Film
The Password Is Courage
A 1962 British war comedy-drama following a cheeky PoW who repeatedly outwits his German captors through sheer audacity and quick thinking. It's surprisingly funny and humane for a film about confinement, blending genuine peril with the spirit of an elaborate con. For those who want their wartime stories lighter on bombast, heavier on character.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy caper-style wartime comedy where a stubborn, cheeky hero keeps outwitting his captors and the jokes sit comfortably beside real prison-camp tension, much like The Great Escape with its ingenuity turned up a notch.
Skip it if you want a grim, tightly plotted escape thriller; this one wanders into broad comic business and sometimes lets its sly, rakish tone sit awkwardly against the hardships of captivity.
What it asks of you: It runs about two hours at an easy, episodic pace, so settle in for scenes that linger on camp routine and character banter before the next scheme kicks off.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
The Great Escape1963
The definitive PoW escape film: multiple tunnels, a full ensemble, Steve McQueen on a motorcycle. If you loved the ingenuity and camaraderie in Coward, this is the epic version with Hollywood muscle behind it.
But Nearly three hours long, and the scale can feel impersonal after an intimate character study. Some sequences prioritize spectacle over the personal stakes.
Stalag 171953
Billy Wilder's razor-sharp take on camp life, with paranoia, dark humour, and a central mystery. Bogarde's whimsy meets Holden's desperation; the tone is bleaker but the wit is just as sharp.
But Much darker in register—there's betrayal and brutality that undercut the humour. If you want escapism, this interrogates why escape matters.
King Rat1965
George Segal as a charming American PoW who survives through hustle, charm, and moral compromise. Like Coward, it's about thriving rather than just enduring, but with far murkier ethics.
But The protagonist isn't heroic—he's self-interested in ways that can feel unpleasant. Fewer laughs, more discomfort.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Password Is Courage
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
A Matter of Life and Death1946
Both centre on resourceful British soldiers winning through personality and quick thinking against overwhelming odds; both use colour and whimsy to humanise the wartime experience rather than monumentalise it.
Powell and Pressburger's masterpiece: a downed RAF pilot debates his fate in the afterlife. Like Coward, it's fundamentally about a British soldier's audacity and charm in an impossible situation—outwitting not enemies but circumstance itself, with Bogarde's spiritual cousin at the centre.
But Surreal and expressionistic in ways that can feel whimsical or pretentious depending on your tolerance. The afterlife sequences are gorgeous but abstract.
More like this (7)
The Colditz Story1955
Another British PoW film with ensemble energy and real wartime detail. Multiple escape attempts, high stakes, and the camaraderie between prisoners feels earned rather than given.
But Once it finds its rhythm it stays there. Repetition of the escape-attempt structure can feel mechanical.
Escape to Athena1979
A late adventure film with Telly Savalas and Roger Moore, blending PoW camp drama with treasure hunting. It's unabashedly silly and fun, never forgetting the human cost beneath the heist.
But The plot is overstuffed and sometimes incoherent. Camp in both senses—it can tip into unintentional comedy.
Seven Years in Tibet1997
Survival and escape through ingenuity and unlikely connections, far from the battlefield. Visually stunning and emotionally complex in ways that reward patience.
But Slow and meditative. It's about endurance as much as adventure, which some find contemplative and others find tedious.
The Captive Heart1946
A rare PoW film centred on emotional survival and identity rather than physical escape. Bogarde's predecessor in exploring how captivity changes you, not just holds you.
But Very much a 1940s British drama—the pacing is deliberate and the restraint can feel like slowness to modern eyes.
The One That Got Away1957
Hardy Krüger as a German pilot trying to escape across Canada after being shot down. It inverts the usual perspective and delivers genuine tension alongside human moments.
But Shot in black and white, relatively lean on dialogue. The landscape is almost another character, which some find meditative and others find sparse.
Mon Oncle1958
Both are fundamentally about an ordinary man using wit and social acuity to outwit systems—military hierarchies in one, modern consumer culture in the other. Both insist that charm and intelligence are survival tools.
Tati's colour masterpiece about an aging man navigating a modern world through cunning, politeness, and sheer will. The sensibility is identical to Coward's—survival through charm and ingenuity, absurdity met with grace, a world that doesn't quite make sense but can be outmanoeuvred.
But It's a comedy without jokes, a film that requires you to read visual language rather than follow plot. It moves at its own pace, which is glacial.
The Remains of the Day1993
Both explore what it means to survive captivity—physical in one case, emotional and social in the other. Both ask whether charm and compliance are liberation or surrender.
Anthony Hopkins as a British servant bound by duty and decorum. The inverse of Coward's audacity—a man who remains caged by the very rules that once defined him. Same era, same register of Britishness, opposite moral choice.
But Extraordinarily restrained. The drama happens in silences and glances. If you want action or emotional release, this withholds it deliberately.
People
Cast
Dirk BogardeSergant-Major Charles Coward
Maria PerschyIrena
Alfred LynchCorporal Bill Pope
Nigel StockCole
Reginald BeckwithUnterofficer
Richard MarnerSchmidt
Ed DevereauxAussie
Lewis FianderPringle
George MikellNecke
Richard CarpenterRobinson
Bernard Archard1st Prisoner of War
Ferdy Mayne1st German Officer at French Farm
Directing
- Andrew L. StoneDirector
Writing
- John CastleBook
- Andrew L. StoneScreenplay
Production
- Sydney StreeterAssociate Producer
- Irene HowardCasting
- Andrew L. StoneProducer
- Virginia L. StoneProducer
- Noreen HipwellProduction Secretary
Recommended by
Colditz, The Heroes of Telemark, The One That Got Away, The McKenzie Break, The Cross of Lorraine, Danger Within