Beloved Enemy

"Lady Helen" (Merle Oberon) arrives in Dublin with her father "Lord Athleigh" (Henry Stephenson) who is charged with trying to bring peace to the increasingly unruly city. The night they arrive, an am... "Lady Helen" (Merle Oberon) arrives in Dublin with her father "Lord Athleigh" (Henry Stephenson) who is charged with trying to bring peace to the increasingly unruly city. The night they arrive, an ambush is thwarted and that serves to introduce her to the dapper stranger "Dennis" (Brian Aherne) whom we soon find out is not quite what he appears. What now ensues is a rather unlikely romance between the two that culminates in a police chase, some high-level negotiations, betrayals galore and a bit of tragedy. There is a surprisingly strong supporting cast to this rather lacklustre historical drama. David Niven and Donald Crisp add a wee bit of depth to the story, but essentially this is just a far-fetched romance that uses the guise of the early Irish troubles as a conduit to allow Oberon to glow and for the fairly unremarkable Aherne to try to keep up. It's quite wordy and has too much score, but easily passes ninety minutes if you just want to let it wash over you and not get too hung up on the politics of the thing.