19 Feb First Comes Courage
First Comes Courage, WWII Book … film starring Merle Oberon
(1943) In 1942, a beautiful Norwegian woman is romantically involved with a Nazi officer who doesn’t realize that she is a member of the Resistance. First Comes Courage is based on a book written by Elliott Arnold. The Notes on the TCM site states that “according to a pre-production news item in Hollywood Reporter, the film’s setting was changed from France to Norway to exploit public interest in Norway as an occupied country.”
It was directed by Dorothy Arzner and was possibly the only WWII Hollywood movie directed by a woman. This was her last film.
Germany occupied Norway in 1940. There were many instances of commando raids. In addition, the OSS out of Sweden assisted the Resistance in many ways.
The movie is ho-hum except perhaps for the commando invasion and car chase in the last minutes. Merle Oberon is our heroine who surprises us all at the end.
First Comes Courage (The Commandos) the book at amazon.com
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