2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!

Konterr Brilliant and touching

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Prismark10 Carve her name with Pride is directed and co-written by Lewis Gilbert. Gilbert is one of the unsung heroes of British cinema who has directed on of the best James Bond film ever made.The film is based on true events. Violette Szabo (Virginia McKenna) is half French (French mother) and after a whirlwind romance she marries a French officer who dies in North Africa.Widowed with a two year old daughter she joins up with the British Special Operations Executive to be a spy. This includes undertaking a tough and rigorous training regime where her trainer reckons she is not up to the task.Violette is sent into occupied France in 1944 to work under an experienced SOE agent Tony Fraser (Paul Scofield.) After a successful first mission she is captured after a more dangerous endeavour.She is tortured by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp where she is executed. After the war her daughter received a posthumous George Cross in recognition of her mother's bravery.This is a crisp film without much pomp but plenty of clipped accents. It does feel a kind of old fashioned. There is a hint of a burgeoning romance between Fraser and Szabo but you get a hint of the horrors Szabo endured in the interrogation scenes and the concentration camp segment where there is effective use of make up to make Szabo looked haggard and even though you feel it is restrained those scenes still look harrowing.This film along with Odette shows the roles and sacrifices made by women in the war which unfortunately some men will love to airbrush out. Just look at the frothing of the mouth in modern action films that has a female heroine!Virginia McKenna gives a solid and stoic performance, there is a strong performance by Scofield. There are small supporting turns from Jack Warner and Bill Owen.

krishkmenon The story of Mrs Violette Szabo as portrayed by Virginia McKenna is poignantly brought to the screen. The exploits of an ordinary woman who proved to be - "The most fearless of all women SOE operatives" - as described by none other than another famous SOE operative Mrs Odette Churchill who survived the war undergoing almost similar experiences is a must. The film in almost three compartments re-traces the life of Violette from the time she meets her husband on Bastille Day in 1940 and their whirlwind romance, flashes to 1942 when her child is celebrating her 2nd birthday when she receives news of her husbands death at El-Alamein. It then fast forwards six months when she is recruited by the SOE as she had perfect qualifications for the post which included being a crack shot with the rifle (which however is contradicted by SOE records which state that she spoke French with an English accent...). The next part of the film features her training where she excels but sprains her ankle and has to sit out the first assignment by her team. During her convalescence she has to confront her father who feels she is not doing enough for the war effort,brush aside her guilt in abandoning her daughter etc.( Virginia McKenna handles these emotive scenes with remarkable talent) Her first assignment passes off quite well but the undertones of the danger of such attempts by agents are underplayed by the director. Her second assignment just after D-Day puts her a prisoner with the Gestapo after she has valiantly stood upto to a single-handed encounter with a German patrol - the torture she suffers and her ultimate death facing a firing squad at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp is leaves the viewer with no doubts on the methods used by her captors without depicting violence per se. The third part of the film is largely based on reports given by the French Resistance & Nazi records & reports by fellow prisoners of Ravensbruck all poignantly brought to the screen. The finale where we see her 5 year old daughter being received by King George to honour her mother posthumously with the George Cross brings a lump to the throat. Incidentally the episode of her shopping in Paris for her daughter while on assignment is corroborated by others hence not fictionalised for the film. In all a wonderful film that makes one wonder-struck with the exemplary courage of ordinary people who became legends in their time.

kenjha During WWII, a British woman marries a wimpy French soldier after a courtship of about three days. He then dies and she goes off to fight the Germans in his honor, leaving behind their little girl. McKenna is much too cheerful for someone experiencing so many hardships. The film consists of random scenes and veers from dull to corny to ridiculous. There's a scene where McKenna, hopping around on one good leg, engages in a machine gun battle with dozens of German soldiers. She manages to mow down half of them before they are able to capture her. Gilbert, who provides the uninspired direction here, went to on to direct films featuring another British agent, James Bond.

Nick Odgers It must be a sign of getting older but I find myself watching old films more and more now. Sky showed this film recently, and I much preferred it to some of the modern blockbusters they show. Virgina McKenna does an excellent job of portraying Violetta Szabo. Good old Jack Warner (Sergeant Dixon!) is excellent as the long suffering father. Paul Scofield is brilliant playing the part of Tony. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert, who also directed "Alfie" and "Educating Rita". It brings home the suffering normal people went through, as well as heroines like Violetta. I defy anyone not to be moved by the ending. Hopefully it is available on DVD now as it belongs in anyone`s collection.