The Password Is Courage

1962 "The only man ever awarded the Iron Cross by the enemy!!!"
6.8| 1h56m| NR| en
Details

Sergeant-Major Charles Coward, a brave British soldier is captured by German forces during World War II. When he's thrown into a prisoner of war camp, he immediately plans his escape. Masquerading as a wounded German soldier, he makes it as far as the medical tent, where the deceived enemy forces award him the Iron Cross. Though he is ultimately discovered, he goes on to courageously pursue his freedom with a whimsical and undying audacity.

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Reviews

WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.
FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.
Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
lmcooper-32332 I throughly enjoyed this film. It has it's faults but no film is perfect. It would make a wonderful television series based on the book. The film doesn't have time to tell the full story but a series would include most of the story and hopefully be accurate. Unlike a similar movie with the title 'The Great Escape" which was largly fictionalized, or a sitcom such as 'Hogan's Heros' which I believed borrowed heavily from this movie. I would love to see a quality accurate representation of Sargent Major Cowards exploits during World War II and his immense bravery in certain situations. In fact I believe such a series, produced in the UK, would make a genuine contribution, not only to British history but to the PBS series 'Masterpiece'.
JohnHowardReid Although this prisoner-of-war picture packs all the familiar ingredients into its plot, somehow it fails to come across even a fraction as effectively as thirty or forty similar movies I could name. Of course, the cast presents a considerable stumbling block. Dirk Bogarde is the only actor who seems to be pulling his weight. Everyone else turns in such lightweight portrayals, you'd think they were vacationing in a holiday camp. Even the Germans are an unconvincing lot. On the plus side, the movie does present some spectacular moments for railroad buffs, and the photography is suitably bleak. All told, I suppose the movie would offer reasonable entertainment for those who haven't seen "The Wooden Horse", "The Colditz Story", "The Great Escape", etc. But for those who are well acquainted with these far more powerful accounts, "Password" is a limp offering indeed.
anthonyrwaldman I First saw this film on its release in 1962. Unfortunalely, I had read John Castle's biography of sargant- major Charles Coward before I saw the film. A large section of the book deals with Coward's attempts to help Jews escape from the Auchwitz death camp. The film dealt with this by having a five minute segment where Henry Piek's drawings of the horrors of Auchwitz are shown with Dirk Bogarde giving a voice over commentary. Well, at least it was a film that mentioned the Hollocaust . A very rear thing in the early 1960's. I saw this film again just recently on television and the Auchwitz segment had been edited out of the film. So, now the film is just another Second World War adventure movie along with an unlikely romantic interest that was not in the biography (Coward was married and very much devoted to his wife). But, there is something about this film that makes it different from other British war time escape films. It is about ordinary soldiers and not officers. These soldiers have been put to work by the Germans and the p.o.w. camps do not have the air of the British public school. These other ranks do not just try to escape but commit dangerous acts of sabotage. Therefore, on the whole this film is still worth seeing. It it was great to see the wonderful Dirk Bogarde playing a cockney character part that he does so well.
paul2001sw-1 'The Password is Courage', a story of prisoners of war based on the biography of a certain Seargant Coward, is a strange film. On one hand, the low production values give it the feel of a wartime propaganda romp (even though it was in fact made in 1962); on the other hand, Dirk Bogardde's cheeky chappy persona and some comical portraits of the Germans seem rather to predict the coming of "'Allo 'Allo". In spite of the generally amateurish feel, the key scenes still convey some tension; but most later movies on this subject possess more bite and cynicism about the nature of humans under duress on both sides of the wire.