A film with a war background is no novelty. But one with as refreshing and original an approach as the "Pied Piper" is a welcome addition to any motion picture season. It presents a smooth synthesis of amusing escapist fare, straight adventure material, and enough of what might be termed a "message" to satisfy the commonly expressed desire to see movies which don't ignore some of the vital issues of the day.

Monty Woolley, beard and all, carries some of his "Man Who Came to Dinner" characteristics with him as he takes over the role of a crotchety Englishman caught on the Continent by the war. Englishman caught on the Continent by the War. Although he has thus created a character somewhat different from what author Neville Shute probably intended, he has nevertheless done a beautiful job on a part which, if not written for him, was rewritten by him to suit his own tastes.

Supported by an affable group of youngsters, Woolley tramps through Holland and Relgium behind the rush of the German armies, and manages to pick up, in addition to a junior League of Nations, a growing awareness of the import of the struggle in which his country is engaged. Roddy MacDowall-the young Hugh Morgan in "How Green Was My Valley"--is Woolley's chief companion on his strange pilgrimage, but Anne Baxter and a number of others are equally effective in lesser roles. There are Nazis barging in and out of the scenes, too, and Shute has wisely refrained from portraying them all as violent, drooling, bully-boys. There is an ingeniously written part of a Gestapo officer that ranks as one of the best minor parts Hollywood has turned out in a long time.

We argue a lot about what were fighting for in this war. What it meant to one man in terms of simple pleasures and the ordinary events of everyday living is the message--and an excellent one--of the "Pied Piper."