Carve Her Name with Pride (1958)

Really Surprised!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

This fictional account of Violette Szabo's life is old-fashioned (especially in its use of music) and ultra-patriotic, but it's still quite stirring and absorbing, mostly thanks to Virginia McKenna's commanding performance, and Lewis Gilbert's sure & steady direction. The training sequences at the start are a little too comic-booky, but the film gains some grit as it progresses, and the reconstruction of occupied, bombed-out France in the English Pinewood studios is impressive. Trivia note: this is the second war film I watch in a couple of days that has a woman spraining her ankle, but at least this time she continues moving on her own and does not get carried along! **1/2 out of 4.

Comedies such as 'ALLO 'ALLO have a lot to answer for. While watching some of the scenes where Violette Szabo (Virginia McKenna) is interrogated by the Nazis, I couldn't help recalling parallel scenes where Herr Flick (Richard Gibson) did exactly the same thing, aided (or is it abetted) by the leggy Helga (Kim Hartman) in the Lloyd/Croft British sitcom. This offers a good example of how time can modify our perceptions of a text.On its own terms, however, Lewis Gilbert's film is a quietly understated biopic of a naive girl with a French mother (Denise Grey) who marries a Frenchman (Alain Saury) in a whirlwind romance. He loses his life at El Alamein, and Violette responds by becoming an agent parachuted into occupied France. Together with her partner Tony Fraser (Paul Scofield in one of his rare screen appearances) they accomplish one mission successfully, but things go horribly wrong when Violette embarks on her second, more dangerous assignment.The film has some good action sequences, shot in and around Pinewood Studios, but Gilbert's principal focus centers on the characters' interrelationships - between Violette and her father (Jack Warner), who knows what she is doing, but agrees voluntarily to keep it a secret. Violette's relationship with Tony could bloom into love, but both know that they could lose their lives at any moment, so they agree to keep it platonic. McKenna portrays the central character as an ordinary woman with an extraordinary inner strength giving her the courage to undertake the missions while remaining determined to resist any attempts to force vital information out of her.Her transition from ordinary homemaker to toughened agent is lucidly handled, as she is at first intimidated by and then learns to cope with her uncompromising NCO instructor (Bill Owen). It is a tribute to her strength that she learns to cope with various ordeals, of being ducked in the river, of walking home on a filthy wet night, and handling a shotgun. The training proves invaluable for her later on, when she has to take on a platoon of pursuing Nazis virtually single-handed.Despite her hopes, Violette Szabo never made it back from the War, leaving her daughter Tanya (Pauline Challoner) to collect a George Medal from King George VI. As Tanya returns to her quiet suburban home with her grandmother and grandfather, we can but reflect that it was chiefly due to Violette's selfless efforts that Britain and the Allies managed to emerge triumphant from six years of conflict.

I appreciate that much of what should have been included was not, due no doubt, to restrictions by the official secrets act so soon after the war. It is a good film, but sadly lacking in essential truth. The nonsense of her husband reciting 'The life that I have', the omission of the exciting, alarming and memorable details of her sorties in France and the woeful glossing over of the horror of her incarceration, torture and execution creates a combination that so understates the magnificence of Violette that I view it as an offence against her spirit. If you disagree with my view then please get yourself a copy of R J Minney's book, read it, and then try the magnificent 'Between Silk and Cyanide' by Leo Marks. With the knowledge now available, the incredible technical accomplishments of the film industry and the recent opening of the Violette Szabo Museum, we should be campaigning for a remake that tells the real story. A job for Peter Jackson? Ray

I was just wasting time in front of the TV when this movie came on. I was initially interested because of Paul Scofield, who was so wonderful in "A Man for All Seasons" and in "The Crucible." He is indeed excellent in this film, as is the lead actress.The story involves a young British woman who because of her French heritage and married life in France becomes a spy for the British during WWII.Unlike other modern war films, where everyone is "hero" just for waking up in the morning, this film shows people who deserve the name 'the greatest generation.' Just like the characters, the film is understated, as, for example the moment when Violette's father realizes that his daughter is a spy but says nothing. Another moment is when the two spies are in Paris buying a dress for a little girl as if they were merely a couple shopping rather than wanted criminals risking a firing squad. Paul Scofield's quiet "Oh god" expresses volumes, as he realizes what has happened to his friend after they meet in bad circumstances. Even running from the Nazis is understated, with no grandstanding speeches, no "Hollywood" punches and no bullets whizzing underwater. There is only good story, good acting, and good script.This is a story that shows the extraordinary power of ordinary people who do not proclaim their own virtues or demand recognition of their efforts. It is worth watching.