Odette

This film, made in 1950 was one of many made around that time to record and pay tribute to the hero(ines) of World War Two. It is amazingly unsentimental, and all the more powerful for that reason. Anna Neagle shows more emotion in the few scenes where she contacts her children than she does later when spying for the British in France. Neagle is surrounded by a galaxy of fine British actors including Trevor Howard, Bernard Lee (ironically playing the same kind of role as in his many outings in the Bond movies) and Marius Goring. I don't doubt the veracity of her exploits and she was very lucky to have survived the ordeal of her imprisonment at Ravensbruck. Neagle made many films with her husband Herbert Wilcox, this is probably one of the best, and though it is clearly a low budget film, it is none the worse for that.

Painstaking reconstruction of lost heroes of the war in an almost documentary character, in this case the French resistance organized from England with a quite ordinary woman as the main link and foundation of the operations, as she as an ordinary woman is best fit not to attract attention. When she is asked to volunteer she has no experience whatsoever, an ordinary woman with three children separated from her husband, whom we never hear a word of throughout the film. Instead there is Trevor Howard as a certain Peter Churchill as the other main link in the operations together with Peter Ustinov as the indispensable radio operator. He is caught and killed by the Gestapo, which you learn already in the beginning of the film, but you never see it happen. Instead you see the full torture sessions and ordeals of Trevor Howard and Anna Neagle.

It certainly is one of her best performances, the direction by Herbert Wilcox is completely natural all the way, and Anthony Collins has provided the film with discreet but eloquent music perfectly suited to the action; but the perhaps most interesting performance is that of the dubious Marius Goring as the Abwehr man, who like Canaris is well aware of the fallacy of Hitler's regime and continuosly seeks a way out of the war dilemma but falls in with the tragedy and must take the consquences of being part of it.

It's a gripping film of the unknown heroes of the war that never reached any public acknowledgement, while they were the ones who risked their lives more than most and often lost it. Still, this is also a film of survival against all odds by sheer obstinacy and refusal to cooperate with a dictatorship.

Trevor Howard and Anna Nagle give sterling performances in this WW2 Biopic of Odette Churchill, the wife of a relative of Winston Churchill. Every scene has the feeling of that authenticity that only films during or shortly after WW2 have. This film has understated British sensibilities, not overblown Hollywood production values. In many ways, it is similar to the one of best films of WW2, Brief Encounter. Howard was in that film as well. These were the best two films of his career; and this film is the best performance in Anna Neagle's career as well. Peter Ustinov gives a pleasing performance, and will become the owner of Spartacus in ten years or so. The only criticism of the film is the survival rate of leaders in the French Resistance. A documentary I have seen recently mentioned that the fatality rate of leaders in the French Resistance approached 75%. Hollywood (and Britain for that matter) likes to portray the Germans as stupid and incompetent when policing the French Resistance. Nothing could be further from the truth. The semi documentary I saw (Army of Shadows 1969) showed a highly efficient German surveillance of French Underground activity and the elimination of the vast majority of those brave participants. See these films for the best about the French Resistance.

A British biographical drama: A story about the French widow of an English soldier who offers her services to British Intelligence who send her undercover to assist the French Resistance in Vichy France, but soon the enemy sets a trap. This gripping, moving, and grim fact-based melodrama is a daunting and vivid tale. Anna Nagle gives a fine performance, immersing herself in the role in the same way as many Method actors would do in a later generation. Trevor Howard and Peter Ustinov are equally convincing. Although the film doesn't provide much mystery, the factual elements are sensitively handled.

Being a connoisseur of 1940/early 50s films with an extensive collection, I was surprised that I had never seen "Odette" before but have now done so courtesy of Youtube.The plot is similar to "Carve her name with pride"(1956) starring Virginia McKenna), that is a French woman living in the UK who volunteers to help the allies and Resistance in France during WW11.Anna Neagle showed her lack of linguistic ability speaking French & lapsing into English several times even when speaking to French Resistance workers.On the other hand the German speaking actors were quite authentic in their roles with the producers NOT providing English sub-titles in certain German only sequences where the action was clear.

Still it did give Dame Anna a chance to do a spot of real acting and "suffer" for us on screen with Trevor Howard's nicely understated performance playing her husband, Peter Churchill.I do understand that film censorship in 1950 could not allow any special effects showing Anna Neagle's character having her toenails being pulled out by the Gestapo, even suggesting it was slightly shocking then.Marius Goring was often well cast in sinister yet intelligent roles as he plays here as an officer in the Deutsche Abwehr.Another role he played in the same year of 1950 was as a Balkan/Serbian police inspector with Margaret Lockwood in "Highly Dangerous".Good to see "M"(a youngish Bernard Lee) initially from "Dr.No (1962) learning his trade in military intelligence.I awarded this film 6/10.