1940's "Women in War" is a long unseen Republic programmer that earned an Academy Award nomination for its special effects, surprisingly effective for a Poverty Row studio. Acclaimed stage actress Elsie Janis, veteran of only six silent features (none in 21 years), made her final screen appearance (and only talkie) as Miss O'Neill, long estranged mother of troubled daughter Pamela Starr (Wendy Barrie), on trial for murder after the accidental death of a British officer who had tried to molest her. Now enlisted in the Overseas Nursing Corps (thanks to her mother's efforts), Pamela finds herself falling for Lt. Larry Hall (Patric Knowles), persistent in his attentions even after she reveals her 'sordid past.' Larry is unhappily engaged to fellow nurse Gail Halliday (Mae Clarke), no different from the other nurses in that they all show disdain for Pamela's reputation. Through it all, Miss O'Neill steadfastly refuses to divulge her true identity to her daughter, who assumes that the matron dislikes her just like all the others. Special effects action take a back seat to the soap opera, a disappointment for many critics. Billy Gilbert stands out as a French cobbler relating the tale of how he met his wife in a dark cellar, while numerous veterans of Universal Horror are prominent- Patric Knowles ("Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man"), Lawrence Grant ("Son of Frankenstein"), Holmes Herbert ("The Ghost of Frankenstein"), Lester Matthews ("WereWolf of London"), and of course, Mae Clarke, Elizabeth in the 1931 "Frankenstein." Speaking of Frankenstein, this was the fourth of Peter Cushing's Hollywood Seven, the first in which he was unbilled, and the only one he made at Republic (bearing a strong resemblance to his earlier RKO "Vigil in the Night," also dealing with nurses and their soap opera lives). Getting less than two minutes on screen, he is introduced at the 13 minute mark as Larry Hall's fellow flier Captain Evans, smoking, drinking and flirting, making his exit at the 20 minute mark. Like "Laddie" or "They Dare Not Love," this too was long thought lost, but can be found by the dedicated buff.
