Deux mille femmes

There are some excellent reviews above so I'll not waste any time explaining what happens. Suffice to say, I'd never heard of this film before and just happened to catch it on Film4 on VE Day 2020, and found it an enjoyable and undemanding way to spend an hour or so. Take it for what it is and it's an easy 10/10.

All those women are confined in a remarkably luxurious German internment camp without male company. What a waste, as so many of them seem to have film star looks and wardrobes to match. So what better spot for some British airforce chaps to seek refuge? Seriously now folks, those British boys must be helped to escape at once. But it's awfully hot in here don't you think, perhaps I'll just take a bath...

After a slow and rather class-conscious opening, the story develops into a stylish, sometimes funny and often sexy battle of wits against the usual hapless German guards and the occasional informer. Along the way, the camera lingers wistfully on every stockinged thigh and lacy bosom, but somehow everyone manages to keep thinking of England – at least some of the time.

A top cast of female leads.

The setting is a women's internment camp which resembles a very large, posh country house with several halls, plenty of space and some luxury rooms. Three RAF pilots find their way into the camp and the women must hide them before these 3 heroic chaps can make their escape. Will things work out as planned....?

There are definitely not 2,000 women in this place. There are, however, a group of irritating women who deserve to be incarcerated. Phyllis Calvert as "Freda" speaks in a ghastly posh accent for the whole film and is quite annoying. Jean Kent as "Bridie" is the funniest to watch while Renee Houston as "Maude" is far better as a cabaret singer/performer than as a wise-cracking street-girl. Betty Jardine does well as section supervisor "Teresa" but there are no great performances in this story. Patricia Roc as "Rosemary" comes off as the best character but she shouldn't be in the film in the first place. She is caught by the French signalling to German airplanes to blow up an ammunition hold. She's in the wrong goddam prison!

An attempt is made at sentimentalism by having somebody sing "There's no place like home" whilst we pan across several of the women's faces. It's rubbish. Another moment that doesn't work happens when Muriel (Flora Robson) and Clairen (Muriel Aked) are taken away to a German prison camp. I'm afraid that we just don't care! There is no drama. The men have absolutely no presence and come across as slightly wimpish.

The ending is laughably bad. I'm not referring to the plot but to the rendition of "There'll always be an England". However, the film is lightweight fluff that passes the time and it's OK as that.

I recently stumbled upon this film on Channel 4. Thankfully I only missed the first ten minutes as it turned out to be a most enjoyable film.

If you're reading this review then you have most probably seen the movie so a synopsis is not needed.

All I really have to say is that the mainly female cast is absolutely superb. I defy anyone to pick out a single performance that stands out from the rest. Phyllis Calvert, Patricia Roc, Thora Hird..the excellent cast just oozes British actresses who went on to even greater performances.

The only thing that let's this film down are the actors who play the British soldiers. Whilst they are good, I found them maybe a little too old for the parts.

All in all though, it is a splendid film. If a remake were made today, it could boast an amazing cast of todays British talent.

I checked IMDb after watching this film and sadly, most of the cast are with us no more. It is as a tribute to them that I write this little review.

The listing says comedy/drama, well it could possibly stand alongside such wartime comedies as 'The Goose Steps out' or 'Very Important Person' but not quite. Why it is called 2,000 Women is beyond me when we barely see two dozen, I mean how many rooms would you need to 2 at a time in, 1,000, really do the maths.

Tenko this ain't!

The women prisoners look well fed, wearing the best clothes and heavily made up, I can't imagine the Germans treated any British female prisoners like this. OK it was made during the war and there is perhaps a bit of propaganda about it, but to say it's a comedy is laughable in itself.

I can't believe the like of Dame Flora, Phyllis Calvert and Jean Kent agreed to do this daft piece of tosh. There is one scene when one of the men are seen smoking a pipe, as if.

I'm saying avoid it but don't expect anything close to factual.