First Comes Courage

Merle Oberon plays Nicole Larsen, a Norwegian who is playing a VERY high stakes spy game. She is working for the Resistance AND at the same time dating* the local Nazi commander.

Two of Hollywood's British colony are the leads in this Columbia Pictures war film about the Norwegian Resistance. Brian Aherne and Merle Oberon, a British barrister and a Norwegian woman who have some before the war history come together when British commandos raid Norway.

I was able to watch for only an hour before I gave up and walked away. It's really quite awful.

The film is so much better than the book. You can better understand the motivations and limitations of the characters.

One of the users said s/he almost gave this film an 8. That was my exact opinion, until I watched "The Mortal Storm".

There were several "Norwegian fishing village" movies made in the thick of WWII, to show American audiences why we needed to help the world and inspire us to be as courageous as the peasants in the movies. First Comes Courage is one such movie, and while I appreciated Merle Oberon's performance, it's not my favorite of the subgenre.

If for no other reason, this incredible movie should be seen to enjoy the acting skill of Merle Oberon, especially in the scene where she finally reveals to her husband, the Nazi Major, that she loathes and despises him and that she has only been with him in order to spy on Nazi activities. Directed by Dorothy Arzner, a pioneer among women directors, the movie has an endearing ending in which Merle Oberon turns her back on her lover in order to carry on her underground activities.

Dorothy Arzner's last directorial effort is replete with her usual feminist slant on things as Merle Oberon -- playing a Norwegian -- is caught between romantic Nazi officer Carl Esmond, who wants to marry her and British spy Brian Aherne who loves her, which is all a great inconvenience to her winning the war for Norway. The men are busy playing with their big tanks and their large meetings -- the state marriage of Esmond and Oberon with its TRIUMPH OF THE WILL sized set decorations is very funny.

Merle Oberon and Brian Aherne star in First Comes Courage," a 1943 film directed by Dorothy Arzner. Oberon plays Nicole Larsen, a Norwegian who is seen by the other townspeople as a traitor because she's dating a Nazi (Carl Esmond).