This is a terrific, engrossing, affecting, heartbreaking, ultimately heartwarming film about war's devastating effect on traumatized children (particularly on one little boy) separated from their families, and those who care for and about them.

The haunting movie features wonderful performances by Montgomery Clift, Ivan Jandl (winner of a juvenile Outstanding Actor Academy Award), and Aline MacMahon, also fine performances by Jarmila Novotna and Wendell Corey.

Besides the relationship that the Steve (Clift) and 'Jim'/'Jimmy' (Jandl) characters beautifully come to share with one another, and the bond of mutual acceptance and trust they develop, also very moving is the minor, but likewise compelling and powerful, relationship that develops between Jim's mother, Hannah Malik, and the little Jewish boy, Joel, who she has helped, who then comes to view her as sort of his surrogate mother figure. You hate to see any of these characters ever eventually have to be parted from one another.

I love when Steve is teaching little Jim/Jimmy English words, and how Jim eventually has his memories triggered by a combination of pictures that are hanging on the wall and an American boy he has just met. There's subsequently the shot where Jim, all alone, is drawing horizontal lines on a blank sheet of paper, looks up at a picture on the wall, sees mother and child animals, stares and is obviously thinking for a few moments, then adds vertical lines to his page, thus suggesting a fence, and you realize he remembers his own mother and where he last saw her - through a fence. All is subtle, very intelligently handled, and completely believable.

Aline MacMahon's superb beautifully sensitive performance in this is textured and spot on, as the woman in charge of the displacement camp for children. MacMahon definitely was the real deal, all the way. Other middle-aged actresses would have given an "actressy" sort of performance - and probably would have insisted on being in full prettifying makeup, and with perfectly coiffed hair. Not her: She looks and acts and is a real woman "of a certain age", who fully commits to the role of, and becomes, the depicted character. Miss MacMahon was always top notch in all her roles, whether dramatic or comical. Her performance in this film is testament to her tremendous first-rate talent.

I've not yet singled out Montgomery Clift for individual praise, and definitely will not fail to; I've saved the best - him - for last. It's easily plain to see, watching him in this film - his first-ever released - why he quickly shot to much-deserved stardom. Clift absolutely lives, breaths, and is the character of Steve. His interactions with child actor Jandl are magical, poignant, and memorable.

So much about this fine film will stick with you for a long time after watching. It deserves to be much better known than it is.

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