The Captive Heart

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charliechaplinfan
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The Captive Heart

Post by charliechaplinfan »

Thank you Nancy, for recommending this film to me. It was shown a couple of weeks ago and I recorded it and watched it with hubby tonight.

It's my kind of Ealing movie and my kind of war movie. It's the male companion of Cry Havoc. I found this review on the imdb because I couldn't put it better myself.

THE CAPTIVE HEART was the first WW2 film to be partly produced in Germany since the war started. The prison camp scenes were reconstructed at Morlag POW camp in Westertimke, Germany, and are very authentic. Karel Hasek (Michael Redgrave), a Czech Officer, has assumed the identity of a dead English Officer, Captain Geoffrey Mitchell, but gets captured and is interned in a German POW camp. He is forced to write to the dead man's wife, disguising his writing by injuring his hand on purpose. Mrs. Mitchell (Rachel Kempson) is pleasantly surprised by the warmth of the letters, as her marriage was on the rocks before the war started. Others in the POW camp include two former building trade partners, Corporal Ted Horsfall (Jack Warner) and Private Dai Evans (Mervyn Johns), who learns that his wife has died during child birth. Lieutenant David Lennox (Gordon Jackson) loses his sight and breaks off his engagement to Elspeth (Margot Fitzsimmons), while Lieutenant Stephen Harley (Derek Bond) is distraught after receiving a letter which states his wife is being unfaithful. Private Matthews (Jimmy Hanley), a former burglar, puts his questionable skills to good use when everyone is handcuffed in a reprisal by the orders of Herr Forster (Karel Stepanek), by immediately releasing all the prisoners. Repatriation arrives at last, and Matthews sacrifices his freedom by allowing Hasek to go in his place, and he visits the home of Celia Mitchell. She is shocked when hearing of her real husband's death, but eventually she falls in love with Hasek. Lennox and Harley are reunited with their loved ones, and Evans meets his daughter for the first time. Working as a technical adviser on THE CAPTIVE HEART was Sam Kydd, who also had a bit part as Private Sam Grant. This was Sam's first film appearance since his own experiences of captivity in a POW camp, which he related vividly in his book "For You The War is Over". If you can manage to get your hands on a copy of this marvellous book you will be rewarded for your efforts. It works as a perfect compliment to THE CAPTIVE HEART, and gives a greater understanding of the life of a POW in WW2. THE CAPTIVE HEART is a mature and realistic war film and is highly recommended. One of the scriptwriters, R.N.V.R.Lieutenant Guy Morgan, had actually been a prisoner at Morlag. The movies original title was "Lover's Meeting", but at the suggestion of future British TV stalwart Jack Warner, the title was changed to THE CAPTIVE HEART.

I want to add that it's terrifically moving, portrays the British at their very best and my husband loved it too, which is very unusual.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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knitwit45
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Re: The Captive Heart

Post by knitwit45 »

Oh, Alison, I'm so glad you got to see one of my top 5 movies! This one just touches me in ways I can't even put into words. The absolute trust and love the men develop for each other is astounding, and each of the stories are fully developed. Moira wrote a lovely review of this movie sometime back, maybe she can find it and link it to this thread.

as a side note, ever since seeing this wonder, I use the phrase "Bob's your uncle!" whenever one of my students "gets" a new stitch or technique. Since 99% of all of them don't understand, I get to tell them about the movie.

Hope you get to watch it more than once!

Nancy
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JackFavell
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Re: The Captive Heart

Post by JackFavell »

Oh, I really loved this movie when I saw it years ago! I thought it was going to be a sort of trite Cyrano type thing and I couldn't have been more wrong about it. It's one of my favorite Michael Redgrave roles, and I love Gordon Jackson. I am so glad you saw it and that you posted here. This reminds me that I need to see it again.
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: The Captive Heart

Post by charliechaplinfan »

It was very late at night when I posted, that's why I used someone's words cribbed from the imdb.

Nancy, I knew I'd love it, I'm a big fan of Ealing anyway, I don't know how this could have passed me by. It was made very soon after the war had ended, I find it amazing that they got the story, cast and film crew together so quickly.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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knitwit45
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Re: The Captive Heart

Post by knitwit45 »

Hey thanks for the info from imdb, I went to Amazon and ordered the book! I've never thought to look up the info on imdb :roll: :roll: , silly me! Just reading about it makes me want to pop it in the DVD player tonight, and I've got some wonderful movies to watch ahead of it. decisions, decisions... :lol:
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: The Captive Heart

Post by charliechaplinfan »

But such nice decisions :D
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
Ollie
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Re: The Captive Heart

Post by Ollie »

This was among a set of DVDs released in North America in 2008 (w/Sound Barrier, Angels One Five and King & Country), all of which were unknown to me. We watched CAPTIVE on the 3rd evening and couldn't get past it, and still can't. We watch it and this always takes us into tangent of discussions for weeks about POWs, "real losses of war", etc. A strong film, well-done.

This is one of those odd-ball DVDs that arrived and, within a few months, film-festivals started obtaining wonderful prints to show in theaters. It made it here into Austin during this past Spring, was a big hit and they're hoping to secure another print next year. They also had ICE COLD IN ALEX (also an attempt at ID switch) and the powerful MORNING DEPARTURE (a peace-time submarine training accident with John Mills and Richard Attenborough at his sniveling's finest moment).

I had no clue what CAPTIVE was going to be like, and it stands as proof that a fairly quickly-produced tale could be constructed so well, with such a great cast. I don't know exactly what months this was filmed in - IMDB lists it as an English premiere in April, 1946, so it HAD to be filmed in ?? August thru December, 1945? Or perhaps those were just the camp scenes, and perhaps those could be done fairly quickly if they'd filmed everything else. Still, I kept thinking, "How incredibly timely this must have been."

I don't think this was one of the so-called Quota Quickies - I think those were late-'40s/early-'50s? If this film wasn't a big success, that must have been a great disappointment to its producers. I wonder if "timeliness" was indeed a detracting factor. A "been there, done that" kind of thing? A "I just don't wanna deal with this anymore" issue? Now, it's a superb film.
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: The Captive Heart

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I wonder how it was received in it's time? I know the public didn't have a great appetite for war movies after the war but some were successes. Somebody was really organised to get this into production as the war ended.

It's stayed with me too. My husband made a point, he said women would not have lived together as contentedly as men for the same amount of time, citing moods and hormones as examples. I don't know what he's talking about :roll:

You mentioned Ice Cold in Alex, that's my other favorite war movie. I'll have to look out for Morning Departure, if you say it is as good as the other two.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
Ollie
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Re: The Captive Heart

Post by Ollie »

MORNING DEPARTURE was one of those "This blew me COMPLETELY AWAY" kinda films - it's like expected a gust and getting a hurricane. And it's so darned sneaky. For one, I HATE all the snively greazzzy roles that Attenborough's done - whiny, cranky roles that make me want to yell at the screen, "Will someone put their fist in his mouth - really hard?!!"

And MORNING has that same character for Sir A. But I love a film that constructs its tale with events that re-shape the people, and MORNING has that kind of 'construction'. Minute by minute, mostly shot inside a sub's few spaces - it's a perfect, claustrophonic, "Damn the torpedo action, full character-building speed ahead!" This film could not exist without great writing simply because it's so confined in space and sets. The characters HAVE to deliver great lines with great faces, great emotions.

I have a feeling that this film's detractors could say, "Slow. Dull. Boring" even. And if someone watched the first 15 minutes and the last, they'd see ALL of the tale. But they wouldn't see a tenth of the character-building, or why the lives of the sailors have any value at all.

As for women in captivity vs. men's behaviors... I dunno. I think, chemically and socially, gender doesn't make any difference once starvation sets in.

Now, I've tried to keep my wife in captivity at times. I wonder if I can use this as a new 'social study' and trick her into the dungeon again? Boy... the last time I tried that, she kept saying, "No, I don't understand - show me how those leg irons and wrist chains work again - just once more!" and then I was stuck the wall. Darn - I hate it when she does that. She gets into her Cloris Leachman-signature Nurse Diesel outfit, and I'm screaming, "Not bondage OR discipline" and she's pops that whip so loud and claims she can't hear me.

She'll get the fires going under her cauldrons, then break out her little soap-pencil and start drawing dots and dashes all over my fleshy parts, labeling them oddly. "Tastes like chicken?" and things like that.
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knitwit45
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Re: The Captive Heart

Post by knitwit45 »

Geez, Ollie, what did you ingest while on the West Coast??? :shock: :shock: :shock:
Maybe those cats you've been grousing about put something in your food.... :lol: :lol: :lol:
I think we were talking about The Captive Heart????
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: The Captive Heart

Post by charliechaplinfan »

It's stayed with me Nancy.

Do you have rememberance day today? I do know you have one at a different time of year but Nov 11th is ours and at 11am we have a two minute silence. I was pleased that both my children managed it in school and both had some understanding of why they had the silence. I hope this is a tradition that lasts forever.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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knitwit45
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Re: The Captive Heart

Post by knitwit45 »

Yes, today is Veterans Day, and although schools are in session, banks and the mail service are closed. People seem to act like it's an annoyance to have no federal services today, rather than remembering that if it weren't for our Veterans (and yours) we might not have money to put in banks or loved ones to send mail to. I'm glad your children have teachers who are teaching them about our shared heritage.
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: The Captive Heart

Post by charliechaplinfan »

They've taken it very seriously too, it's quite touching to watch.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
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