O Refúgio Secreto

Hello it is me again. I am biased because I was actually in the film itself as an extra. I played one of the Capos ( privileged prisoners ). Mr.Collier was a wonderful man, very kind and understanding to those of us who had never been an extra before. I have always appreciated what people like The Ten Boons did during the war so that all of us could live in peace afterwards, it is just a shame the young of today do not feel the same way. I was born a year before the war ended and I can remember I was 4years old before my late Father met me. Anyway I am digressing. I was living in Brighton England at the time when I saw the advert in local paper for film extras. I and many others went for auditions and were selected. The strange thing was, that the second half of the film (Ravensbruk Concentration Camp for Women) was actually filmed in the Army Camp in Lingfield Surrey where I did my basic training. In England the womens army is known as Womens Royal Army Corp or WRACS for short and Lingfield at the time was the base. It is, I believe now at Mill Hill in London. The first half of film was done in Holland and Lingfield was to represent the camp in Germany. It was strange being back there because after there, I was posted to Somerset (next county to where I now Live) to learn how to drive. On leaving the army to get married I then moved back to Brighton with my Husband and then to Lingfield to do the film. Normally film extras are only kept on for a few days but Jim Collier was so impressed with the batch of us from Brighton he kept us on till the end of the film nearly 6 weeks. Mr.Ten Boom was a watchmaker played by that wonderful actor Arthur O Connel Betsi was Julie Harris and Corrie Ten Boon herself came to England to meet us all and to thank us for telling their story of how they hid Jews from the Nazis were caught and sent to the camps where Betsi died of Septisemia,I think it was. I learned a few secrets of special effects and enjoyed every minute I was there sometimes not getting home till 3 in the morning. The torture scenes were so realistic I had to pinch myself because sometimes I forgot it was a movie. I could go on and on about it but I wont suffice to say it is, like many true war stories very hard hitting and cuts to the bone. We went to London to see the Premier at Mr. colliers expense and it was wonderful . I also met Sir Cliff Richard (for second time in my life) because he part funded it being a born again Christian. One can now rent the video but at the time shortly after it was released I wrote to Jim Collier at Burbank Studios thanking him for letting me be a small part of his film. It was then that Mrs. Collier wrote back to me saying her Husband had died. I was sad to hear of this but she said her Husband had told her how well we had done and that he would have been proud to have same extras again in any future films had he lived. I still have her letter to this day. Just one more thing. It was WWfilms that did the SFX on The Ten Commandments (a film I have) and I know how they parted the Red Sea. People should go and see this film. Yes it does drag on for the first half hour but oh! my! it soon hits you hard after that.

Yours sincerely

Liz (short for Elizabeth) Mckenzie

During the swell of Nazi Germany, the Christian ten Boom family struggle to make safe all who seek sanctuary in their home. They hire a sympathetic builder to create a hiding place in one of their rooms for when the Gestapo are near. A sympathetic German officer benevolently tries to warn the ten Booms that their hiding place is becoming well known and warns them to be extra careful as to whom they trust. What happens next focuses on the ten Boom sisters, Corrie and Betsie, and how they survive the harsh realities that face them and test their faith in God and Jesus. This was Jennette Clift's only movie role and what a role it is, as the main focus of the story, Corrie ten Boom.

This great movie has been largely ignored by the mainstream of Hollywood, possibly because of the hatred that Hollywood seems to want to foist upon anything Christian.

This movie shows Christian love, and furthermore, it is a true story about how a Christian family lost everything to protect Jews who were strangers to them. It shows their strugges, their imperfections, but most of all, their faith as their resource in life, and their spiritual victory over hideous evil.

A great movie. Great lives. Great truth.

Doesn't get better than this.

I caught this movie again on cable over the weekend, 25 years after I first saw it in 1975. It was certainly interesting to view it at such drastically different points in my life. This is the powerful story of the family of Corrie Ten Boom, who died at age 91 in 1983. She and her family (Dutch watchmakers) hid Jews from the Nazis in an attic room over their home/shop during WWII. They were eventually caught and sent to Ravensbruck. But the story of who lives and who doesn't is overshadowed by the powerful lessons of love (both God's love for man and man's love for other men), and by the importance and power of forgiveness. It paints a stiking picture of Christ's concept of turning the other cheek. Julie Harris is great as Corrie sister Betsie, and I can't believe that Jeanette Clift (Corrie) never made another movie. She brought the character to life beautifully. Also stars legendary character actors Arthur O'Connell (his last film) and Eileen Heckart. Corrie Ten Boom herself makes an appearance at the end of the film. Made by World Wide Films (Billy Graham's film production company) with a haunting score by Tedd Smith.

While others might not agree, the religious content of this feature while bordering on the preachy side, was well suited if one is at all familiar with Corrie ten Boom and her other works. The horrors Corrie and her sister Betsy faced in Ravensbruk concentration camp were just barely covered. It's a must watch for those interested in the horrors of the Holocaust. While it is admittedly evangelistic, it is gives an excellent view of what good can come out of sufferring. The cameo at the end of Corrie ten Boom herself in her beloved Beje (the ten Boom name for their watch repair/clockshop/home in Haarlem, The Netherlands) made it for me. An excellent and moving experience.