First Comes Courage

Arzner bows out of Hollywood, flipping the conventions of the war genre.

  • Director

    Dorothy Arzner, Charles Vidor (uncredited)

  • With

    Merle Oberon, Brian Aherne, Carl Esmond, Isobel Elsom

  • USA 1943. 86min

  • 35mm

  • PG

Arzner completed many films for other directors. However, after falling ill with pneumonia on the set of her final film, she found herself replaced by Charles Vidor. But her signature style and thematic preoccupations dominate this drama, which plays with gender conventions in both love and war. Merle Oberon shines as Nicole, a member of the Norwegian resistance who struggles to choose between romance and duty.

Preserved by the Library of Congress.

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