Film Review: Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas (1943)

One of the most bizarre moments in history of Yugoslav television occurred around 1983, during the airing of 3, 2, 1… kreni!, popular film-related show produced by Radiotelevision Zagreb (today’s Croatian Television). The show, known for having famous guests and occasional tackling of controversial subject, had shown the film which was at the time least likely to be allowed on airwaves of Communist Yugoslavia. It mostly had to do with its content that had dealt with Second World War in Yugoslavia in a manner that was contrary to the official (and until that time unquestionable) interpretation of that period. The film in question was Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas!, 1943 American war film directed by Louis King.

The film was made during the war for the purposes of Allied propaganda, promoting and celebrating American allies or individuals and organisation that were engaged in resistance activities in territories under Axis rule. In case of Chetniks! that territory was Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which had been invaded and occupied by Axis powers in April 1941, an event which led to creation of resistance movements. During the actual production the most celebrated of such organisation, officially endorsed by Yugoslav government-in-exile, was Yugoslav Army in Fatherland (JVUO) led by Colonel Dragoljub “Draža” Mihailović. The film, made by 20th Century Fox, was explicitly dedicated to him. The plot begins with Mihailović (played by Philip Dorn) leading his small, but well-trained and resourceful guerilla force, known as “Chetniks” in series of ambushes and daring raids against German and Italian forces. Those activities have forced Germans, commanded by General von Bauer (played by Felix Basch), to station seven division in order to guard their communications. Colonel von Brockner (played by Martin Kosleck), commander of Gestapo, believes that he can force Mihailović to surrender if he captures his wife Ljubica (played by Anna Sten), who is, together with two chlidren, hiding under assumed name in occupied city of Kotor. Brockner wants to starve and threaten citizens to give up Ljubica. Mihailović is aware of these plans thanks to Natalia (played by Virginia Gilmore), Brockner’s secretary who is a spy for resistance. He devises his own plan to trick Germans in a way that would allow him to free hostages.

Like many Hollywood films before and afterwards, Chetniks! takes cavalier approach to factual accuracy and anyone familiar with history and geography would notice many errors. The most obvious is Dutch actor Philip Dorn playing protagonist as clean-shaven, making him clearly different from iconic image of bearded and bespectacled Mihailović. The plot is set in Kotor, city on Montenegrin coast, which was at the time of production occupied by Italians instead of Germans. There is even a character of Frau Spitz (played by Lisa Golm), German schoolteacher who is trying to indoctrinate local children with National Socialism. Mihailović’s wife (played in the film by Russian actress Anna Sten) was in real life named Jelica instead of Ljubica and they had three instead of two children (with Mihailović’s oldest son fighting with his father and being killed at the end of war).

But those are minor complaints compared with the way Chetniks! oversimplifies complex and messy reality of Yugoslavia during Second World War. The country was ethnically and ideologically divided and those divisions reflected not only on population, but also on resistance movements. JVUO had rival in the form of Communist-dominated People’s Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (NOVJ) led by Josip Broz Tito. After tentative attempts to make united front in 1941, both factions, due to differences in strategy and visions of post-war future of the country, went into open conflict with each other with JVUO, on many occasions, finding all kinds of various arrangements with Axis occupiers. JVUO has support almost exclusively limited to ethnic Serbs and its main stronghold was Serbia proper, unlike NOVJ which, since 1942, began to broaden support in Bosnia, Slovenia and Croatia. Capitulation of Italy in 1943 allowed Partisans to gain large amounts of weapons that would allow them to get upper hand over Chetniks and, being more useful to Western Allies from strictly military standpoint, they were recognised as regular force and began to enjoy Allied political and logistical support. Mihailović was increasingly marginalised and, following the end of war, attempted to launch anti-Communist insurgency. The attempt ended with his spectacular capture in 1946, followed by public trial where he was found guilty of war crimes and treason. In Serb anti-Communist diaspora, Mihailović was hailed as martyr and in early 1980s first attempts to revise or question official truths about WW2 were often seen as one of the first manifestation of Serb nationalism in Yugoslavia. It is easy to imagine that the unprecedented move of showing Chetniks! on national television, followed by show host Ivan Hetrich describing the film as “ordinary lie”, had purpose of nipping such trends in the bud. Whatever the intention was, Serb nationalism wasn’t suppressed by the end of the decade played major part in the process that would result in violent dissolution of Yugoslavia. Somewhat ironically, in many online debates about 1990s wars and its roots in Second World War, Serb nationalists were using Chetniks! as argument for their cause.

Viewers unburdened with complicated history of Yugoslavia, on the other hand, might find Chetniks! to be unremarkable but solid piece of Classic Hollywood craftsmanship made within limits of wartime propaganda. Louis King, director specialised for westerns and adventure films, puts relatively limited budget to good use, with locations and sets that could reasonably pass as Montenegro. Script by Jack Andrews and Edward E. Paramore Jr. makes effective combination of action, pathos, little romance and occasional comedy. Dorn and Sten are solid in their roles, and same can be said for Basch and Kosleck who play villains. Composer Hugo Friedhofer delivers solid music with “Spremte se, spremte, četnici”, unofficial Chetnik anthem, being used as its main motive. The main asset of the film is its short running time. Although definitely not the accurate depiction of history, it is recommendable to cinephiles interested in curiosities from Hollywood past.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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