Nurse Edith Cavell (1939)

The true story of Edith Cavell (Anna Neagle), a British nurse in WWI who developed a system to smuggle escaped prisoners into Holland and who was caught by the German Army and sentenced to death. Based on the non fiction book DAWN by Captain Reginald Berkeley and directed by Herbert Wilcox (NO NO NANETTE). To the film's credit, it doesn't add on a fictional love interest but other than that, I can't say much for it. It's a bit of a plodding dud. The dramatic story of Edith Cavell would seem made for the movies and maybe some day, a decent film about her will be made but this isn't it. The movie presents her as a saint but it also presents her as somewhat derelict in that surely she should have taken more precautions when operating right under the nose of the enemy. The film's intentions are good but its execution is a bore! There's a nice performance by Edna May Oliver who brings some vinegar to all the nobleness. With George Sanders, Zasu Pitts, May Robson, Robert Coote, H.B. Warner and Henry Brandon.