THE PASSWORD IS COURAGE is a likable British WW2 movie featuring Dirk Bogarde who gives a winning performance as the indomitable Charles Coward, a man who refused to stay captured by the Nazis after being chucked in a string of POW camps. Like all the best war stories, it's best on a true story too, giving it an added frisson of interest.
This film has a noticeably lighter touch than most POW movies and there's plenty of humour arising from the camaraderie between the prisoners. The stand-out set-piece is when a lumber yard is burned to the ground, a sequence that plays out with much hilarity. Bogarde plays his character as an ordinary fellow who just so happens to have such a strong spirit that it refuses to be broken. The escape attempts are well portrayed, especially at the climax which feels like a neat forerunner to THE GREAT ESCAPE.
Supporting actors include Richard Marner, of 'ALLO 'ALLO fame; Lewis Fiander, later of DR JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE; Maria Perschy, who is well known for appearing in Spanish horror of the 1970s; and British character actors Alfred Lynch, Reginald Beckwith, Ferdy Mayne, and Nigel Stock.
This film has a noticeably lighter touch than most POW movies and there's plenty of humour arising from the camaraderie between the prisoners. The stand-out set-piece is when a lumber yard is burned to the ground, a sequence that plays out with much hilarity. Bogarde plays his character as an ordinary fellow who just so happens to have such a strong spirit that it refuses to be broken. The escape attempts are well portrayed, especially at the climax which feels like a neat forerunner to THE GREAT ESCAPE.
Supporting actors include Richard Marner, of 'ALLO 'ALLO fame; Lewis Fiander, later of DR JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE; Maria Perschy, who is well known for appearing in Spanish horror of the 1970s; and British character actors Alfred Lynch, Reginald Beckwith, Ferdy Mayne, and Nigel Stock.