The Password Is Courage (1962)

Director:

Andrew L. Stone

Writers:

John Castle (biography "Charles Coward: My Life is Yours")
Andrew L. Stone (screenplay)

Release Date:

21 December 1962 (USA)

Genre:

War | Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

The only man ever awarded the Iron Cross by the enemy!!!

Plot:

A British officer, captured by the Germans, tries everything he can to escape. In the process, amongst...

Plot Keywords:

British | Escape | Passport Control | WWII | Train Station

Cast

Dirk Bogarde	...	Sergant-Major Charles Coward
Maria Perschy	...	Irena
Alfred Lynch	...	Corporal Bill Pope
Nigel Stock	...	Cole
Reginald Beckwith	...	Unterofficer
Richard Marner	...	Schmidt
Ed Devereaux	...	Aussie
Lewis Fiander	...	Pringle
George Mikell	...	Necke
Richard Carpenter	...	Robinson
Bernard Archard	...	1st Prisoner of war
Ferdy Mayne	...	German officer at French farm
George Pravda
Olaf Pooley	...	German doctor
Michael Mellinger	...	Feldwebel

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Norway:12 | Finland:K-8 | USA:Approved (certificate #20254) | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Gateway Service Station, Scratchwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Andrew L. Stone Productions

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When Sergeant Major Coward is discussing linking up with the Polish Underground, he is told that the agent is an optician somewhere in Poland, in Breslau. Breslau was in fact a German city and did not become Polish until after WW2 when the boundaries of Poland were shifted westwards and the name changed to Wroclaw.

Another excellent British war movie.

The Password is Courage is another one of those "prisoner of war escape movies" but is not ""Just"" a typical pow escape movie. This movie in particular is one of my all-time favorite movies of this type. Dirk Bogarde portrays a real-life personality in the name of Sergeant Major Coward. I think that Bogardes acting in this film was most excellent and is one reason why this film must be remembered and brought back into mainstream movie watching.

This film though is a serious film, also has many comical moments in it as well. One moment I really liked was when the Allied POWs managed to sabotage two German trains by switching their delivery signs around as well as sabotaging parts on the trains to make sure the trains wrecked. Another comical moment is when their camp was almost burnt down to the ground when they made sure a careless German Unteroffizier, who had a routine when he smoked his pipe, that the allied prisoners quickly caught onto and set up an elaborate plan. The plan was that they switched the sand in the Fire-buckets with Petrol--un-beknownst by the German guards.

On a particular windy day, the German NCO was careless a usual, by throwing his match into a pile of wood--which immediately started a fire. The POWs then threw the contents of the buckets onto the fire--making it rapidly spread. In short, they almost completed in burning down that camp.

This movie was so well made that it really needs to be released in DVD so that we all can enjoy watching it over and over again.