Review of They Were Not Divided

This is a strange little movie, as mentioned before, it has the feel of a wartime propaganda picture, especially with its very strong pro-American, brothers-in-arms message. 'They were not divided' was in fact released in 1950, well after this kind of film was out of fashion, but having said that, the portrayal of the 3 main characters (an American, a Brit and an Irishman, serving with the Guards regiment)is warm and affectionate, and although underplayed, succeeds by involving the viewer to care about their friendship and feeling their pain and joy depending on the situation. They find themselves in every major European battle post D-Day, and in-between their love lives. The ending of the film was very sad indeed, and although we have become attached to the lead characters, we are not exposed to any over-sentimental tripe, the camaraderie feels genuine, almost real. It ain't The Dirty Dozen or The Longest Day, but it has a long forgotten quality which is sadly lacking in war movies of this day and age.