Nurse Edith Cavell
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Herbert Wilcox
Anna Neagle
Edna May Oliver
George Sanders
May Robson
Zasu Pitts
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
At the outbreak of World War I, English nurse Edith Cavell is in charge of a nursing home in Brussels when she and Mme. Rappard help Mme. Rappard's grandson Jean escape from the invading Germans. Jean flees to the border and is taken to Holland on a barge operated by Mme. Moulin. Inspired by Jean's plight, nurse Cavell, Mmes. Rappard and Moulin and their good friend, Countess de Mavon, perfect a system whereby they smuggle defenseless escaped prisoners into Holland. Their network is exposed when Lieutenant Schultz of the German army poses as an escaped prisoner and presents evidence that brings nurse Cavell to trial before a German military court. Despite pleas and warnings that her execution will trigger worldwide condemnation, no leniency is shown and nurse Cavell is put to death.
Director
Herbert Wilcox
Cast
Anna Neagle
Edna May Oliver
George Sanders
May Robson
Zasu Pitts
H. B. Warner
Sophie Stewart
Mary Howard
Robert Coote
Martin Kosleck
Gui Ignon
Lionel Royce
Jimmy Butler
Rex Downing
Henry Brandon
Fritz Leiber
Gilbert Emery
Lucien Prival
Richard Deane
Bert Roach
Halliwell Hobbes
Ernst Deutsch
Egon Brecher
Will Kaufman
Gustave Von Seyffertitz
Bodil Rosing
William Edmunds
Frank Reicher
Gene Garrick
Louis Arco
Fernand Visele
Crew
James Anderson
Joseph H. August
Anthony Collins
Michael Hogan
Gui Ignon
Lloyd Richards
Darrell Silvera
Edward Stevenson
Douglas Travers
Richard Van Hessen
Vernon Walker
Merrill G. White
Herbert Wilcox
Elmo Williams
L. P. Williams
William Yetter
F. A. Young
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Score
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Onscreen credits include the following acknowledgment: "...thanks to the relatives of Cavell and Miss E. Wilkin, O.B.E. and the Imperial War Museum, London for documents placed at the film makers disposal." The picture was based on a true story of a British nurse who was shot by a German firing squad in 1915 in Brussels. According to modern sources, actor Fernand Visele was imprisoned in the cell next to nurse Cavell in St. Gilles. A May 1939 news item in Hollywood Reporter notes that the National Council for the Prevention of War opposed this picture on the grounds that it would be seen as an unfriendly gesture toward Germany. The picture had its premiere the week that World War II was declared. According to the Variety review, English writer and producer Herbert Wilcox brought Anna Neagle to Hollywood to produce this picture at RKO with a local cast and production crew. This was the first of several RKO releases that Neagle and Wilcox made in the United States. Anthony Collins was nominated for an Academy Award in the Music (Original Score) category.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1939
Film is remake of "Dawn" (1930).
Released in United States 1939
