Odette

More guts in her little finger than in my whole body. She should have been Dame Odette.Interestingly, she and Anna Neagle were close friends in real life . Film seems almost entirely accurate as it would be impossible to show the true horrors on screen. For possible interest-Odette and Roy Sansom divorced in 1946.She was married to Peter Churchill from 1947 to 1956, then got divorced again. And the Camp Commandant was hanged in 1950. I would have given advice to that cringing female - run like hell!

This film, made in 1950 was one of many made around that time to record and pay tribute to the hero(ines) of World War Two. It is amazingly unsentimental, and all the more powerful for that reason. Anna Neagle shows more emotion in the few scenes where she contacts her children than she does later when spying for the British in France. Neagle is surrounded by a galaxy of fine British actors including Trevor Howard, Bernard Lee (ironically playing the same kind of role as in his many outings in the Bond movies) and Marius Goring. I don't doubt the veracity of her exploits and she was very lucky to have survived the ordeal of her imprisonment at Ravensbruck. Neagle made many films with her husband Herbert Wilcox, this is probably one of the best, and though it is clearly a low budget film, it is none the worse for that.

This movie is a tribute to all the women and men that risk their lives in resisting in France. It tells the story of Odette, a French-born woman that decided to enlist in a British section working under cover in France to help resistance and gather intelligence. The movie is inspired by real events and tries to give a good overview on what was that kind of life. It can only be commended for that. However in itself, the movie is so so, not to say disappointing. It lacks a few film to grasp the audience and make us feel the bravery shown by all this women and men! I also did not understand the language management in this movie: We switch from English to French in France only to distinguish the British spys from the rest - at first - and then every French in relation with them speak English as well. It should have be either all in English or in French: to speak English in France under cover would be really amateurish... (I'll not mention the bad French spoken with an evident English accent). On top of it, same happens with German (with the secretary being told bad with English to the next scene fluently talking in that language...).

A British drama; A story about the French widow of an English soldier who offers her services to British Intelligence, sent undercover in Vichy France. This gripping, moving and grim fact-based melodrama is a daunting and vivid tale. Anna Nagle gives a brilliant performance, immersing herself in the role in the same way as many Method actors did in a later generation. Trevor Howard and Peter Ustinov are equally convincing. The film brings respect and patriotism to the telling, and although there is little mystery, the factual elements are sensitively handled for a true story.

Being a connoisseur of 1940/early 50s films with an extensive collection, I was surprised that I had never seen "Odette" before but have now done so courtesy of Youtube.The plot is similar to "Carve her name with pride"(1956) starring Virginia McKenna), that is a French woman living in the UK who volunteers to help the allies and Resistance in France during WW11.Anna Neagle showed her lack of linguistic ability speaking French & lapsing into English several times even when speaking to French Resistance workers.On the other hand the German speaking actors were quite authentic in their roles with the producers NOT providing English sub-titles in certain German only sequences where the action was clear. Still it did give Dame Anna a chance to do a spot of real acting and "suffer" for us on screen with Trevor Howard's nicely understated performance playing her husband, Peter Churchill.I do understand that film censorship in 1950 could not allow any special effects showing Anna Neagle's character having her toenails being pulled out by the Gestapo, even suggesting it was slightly shocking then.Marius Goring was often well cast in sinister yet intelligent roles as he plays here as an officer in the Deutsche Abwehr.Another role he played in the same year of 1950 was as a Balkan/Serbian police inspector with Margaret Lockwood in "Highly Dangerous".Good to see "M"(a youngish Bernard Lee) initially from "Dr.No (1962) learning his trade in military intelligence.I awarded this film 6/10.

While it's not CARVE HER NAME WITH PRIDE, ODETTE nevertheless tells a similar story of a female French resistance fighter working against the Nazis in occupied France during WW2. Anna Neagle essays the role with integrity and plenty of character, and is well-supported by two of the most beloved of British male film stars, namely Trevor Howard and Peter Ustinov, both of whom are on top form. While this kind of story is overly familiar thanks to the continuing popularity of such narratives in cinema and books over the years, some very good and atmospheric direction adds immeasurably to the experience.

Odette Sanson is recruited by British Intelligence to spy in occupied France during World War Two. Based on a real case. The film conveys the real danger in the French resistance of capture at any moment and the horror if you were. The prison and camp scenes are very well done too. Anna Neagle carries the movie almost single handed. Everyone else does their fill-in character parts very well but she is the star. Despite some dodgy French accents Trevor Howard and Peter Ustinov are the best of the rest. It would have been nice to see more of her secret service training.

Painstaking reconstruction of lost heroes of the war in an almost documentary character, in this case the French resistance organized from England with a quite ordinary woman as the main link and foundation of the operations, as she as an ordinary woman is best fit not to attract attention. When she is asked to volunteer she has no experience whatsoever, an ordinary woman with three children separated from her husband, whom we never hear a word of throughout the film. Instead there is Trevor Howard as a certain Peter Churchill as the other main link in the operations together with Peter Ustinov as the indispensable radio operator. He is caught and killed by the Gestapo, which you learn already in the beginning of the film, but you never see it happen. Instead you see the full torture sessions and ordeals of Trevor Howard and Anna Neagle. It certainly is one of her best performances, the direction by Herbert Wilcox is completely natural all the way, and Anthony Collins has provided the film with discreet but eloquent music perfectly suited to the action; but the perhaps most interesting performance is that of the dubious Marius Goring as the Abwehr man, who like Canaris is well aware of the fallacy of Hitler's regime and continuosly seeks a way out of the war dilemma but falls in with the tragedy and must take the consquences of being part of it. It's a gripping film of the unknown heroes of the war that never reached any public acknowledgement, while they were the ones who risked their lives more than most and often lost it. Still, this is also a film of survival against all odds by sheer obstinacy and refusal to cooperate with a dictatorship.