on top and is what makes it so hard to trust her.
Tartu5 There is no doing of his own but Terence finally tries to make contact with the Underground. One night while drunk and talkative in a bar, he is carried away by a group of Resistance fighters and taken to their base. When he finally regains consciousness, all ‘Hell’ breaks loose. This could not have happened at a better time, as right now Terence as Tartu has managed to get himself ‘reluctantly’ transferred to the gas production plant he was supposed to be sabotaging. It is quite a surreal sight, with stainless steel elevators and long winding tunnels that look straight out of a deco movie set.
While he looks as if he is enjoying it, in truth, the movie lacks in a lot of areas. Donat, for example, did not seem fazed much and had a smile the entire time ero751 was on screen. It was not Mahin’s best day while writing Tartu for example, and we all have off days. His bad pacing definitely shows. For instance, Terence does not meet the Underground until the last third of the movie, and then the film feels over as if its climax is building to nothing. The pacing and choppy editing, along with the underlying plot holes do not help his case. It seems as if Terence’s relationship with Maruschuka was just an afterthought too. It also feels as if she was added only to serve as a danger for Terence.
The film quality itself was terrible. The actual film is in the public domain, which usually means it is of poor quality. I do not think any prints exist, because Amazon literally transferred it from an old tv broadcast. I ended up seeing “In Stereo Where Available” at the beginning as well. Seriously Amazon? The sound was boring, to say the least. Terence sounded like he was in a concrete tunnel, which was damaged and made from plywood. I had trouble hearing the dialogue too, which led me to continuously adjust the volume on my remote. Tartu was also not greatly reviewed when first released. For the few who did watch it appreciated Robert Donat, but most of the reviews were negative. Motion Picture Daily had reviewed Tartu as “interesting”, but as expected the New York Times shredded it saying the film “places a strain on the audience’s credulity”. The latest reviews weren’t much better. It seemed the public thought it was a turkey, and as a result, Tartu was not greatly successful at the box office.
Even TCM only gives Tartu faint praise, and that’s saying a lot. Now, the film does have some merit in terms of demonstrating what enslavement work was in Europe during occupation and as a war-time curiosity, but that’s about the extent of it. Even though I don’t regret watching Tartu, I would have still preferred The Magic Box.
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