''First Comes Courage'' is a 1943 American

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that wa ...

, the final film directed by

Dorothy Arzner Dorothy Emma Arzner (January 3, 1897 – October 1, 1979) was an American film director whose career in Hollywood spanned from the silent era of the 1920s into the early 1940s. With the exception of longtime silent film director Lois Weber (who d ...

, one of the few female directors in Hollywood at the time. The film was based on the 1943 novel ''Commandos'' by

Elliott Arnold Elliott Arnold (September 13, 1912 – May 13, 1980) was an American newspaper feature writer, novelist, and screenwriter. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he became a feature writer with the '' New York World-Telegram'' and authored dozens of nove ...

, adapted by George Sklar, with a screenplay by Melvin Levy and Lewis Meltzer. It stars

Merle Oberon Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 191123 November 1979) was a British actress who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933). After her success in ''The Scarle ...

and

Brian Aherne William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 190210 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States. His first Broadway appearance in '' The Barretts of ...

Plot

Nicole Larsen (

) is a member of the

Norwegian resistance The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *Asserting the legitimacy of the exiled government, ...

in a small town, about to marry the Nazi commandant (

Carl Esmond Carl Esmond (born Karl Simon; June 14, 1902– December 4, 2004) was an Austrian-born American film and stage actor, born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. Although his age was given as 33 in the passenger list when he arrived in the USA in January 19 ...

). When his superiors begin to suspect her, the Allies land an assassin to kill him: her former lover, Capt. Allan Lowe (

Cast

as Nicole Larsen *

as Capt. Allan Lowell *

as Maj. Paul Dichter *

Isobel Elsom Isobel Elsom (born Isabelle Reed; 16 March 1893 – 12 January 1981) was an English film, theatre, and television actress. She was often cast as aristocrats or upper-class women. Early years Born in Chesterton, Cambridge, Elsom attend ...

as Rose Lindstrom *

Fritz Leiber Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert ...

as Dr. Aanrud *

Erville Alderson Erville Alderson (September 11, 1882 – August 4, 1957) was an American character actor, usually portraying strong-willed or wise men. He appeared in nearly 200 films between 1918 and 1957. Life Alderson was born in Kansas City, Missouri. H ...

as Soren * Erik Rolf as Ole * Reinhold Schünzel as Col. Kurt von Elser *

Byron Foulger Byron Kay Foulger (August 27, 1898 – April 4, 1970) was an American character actor who over a 50-year career performed in hundreds of stage, film, and television productions. Early years Born in Ogden, Utah, Byron was the second of fo ...

as Shopkeeper (uncredited) *

Miles Mander Miles Mander (born Lionel Henry Mander; 14 May 1888 – 8 February 1946), was an English character actor of the early Hollywood cinema, also a film director and producer, and a playwright and novelist. He was sometimes credited as Luther Mile ...

as Col. Wallace (uncredited)

Production

''First Comes Courage'' had the working title of "Attack by Night"."Notes"
on

TCM.com Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of Atl ...

The film was originally to have been set in France, but was changed to Norway because of the public's interest at the time in the occupation of that country. When director Dorothy Arzner had an attack of

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity ( pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other s ...

, she was replaced by

Charles Vidor Charles Vidor (born Károly Vidor; July 27, 1900June 4, 1959) was a Hungarian film director. Among his film successes are ''The Bridge'' (1929), ''The Tuttles of Tahiti'' (1942), ''The Desperadoes'' (1943), ''Cover Girl'' (1944), '' Together A ...

. The film would turn out to be Arzner's final film. Some scenes were filmed on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

, with military units providing extras for the scenes of the commando attack. Oberon and Aherne had played the leads in ''Beloved Enemy'' in 1936, with David Niven in a large supporting role. By 1943, when this early film about commandos was produced, Niven (according to his memoir "The Moon' a Balloon") was an actual commando fighting in World War II.

References

External links

* * * {{Dorothy Arzner 1943 films American black-and-white films Films shot in British Columbia 1943 war films American World War II films 1940s English-language films Columbia Pictures films World War II films made in wartime Films set in Norway Films directed by Dorothy Arzner American war films Films scored by Ernst Toch Films about Norwegian resistance movement Films based on American novels