JustWatch

The Captive Heart

1946

Would you forge love letters to save your life?

A series of stories about the lives and loves of nine men in a Prisoner of War Camp over five years. Location shooting in the British occupied part of Germany adds believability. The main story is of Hasek (Redgrave) a Czech soldier who needs to keep his identity a secret from the Nazis, to do this he poses as a dead English Officer and corresponds with the man's wife. Upon liberation they meet and decide to continue their lives together. The other inmates' stories are revealed episodically.

Michael Redgrave Rachel Kempson Frederick Leister Mervyn Johns Rachel Thomas Jack Warner Gladys Henson James Harcourt Gordon Jackson Elliott Mason Margot Fitzsimons David Keir Derek Bond Jane Barrett Meriel Forbes Robert Wyndham Basil Radford Guy Middleton Jimmy Hanley Ralph Michael Jack Lambert Karl Stepanek Friedrich Richter Frederick Schiller Jill Gibbs David Walbridge Grace Arnold William Fox Susanne Gibbs Show All…

Country

Primary Language

English

Spoken Languages

German English

Alternative Titles

Stille Helden, Cuore prigioniero, Das gefangene Herz, Corações Aflitos, 深闺梦里人, Σκλαβωμένες Ψυχές, Corazón cautivo

Genres

Drama War

Theatrical

29 Apr 1946

UK

29 Apr 1946

Theatrical

104 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Bre 3

The inadvertent perfect V-E Day watch… you’ve done it again with an expert rec, Shabs.
Review by St. Sebastian ★★½

When there are Soviet films about the World War II, which are extremely cruel like the war itself, filled with suffering, tears, honor, heroic human deeds, bravery, life, love, and death, it's kinda difficult to rate and compare any other war films. If we're talking about prisoner-of-war camps, there's no place for music, entertainment, or a matter-of-fact tone in them. Mainly sacrifice and death. These film are both the truth and the nerve. But overall, it was intriguing to learn about a different perspective on the situation with military hostages held by the enemy.
If there is a nerve in the film, it's in Michael Redgrave's character. He is Czech, a former resident of the occupied region of Eastern Europe,…
Review by Quiller ★★★★

From Grand Illusion to The Great Escape, most movies about prisoners-of-war focus on escape attempts. Even the first half of William Holden’s plot line in The Bridge On The River Kwai involves his escape. But escaping was far from a common experience for most POWs. The Captive Heart, one of Ealing’s early documentary-style war films, deserves credit for being primarily about the mundane realities of life in a POW camp. Yes, an effort at digging a tunnel figures into the plot, but it’s unceremoniously discovered and dealt with. The bulk of the film focuses on the indefinite, potentially soul-crushing tedium of internment and the important sources of solace POWs find in each other and their infrequent communications with home. Although…
Review by Chris 🍉 ★★★★½

Spent most of the movie crying... Michael redgraves voice as he narrated his letters I... 🥺
Review by 🇵🇱 Steve G 🇵🇸 ★★★½ 3

Basil Dearden's war drama, based on the true story of a Czech concentration camp escapee who assumed a dead British soldier's identity to evade the Nazis, is heavy on cast (positive) and also on subplots (derogatory).
Actually, a bit harsh to term it as "derogatory". It's just that there two too many side-stories about relationships that distract away from a main story that is more than interesting enough to sustain the whole film. Especially as it features Michael Redgrave on top form even by his very high standards.
It's solid stuff as you'd expect from Basil Dearden though, if nowhere near his best. This is the 18th film I've seen from him and I've rarely happened across a more reliably good-to-great director than him over such a comparatively large collection of films.
Review by Paul D ★★★½

The flipside of The Great Escape.
Here there is talk of escape and a passing mention of a tunnel, but no one actually makes a run for freedom, like the vast majority of real life captured service men.
Instead, the film talks about the experience of being held in captivity for years on end with no idea of when it all might end. And at the same time shows us what is going on back home in the lives of loved ones, reminding us that those men who stayed locked up for year after year must have been tortured by thoughts of home.
And those thoughts are expressed (perhaps a little too eloquently) in the beautifully rounded tones of Michael…
Review by 🤎jess🤎 ★★★★ 2

the heart in question is mine.. and the culprit?? 💓michael redgrave💓
Review by Scott Huston ★★★

Release date April 29th 1946
It is 1940 and these English soldiers are now POWs held by the Germans for the duration of the war. This film was for the audience of 1946, a very overly optimistic view of the lives of POWs.
These are all very good actors and they show the heartache of Dear John letters, and the joy of Repatriation.
This was produced after the war, and providing a film that was a glossy view of these events, and as to serve as a touchstone for the people of Great Britain, was an important duty.
Review by James ★★★½

'Deep down in the hearts of all of us there dwells a lonely ache, a desperate yearning for those we love, and a fear. A fear of becoming forgotten men.'
Might have well have been exceptional had the narrative stayed with Michael Redgrave's character without darting over to the supporting cast so often, though The Captive Heart still stands as underrated POW film, celebrating the endurance and unwavering spirit of the mostly British prisoners that were caught during the Battle of France and spent all five years of the war in captivity. Basil Dearden directs with matter of fact naturalism and along with cinematographer Douglas Slocombe attempts to capture the rhythms of life in the camp, marking the days, weeks,…
Review by Mark Cunliffe 🇵🇸 ★★★★

After doing their bit for the war effort, keeping the spirits up on the home front with patriotic propaganda, Ealing Studios seized on the opportunity that presented itself with VE Day to tell a true account of the conflict; epic and yet intimate, a film that dealt with personal defeat and demoralisation, a story that acknowledged that morale could be, and had indeed been, low and that's why Ealing had produced what it did during the war years. That movie is The Captive Heart.
The Captive Heart tells the story of Michael Redgrave's Czech captain who, in the process of escaping certain death in a Nazi concentration camp, stumbles upon a dead British officer and assumes his uniform and identity.…
Review by Hattie ★★★★

With great performances from all involved, particularly Michael Redgrave and Mervyn Johns, The Captive Heart stands out from other films of the genre, with its focus on the ways in which war can personally effect prisoner's of war and their family and friends back home.
For a POW film which does not contain the usual obligatory escape plan/attempt, The Captive Heart finds more than enough ways to rack up the tension.
With outstanding direction and cinematography from Basil Dearden and Douglas Slocombe, this really is a POW film with a difference.
Review by hellohildy ★★★★½

Exceptional prisoner of war drama, with a gentle, pragmatically British approach (compared to U.S. POW pics). When an escape attempt is thwarted, the goal becomes helping each other survive the deprivation, depression and endless boredom of captivity. Adding tension is the story of an escaped Czech POW masquerading as a British officer, and whether he will get away with it. Interspersed are scenes of the families that the soldiers have left behind, adding to the stakes and our emotional investment.

Letterboxd — Your life in film

Where to watch

The Captive Heart

Synopsis

Would you forge love letters to save your life?

Cast

Director

Producers

Writers

Story

Editor

Cinematography

Assistant Directors

Camera Operator

Additional Photography

Art Direction

Special Effects

Composers

Costume Design

Studio

Country

Primary Language

Spoken Languages

Alternative Titles

Genres

Releases by Date

Theatrical

29 Apr 1946

Releases by Country

UK

29 Apr 1946

Popular reviews

Where to watch

The Captive Heart

Synopsis

Would you forge love letters to save your life?

Cast

Director Director

Producers Producers

Writers Writers

Story Story

Editor Editor

Cinematography Cinematography

Assistant Directors Asst. Directors

Camera Operator Camera Operator

Additional Photography Add. Photography

Art Direction Art Direction

Special Effects Special Effects

Composers Composers

Costume Design Costume Design

Studio

Country

Primary Language

Spoken Languages

Alternative Titles

Genres

Theatrical

29 Apr 1946

UK

29 Apr 1946

Popular reviews

Director

Producers

Writers

Story

Editor

Cinematography

Assistant Directors

Camera Operator

Additional Photography

Art Direction

Special Effects

Composers

Costume Design