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Nibbler1
Reviews
The Password Is Courage (1962)
Serious or not?
I have just seen this film on TV for the first time since I was a child. I remembered having enjoyed the film, so was looking forward to seeing it again. I must say that I was very disappointed. Like one of your other reviewers says, the film isn't quite sure whether it should be serious or not. The fact that it tells a true story is a shame because this shambles of a movie makes a mockery of the courage of it's subject. I'm surprised Dirk Bogarde got mixed up in it.
The village scenes are quite obviously filmed in England - there seems to have been little attempt to disguise any Englishness in the village which was used. There are modern electric light switches clearly visible in the living quarters of the lady optician. In one scene you can see traffic passing in the background which is clearly contemporary for 1962, not WW2. The railway carriages ar patently those in use by British Rail in the 1960's. The detail on some of the German uniforms leaves a lot to be desired, too. I could go on, but I won't. Suffice to say I won't be watching again.
The film has the feel of an amateur dramatic group being let loose for a weekend, with a film crew that just happened to be available and a lorry load of uniforms handy for everyone to strut around in.
Poor stuff 1/10
Yanks (1979)
Evocative and entertaining
The film works for me because it concentrates on the three relationships and lets the war get on with itself. It was written from a British viewpoint and reflects the experiences of many people in war-torn Britain who came in to contact with American servicemen. The impact of the arrival of so many hearty, healthy and relatively wealthy young men was massive. The film struck a chord with many people in the UK, both of my parent's generation - who lived through the war, and my generation - who had heard all about it. The fact that the film was set in the north of England accentuated the gulf which existed in our common language. Many a GI must have been baffled by our slang. The three relationships in the film worked quite well because each one was different. How many times must these events have happened for real? The film isn't as good as THE WAY TO THE STARS of 1945, but it did recreate the war-time atmosphere quite well and evokes a period of history which is still vivid in the minds of many who lived near US bases in the UK in WW2.