In the summer of 1940, Captain Karel Hašek of the Czechoslovak Army escapes from Dachau concentration camp and assumes the identity of a dead British officer, Captain Geoffrey Mitchell. When he is caught, he joins thousands of British prisoners of war, captured during the Fall of France, on a march to a prison camp in western Germany. He is suspected of being a spy by his fellow soldiers because of a few small errors and his fluency in the German language. Captain Grayson wants to lynch him forthwith, but Major Dalrymple, the senior British officer, hears Hašek out and believes his story. To avoid suspicion, he has to maintain the fiction that Mitchell is still alive by corresponding with Mitchell's widow Celia. Prior to the war, Mitchell had abandoned his wife and their two children, but the letters rekindle Celia's love. After their escape tunnel is discovered, the prisoners resign themselves to a long stay. In 1944, when Herr Forster, who ran Dachau during Hašek's stay, visits the camp, Hašek fears he may be unmasked. The official compliments him on his nearly perfect German and seems to recognise him, but cannot quite place him. Hašek is sure time is running out; it is announced that some prisoners are to be repatriated, but when he goes for his medical examination to see if he qualifies, he is turned away. A plan to save him is devised without his knowledge. Private Mathews, a burglar in civilian life, breaks into the Kommandant's office late at night with two other men. They find the list of those to be repatriated and replace Mathews's own name with Mitchell's. On the way back to the barracks, Mathews is attacked by a guard dog and rescued by Hašek. The plan works, and Hašek is "returned" to Britain. He goes to see Celia. He breaks the news of her husband's death and that he has grown to love her. She is devastated, and Hašek leaves. After she recovers, she begins rereading his letters and realises that she has come to love the writer. When Hašek calls her on the telephone on the day that Germany surrenders, she is eager to speak with him.
Main cast
Michael Redgrave as Capt. Karel Hašek, alias Geoffrey Mitchell
Rachel Kempson as Celia Mitchell
Frederick Leister as Mr. Mowbray
Mervyn Johns as Pte. Dai Evans
Rachel Thomas as Dilys Evans, Dai's wife, who dies giving birth to their child during his absence
Jack Warner as Cpl. Ted Horsfall, Dai's friend and business partner in civilian life
Gladys Henson as Flo Horsfall, Ted's wife
James Harcourt as Doctor
Gordon Jackson as Lt. David Lennox, who breaks off his engagement with Elspeth McDougall when he is blinded in combat
Elliott Mason as Mrs. Lennox
Margot Fitzsimons as Elspeth McDougall, who refuses to give David up
David Keir as Mr. McDougall
Derek Bond as Lieut. Stephen Harley, in love with Caroline, but believes a poison pen letter sent to him by Beryl Curtiss
Jane Barrett as Caroline Harley
Meriel Forbes as Beryl Curtiss, jealous of Caroline because of Robert Marsden's love of her
According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction" at the British box office in 1946. Another source says it was the fourth biggest hit at the British box office in 1946 after The Wicked Lady, The Bells of St Marys and Piccadilly Incident. According to Kinematograph Weekly the 'biggest winner' at the box office in 1946 Britain was The Wicked Lady, with "runners up" being The Bells of St Marys, Piccadilly Incident, The Road to Utopia, Tomorrow is Forever, Brief Encounter, Wonder Man, Anchors Away, Kitty, The Captive Heart, The Corn is Green, Spanish Main, Leave Her to Heaven, Gilda, Caravan, Mildred Pierce, Blue Dahlia, Years Between, O.S.S., Spellbound, Courage of Lassie, My Reputation, London Town, Caesar and Cleopatra, Meet the Navy, Men of Two Worlds, Theirs is the Glory, The Overlanders, and Bedelia.
