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The Captive Heart (1946)
Country: GB
Technical: bw 86m
Director: Basil Dearden
Cast: Michael Redgrave, Rachel Kempson, Basil Radford, Mervyn Johns, Jack Warden, Gordon Jackson, Guy Middleton
Synopsis:
British prisoners of war in the Rhineland struggle to keep their spirits up, but are sustained through parcels and letters from their loved ones back home. One of them, a Czech fugitive, even writes to the woman whose husband's identity he has assumed.
Review:
This magnificently mounted Ealing drama focused on the experience of open-ended captivity for the British tommy, while wartime productions concentrated on more upbeat perspectives. In particular it develops an assortment of romantic subplots (wives, fiancées, estranged partners) rather than those concerning escape bids and fifth columnists. Whereas the singalongs and stiff upper lips are undeniably dated, the film deals sensitively with questions of fidelity beyond the barbed wire, and the sustaining power of correspondence. Slocombe's cinematography, with its gun-metal grays, impresses from the opening shot of trudging prisoners, and an array of familiar Ealing performers provides the ever excellent Redgrave with sterling support.
Country: GB
Technical: bw 86m
Director: Basil Dearden
Cast: Michael Redgrave, Rachel Kempson, Basil Radford, Mervyn Johns, Jack Warden, Gordon Jackson, Guy Middleton
Synopsis:
British prisoners of war in the Rhineland struggle to keep their spirits up, but are sustained through parcels and letters from their loved ones back home. One of them, a Czech fugitive, even writes to the woman whose husband's identity he has assumed.
Review:
This magnificently mounted Ealing drama focused on the experience of open-ended captivity for the British tommy, while wartime productions concentrated on more upbeat perspectives. In particular it develops an assortment of romantic subplots (wives, fiancées, estranged partners) rather than those concerning escape bids and fifth columnists. Whereas the singalongs and stiff upper lips are undeniably dated, the film deals sensitively with questions of fidelity beyond the barbed wire, and the sustaining power of correspondence. Slocombe's cinematography, with its gun-metal grays, impresses from the opening shot of trudging prisoners, and an array of familiar Ealing performers provides the ever excellent Redgrave with sterling support.
Country: GB
Technical: bw 86m
Director: Basil Dearden
Cast: Michael Redgrave, Rachel Kempson, Basil Radford, Mervyn Johns, Jack Warden, Gordon Jackson, Guy Middleton
Synopsis:
British prisoners of war in the Rhineland struggle to keep their spirits up, but are sustained through parcels and letters from their loved ones back home. One of them, a Czech fugitive, even writes to the woman whose husband's identity he has assumed.
Review:
This magnificently mounted Ealing drama focused on the experience of open-ended captivity for the British tommy, while wartime productions concentrated on more upbeat perspectives. In particular it develops an assortment of romantic subplots (wives, fiancées, estranged partners) rather than those concerning escape bids and fifth columnists. Whereas the singalongs and stiff upper lips are undeniably dated, the film deals sensitively with questions of fidelity beyond the barbed wire, and the sustaining power of correspondence. Slocombe's cinematography, with its gun-metal grays, impresses from the opening shot of trudging prisoners, and an array of familiar Ealing performers provides the ever excellent Redgrave with sterling support.