''Captured!'' (aka ''Fellow Prisoners'') is a 1933 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

film about

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

prisoners of war in a German camp. The film was directed by Roy Del Ruth and stars

Leslie Howard Leslie Howard Steiner (3 April 18931 June 1943) was an English actor, director and producer.Obituary ''Variety'', 9 June 1943. He wrote many stories and articles for ''The New York Times'', ''The New Yorker'', and ''Vanity Fair'' and was one o ...

and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. ''Captured!'' was based on the short story "Fellow Prisoners" (1930) by Sir Philip Gibbs."View: 'Captured!'."
''American Film Institute'', 2019. Retrieved: June 29, 2019.

Plot

British Captain Fred Allison bids farewell to his new wife, Monica, whom he has only known for six days, and sets out to serve in

. He ends up a prisoner of war (POW), tortured by the fact that his wife has not written to him since the early days of his two year captivity. When a fellow inmate shoots a guard, the prisoners make an impromptu unsuccessful dash for freedom, resulting in much bloodshed on both sides. As punishment, they are locked in a crowded cell for about a month. Finally, a new commandant, Oberst Carl Ehrlich, takes charge of the camp. Allison persuades Ehrlich (a fellow

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

alumnus) to rescind the punishment. One day, a fresh batch of POWs arrives. Allison is delighted to find his oldest and best friend among them, Royal Flying Corps Lieutenant Jack "Dig" Digby. For some reason though, Dig is not as pleased to see him. However, Allison attributes that to their situation. Dig is determined to escape, regardless of the consequences to his fellow prisoners. He does manage to break free, stealing an aircraft from the nearby airfield. The Germans find his coat near the dead body of Elsa, a woman who delivered fresh food to the camp. Ehrlich writes to the Allies, demanding Dig's return to stand trial for rape and murder. Allison refuses to cooperate, until he recognizes the handwriting on a letter found in the coat. When he reads it, he discovers that Monica and Dig have been carrying on an affair for the last six months. Allison then adds his signature to Ehrlich's request. On the strength of Allison's endorsement, the British do send Dig back. Dig refuses to defend himself, insisting only that he knows Allison's motive for bringing him back. He is found guilty and sentenced to death by firing squad. The real perpetrator, Strogin, writes a note confessing to the crime, then hangs himself. Allison finds the note, but instead of notifying the Germans, crumples it up. Just before Dig is to be executed, Allison's conscience makes him show the confession to Ehrlich. Afterward, Allison tells Dig he will give Monica up. All along, Allison has been planning a mass escape. He seizes the machine gun guarding the front gate, then holds off the guards while his comrades escape. The POWs race to the airfield, overcome the aircrews there, and fly off in a squadron of bombers preparing for their nightly raid. Allison is killed by a grenade. When Ehrlich finds his body, he salutes.

Cast

as Captain Fred Allison * Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as Lieutenant Jack "Dig" Digby *

Paul Lukas Paul Lukas (born Pál Lukács; 26 May 1894 – 15 August 1971) was a Hungarian actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his performance in the film '' Wat ...

as Oberst Carl Ehrlich *

Margaret Lindsay Margaret Lindsay (born Margaret Kies; September 19, 1910 – May 9, 1981) was an American film actress. Her time as a Warner Bros. contract player during the 1930s was particularly productive. She was noted for her supporting work in successf ...

as Monica A. Allison *

Robert Barrat Robert Harriot Barrat (July 10, 1891 – January 7, 1970) was an American stage, motion picture, and television character actor. Early years Barratt was born on July 10, 1891, in New York City and was educated in the public schools there. He ...

as The Commandant *

Arthur Hohl Arthur Hohl (May 21, 1889 – March 10, 1964) was an American stage and motion-picture character actor. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and began appearing in films in the early 1920s. He played a great number of villainous or mildly la ...

as Cocky *

John Bleifer John Melvin Bleifer (July 26, 1901 – January 24, 1992) was an American actor whose career began at the end of the silent film era, and lasted through the mid-1980s. He appeared in feature films and film serials, and in a number of televis ...

as Strogin * William Le Maire as Joe "Tex" Martin (as William LeMaire) * J. Carrol Naish as Corporal Guarand (as J. Carroll Naish) * Philip Faversham as Lieutenant Haversham (as Phillip Faversham) *

Frank Reicher Frank Reicher (born Franz Reicher; December 2, 1875 – January 19, 1965) was a German-born American actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Captain Englehorn in the 1933 film ''King Kong''. Early life Reicher was born in Mu ...

as Herr Hauptman *

Joyce Coad Joyce Coad (April 14, 1917 – May 3, 1987) was a child actress in motion pictures. Child prodigy Coad was the survivor of triplets whose parents died shortly after she was born. She was adopted by a childless couple and taken to Los Angeles, C ...

as Elsa * Bert Sprotte as Sergeant Major *

Harry Cording Hector William "Harry" Cording (26 April 1891 – 1 September 1954) was an English-American actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his roles in the films '' The Black Cat'' (1934) and ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938). Life and career ...

as First Orderly *

Halliwell Hobbes Herbert Halliwell Hobbes (16 November 187720 February 1962) was an English actor. Early years The future actor was the son of William Albert Hobbes (1841-1909), a Warwickshire solicitor, and his wife, Marion Hobbes, née Dennis, (1838-1925). ...

as British Major General *

Leyland Hodgson Leyland Hodgson (5 October 1892 – 16 March 1949), also known as Leland Hodgson, was an English-born American character actor of the 1930s and 1940s. Born in London on 5 October 1892, Hodgson entered the theater in 1898. In his early 20s, Ho ...

as Major Hudson

Production

''Captured!'' was shot largely on the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

backlot in Hollywood with a large cast and crew of 1,500. A total of 75 aircraft were assembled, including

Keystone LB-5 The Keystone LB-5 (originally ordered under the Huff-Daland name) was a bomber aircraft produced in the United States in the late 1920s. Its manufacturer nicknamed it the Pirate, but this name was not officially adopted by the United States Army ...

bombers that portrayed the German

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...

bombers, located at the airfield near the POW camp. The location photography took place at the

Grand Central Airport Grand Central Airport is a small privately owned airfield which is open to public air traffic. It is located in Midrand, halfway between Johannesburg and Pretoria in South Africa. Prior permission to land at Grand Central is not required for l ...

in Burbank, California. Director Roy Del Ruth, in a 29 day shooting schedule, purposely shot scenes at night to give a shadowy, sinister atmosphere.

Reception

Film reviewer

Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote that ''Captured!'', "with all its adequate staging, it is a trifle too melodramatic to be credible."Hall, Mordaunt
"Review: 'Captured!'."
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', August 18, 1933.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Farmer, James H. ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'' (1st ed.). Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: TAB Books 1984. . * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. .

External links

* * * * {{Roy Del Ruth 1933 films 1933 romantic drama films 1933 war films American World War I films American aviation films American romantic drama films American war films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films based on short fiction Films directed by Roy Del Ruth World War I prisoner of war films 1930s American films Films scored by Bernhard Kaun