Carve Her Name with Pride (1958)

Violette Bushell is the daughter of an English father and a French mother, living in London in the early years of World War 2. She meets a handsome young French soldier in the park and ... See full summary »

Director:

Lewis Gilbert

Writers:

R.J. Minney (book), Vernon Harris (screenplay),

Stars:

Virginia McKenna, Paul Scofield, Jack Warner

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Virginia McKenna	...	Violette Szabo
Paul Scofield	...	Capt. Tony Fraser
Jack Warner	...	Mr. Charles Bushell
Denise Grey	...	Mrs. Bushell
Alain Saury	...	Etienne Szabo
Maurice Ronet	...	Jacques
Anne Leon	...	Lillian Rolfe
Sydney Tafler	...	Potter
Avice Landone	...	Vera Atkins
Nicole Stéphane	...	Denise Bloch (as Nicole Stephane)
Noel Willman	...	Interrogator
Bill Owen	...	N.C.O. Instructor
Billie Whitelaw	...	Winnie
William Mervyn	...	Colonel Buckmaster
Michael Goodliffe	...	Coding Expert

Storyline

Violette Bushell is the daughter of an English father and a French mother, living in London in the early years of World War 2. She meets a handsome young French soldier in the park and takes him back for the family Bastille day celebrations. They fall in love, marry and have a baby girl when Violette Szabo receives the dreaded telegram informing her of his death in North Africa. Shortly afterwards, Violette is approached to join the SOE (Special Operations Executive). Should she stay and look after her baby or "do her duty" ?

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Plot Keywords:

special operations executive | female spy | spy | first aid nursing yeomanry | world war two | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | War

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French German

Release Date:

8 September 1958 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Aftoi pou nikisan ton thanato

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Angel Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The London Transport, double-decker bus was borrowed from the London Transport museum and fitted with "anti-blast" netting on the windows and "blackout" covers on the headlamps. It was driven by John Kirkup who worked as a fitter for London Transport.

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Goofs

The shadows cast by the camera crew can be seen on the ground as Vi and Winnie are passed by two conversing French servicemen in Hyde Park.

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Connections

Referenced in The 100 Greatest War Films (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Happy Birthday To You"
(uncredited)
Written by Mildred J. Hill and Patty S. Hill

User Reviews

Great story, good movie about a British woman's resilience

Carve Her Name with Pride (1958)

A resolutely respectful and consistent movie, powerful in a quiet way, and serious to the core. These aren't really adjectives for an amazing movie--and it's not amazing. The story is amazing, since it's true, a British woman going undercover in WWII and having to suffer badly at the hands of the Nazis. And the movie depends on the story, rather than the movie, to succeed.

It does, in fact, succeed. It's a moving story well told. It lacks drama, and is sometimes quietly sentimental, which is part of the point, giving a human side to the spy and war business. The leading woman is someone not well known to American audiences, a rather straight forward actress, Virginia McKenna. But you might remember her from "Born Free," a very different kind of role but needing the same sharp seriousness. She's still alive, gladly, and was even in a film in 2010.

The movie here needs drama, frankly. It takes half the film to reach the German conflict in France, and it comes to the real drama, the horrors of being caught, in the last half hour. Which is to say, be prepared for lots of preparation, well done, but preliminary, and purposely undramatic. By that last part is good wartime stuff, with a woman as the main figure in the fighting and the aftermath. The prison scenes are cold and harsh in their own way, and yet I don't quite believe it would have been quite so calmly paced and deliberate, even in the hands of the Germans happily in France.