Mot de passe: courage

This rarely seen film was presented on cable recently. In a way, this is a story that has been done before. The best thing about it is how well the copy that was shown has been kept. The black and white photography of David Boulton still looks fresh. Andrew L. Stone adapted the material as well as directed it.

Most comments seem to be divided as to this version being a carbon copy of "The Great Escape", or "Hogan Heroes", in a way, it kept reminding us of "Stalag 17", which was the basis for the television series. While the movie is not up to the above mentioned models, it shows a more realistic approach to the insanity of war and the humor the British prisoners brought to their predicament.

One thing comes clear, Dirk Bogarde was brilliant in his portrayal of Sgt. Maj. Charles Coward, a man that played a game of cat and mouse with his Nazi captors. Coward seemed to know how to escape from the Germans, only to end up being taken prisoner again, and again. He even finds love with a partisan girl during the time of war!

The film was obviously shot is England. Evidently, this was a low budget effort, and it shows. Had it been a Hollywood production, it would have been blown out of proportion, but what we really enjoy from "The Password is Courage" is the bonding one watches among all the prisoners.

Made one year earlier than The Great Escape, The Password is Courage uses the same story but viewed from a different perspective. The Great Escape revolved around a mass break out and all the different characters who helped in their own ways. The Password is Courage looks at it from one man's point of view, Sergeant Major Charles Coward, played perfectly by Dirk Bogarde. It is a much more light hearted view of his imprisonment in a POW camp and his efforts to escape and cause the Nazis as much trouble as possible (including the hilarious burning down of an entire lumber yard). It may not have the range of actors and characters of The Great Escape but for anyone who enjoyed that movie, should definitely see this as well. Even those people who find war movies boring should just give this film a try. 9/10

Updated review: I just read the book by the same name. The film tells about 40% of the book, and differ's significantly with Mr. Cowards escape. I originally rated this film an 8 of 10 but after reading the book I'm downgrading it to a 6. Coward was sent to a camp near Auschwitz and almost half the book deals with his time there. He discovered there was a British Officer of Jewish blood who was put in the death camp, and Coward managed to swap places with a Jew inside Auschwitz to try to rescue this British POW from certain death! If you can imagine the courage that feat alone took you get the idea of a man who lived as if he had nothing to lose, almost inviting death to take him throughout his 7 escapes (yes 7 times he crossed the "wire"). The film on reflection is quite shallow in it's telling of Mr. Cowards story. Because of his night inside Auschwitz, he was later to become a key witness in repatriation trials against the German firms that used slave labor. Perhaps because of the time this film was made (early 60's) with the cold war in it's full intensity, and the West embracing our now West German ally; and the fact that Mr. Cowards tale of Auschwitz may have be well known with the press coverage of trials he was a witness in, the film took a lightharded look at the book. On it's own it is an entertaining film to watch, but now in balance after reading the book (which itself wasn't the best written, but just the incredible story itself is riveting), it's a shame that a more wasn't put into the film than the "Hogans Heroes" treatment this film got. I really hope they remake this film and have the whole story inside, about the time Coward killed his oppressive Guard with an overdose, about the Polish Underground Army and the TNT that was smuggled into Auschwitz to blow up the incinerators and factory by the Jews, about the hooker that Coward tried to pay for to seek shelter for the night but instead took him to the police, about the time Coward stumbled into a V1 research plant and how he got that info to the British at home, I mean NONE of that is in the film and it's just an incredible story. Following is my original review before reading the book: I have seen the Great Escape at least a half dozen times, and its a "Guy Movie" Icon. I even watched it one time on TNT, and it was like over 3 hours long with the commercials, just to see Steve Mcqueen jump the barb wire (wanted to see if I could tell when the stuntman was in I guess). Anyway I watch it that long and they actually cut that scene out! Boy was I p.o.'d, but it shows you how I loved that movie. I just watch "Password is Courage" and it was a real treat! I found it a very entertaining movie and I loved seeing Bogarde, he was awesome. I did laugh out loud a couple of times at this and it had to be a partial inspiration for the TV show "Hogans Heroes". Some of these reviewers, to me, don't seem to realize that Great Escape and this movie are both based on the same "true" event so that's why they are both similar, LOL! It isn't that one or the other is a copy! Also, the character of SGT Major Coward is a REAL person! He is listed right there on the opening credits as a technical adviser! I did a very limited amount of research after watching this movie because if HALF of this movie is actually true, Mr Coward has some real big brass ones! What did I find out in just 5 minutes of a Google search? Mr Coward saved 400-800 Jews from death at Auschwitz! I just ordered the book by the same name to read more about a truly brave and blessed man, Charles Coward. And to the people that find the prisoners having a good attitude hard to swallow, thats one reason why escapes were organized and are still taught to the US military; so you don't grow into despair! Plus since Mr. Coward himself was technical adviser I'm gonna take his word that most of this actually happened. See it, and than you'll probably want to know more about this man's story!

All of the characters in that well-known film, "The Great Escape", were commissioned officers. But what about the "other ranks"? How did they fare under German captivity? "The Password is Courage" attempts to shed some light on the lives of the enlisted prisoners-of-war. It follows the experiences of a British Sergeant-Major, bearing the unlikely name of Coward, who proves to be anything but. Played by Dirk Borgarde, Sgt.-Maj. Coward was among the many British troops who couldn't manage to make it out of France after the fall of Dunkirk in 1940. Although taken prisoner, he did not consider himself out of the war and. For the next four years he did everything he could to make keeping him a prisoner as inconvenient as possible for his captors.

Some of the film seems far-fetched. However, it was based upon the exploits of a real man. In fact, there seems to be every reason to believe that Charlie Coward's real experiences were, if anything, even more extraordinary than those depicted in the movie. All in all, a top- drawer British "ripping yarn".

A poor man's "Great Escape", perhaps, but done in 1962 (a year before Steve and the gang) and the similarities are wild! The dirt disposal in the recreation yard; coming up 40 feet short of the woods as they tunnel; the capture at the train station......just who was doing the copying? Great Escape was big budget with great music. "Password" is lower in key but very entertaining...and both were based on real events and people. Plus....Bogarde's character lived, unlike "X" in Great Escape.