First Comes Courage ** (1943, Merle Oberon, Brian Aherne, Carl Esmond) – Classic Movie Review 13,085

Poster for the 1943 war film First Comes Courage.

The 1943 American war film First Comes Courage is the final film directed by Dorothy Arzner, then virtually the only female director in Hollywood. It stars Merle Oberon, Brian Aherne, and Carl Esmond.

Director Dorothy Arzner’s 1943 American war film First Comes Courage is based on the novel Commandos by Elliott Arnold. With some built-in wartime charm, it could have been a contender but it is held back by a weak screenplay and dull performances from miscast stars Merle Oberon, Brian Aherne, and Carl Esmond.

First Comes Courage is an intriguing but not always persuasive World War Two war film, set in Nazi-occupied Norway, with Merle Oberon rather lost as Nicole Larsen, a gutsy Norwegian who makes pals with Nazi regional commandant Major Paul Dichter (Carl Esmond) to get the lowdown to send to England.

Nicole is engaged to be married to the Major and is hated by the locals who suspect she is collaborating with the Nazis, but she is working for the Norwegian underground, risking her life passing secrets to the resistance fighters.

Then a British commando, Captain Allan Lowell (Brian Aherne), arrives on a mission and falls again for Merle (they had a fling years ago), but she won’t go home with him.

Oberon and Aherne seem just to sit back and accept that the script is so feebly, or in places even poorly written that there is little they can do, but Dorothy Arzner does bring some feeling and atmosphere to the piece. They are not the kind of actors who can make a weak script work, though Arzner is the kind of director who can.

The cast are Merle Oberon, Brian Aherne, Carl Esmond, Fritz Leiber, Erik Rolf, Reinhold Schunzel, Erville Alderson, Isobel Elsom, William Martin, Richard Ryan, Lewis Wilson, and John H Elliott.

The 1943 novel Commandos by Elliott Arnold is adapted by George Sklar, and the screenplay is written by Melvin Levy and Lewis Meltzer.

Release date: July 29, 1943.

Charles Vidor briefly replaced Dorothy Arzner when she had an attack of pleurisy.

Scenes were shot on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, with the Canadian military appearing as extras in the commando attack.

Oberon and Aherne had starred together in Beloved Enemy in 1936.

First Comes Courage is directed by Dorothy Arzner, runs 89 minutes, is made and released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Lewis Meltzer (screenplay), Melvin Levy (screenplay) and George Sklar (adaptation), based on the novel Commandos by Elliott Arnold, is shot in black and white by Joseph Walker, is produced by Harry Joe Brown, and is scored by Ernst Toch and Maurice Stoloff (musical director).

The cast are Merle Oberon as Nicole Larsen, Brian Aherne as Captain Allan Lowell, Carl Esmond as Major Paul Dichter, Isobel Elsom as Rose Lindstrom, Fritz Leiber as Dr Aanrud, Erville Alderson as Soren, Erik Rolf as Ole, Reinhold Schünzel as Colonel Kurt von Elser, Byron Foulger as Shopkeeper, Miles Mander as Colonel Wallace, William Martin, Richard Ryan, Lewis Wilson, and John H Elliott.

Dorothy Arzner with Marion Morgan, 1927. Photo by Arnold Genthe.

It is the final film directed by Dorothy Arzner, then one of the few female directors in Hollywood. Actually, apart from silent film director Lois Weber, Arzner was the only female director working in Hollywood from 1927 to 1943.

After making First Comes Courage, Arzner retired from Hollywood. It is speculated that it was because of a decline in the critical and commercial performance of her films but it may also have been because of the increase in sexism and anti-gay bigotry in Hollywood after the implementation of the Hays Code.

She made 20 films between 1927 and 1943, and was the first woman to join the Directors Guild of America and the first woman to direct a sound film.

Arzner had a 40-year relationship with dancer and choreographer Marion Morgan. Arzner never hid her sexual orientation, but she tried to keep her private life as private as possible.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,085

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