Wednesday, 18 February 2015

Czech out the POWs

The Captive Heart (1946)

Directed by Basil Dearden this film stars Michael Redgrave, Basil Radfrod, Rachel Kempson and Mervyn Johns. In 1940 a Czech on the run from the Gestapo assumes the identity of a British officer to avoid being shot and is sent to a POW camp.

A lot of the usual elements of the POW film are present here but unusually the film mostly focuses on the private lives of the captives and what they have lost in that regard. It was slightly refreshing to see a more personal take on the usual POW story even if the plot is a little contrived in places. Most of the direction and performances are as you would expect and the film fits in with the tradition of British stiff upper lip in the face of wartime adversity.


3/5

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