A refugee picture almost by definition entails a long struggle on the part of the audience. The acting can be excellent; the direction and photography may be among the best in the business. But the plot seems always to be long and harrowing. That's how it was with "The Mortal Storm"; that's how it was with "Escape"; and now that's how it is with "So Ends Our Night" at Loew's. The cast includes some extremely sincere and convincing portrayals. Frederic March as the indomitable Steiner does some of the best acting in his career. Margaret Sullivan, the perennial refugee, is her usually beautifully serious self. Eric Von Stroheim succeeds in making himself as repulsive as a good Nazi should be. And young Glenn Ford, who is relatively new in movies, handles what might almost be considered the lead with a naivete and spontaneity which will probably not last long in Hollywood.

But though you may praise everything about it, though you may say it is better than Remarque's "Flotsam," from which it derives its plot, you can not get around the fact that it lasts almost two hours, and that it is depressing for every single minute of that time. Even the touches of humor can not bring it out its morbid depths. This is the kind of movie that is to be appreciated, not enjoyed.