Review of The Captive Heart (1946) by Sgt. C — 24 Feb 2015

(53%).

A very simplistic prisoner of war drama from Ealing studios about a Czech man who changes his identity to that of a British captured soldier to avoid being killed. This looks at the life of both the prisoners and their family back home giving a decent incite into the inner workings of wartime for the vast majority of normal people. The performances are largely standard stuff, with some touches of film noir to the again pretty standard direction. While the plot is predicable with very little in terms of surprises, but the fact that this was released only a few years after the war itself, and as everyone back then who watched this had actually lived through the misery of that page in time, so the makers didn't really attempt to over-aggrandise the events that directors now might feel more inclined. Overall this is so-so matinee stuff that I'd only recommend to big war movie buffs.