Main Cast: Julie Harris, Eileen Heckart, Arthur O'Connell, Jeanette Clift, Robert Rietty
Release Year: 1975
Country: US
Run Time: 150 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Produced by Billy Graham's Evangelistic Association and based on an autobiographical novel by Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place is an account of a Dutch family who risk their lives by offering a safe haven for Jews during World War II. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
Review
The Hiding Place is among the most effective (and popular) of Christian evangelical films because it concentrates first and foremost on the dramatic and compelling story it has to tell, rather than on attempting to convert people to the filmmaker's beliefs. Because the story being told is one about people whose religion is a living and breathing part of their lives, it succeeds both in sending a message and being an effective dramatic work. That said, there are a few moments when the film veers into proselytizing, but the bigger problem with the film as a film is that the story, as powerful as it is, is presented a bit too earnestly and without sufficient imagination. There are times when the viewer wishes director James F. Collier had found a new way to present the information onscreen or had come up with images as compelling as the story (and had trimmed ten or fifteen minutes along the way). Fortunately, The Hiding Place has a top-notch cast and benefits from sterling performances from old reliables like Julie Harris, Arthur O'Connell, and Eileen Heckart. But it's Jeanette Clift's Corrie that holds the film together; a seeming natural, Clift inhabits the role with an impressive honesty. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Pamela Sholto - Tine; Paul Henley - Peter; Richard Wren - Kik; Broes Hartman - Dutch Policeman; Lex Van Delden - Young German Officer; Nigel Hawthorne - Pastor De Ruiter; David de Keyser - Eusie; Lillias Walker - Chief Nurse; Irene Prador - Wrochek; Janette Legge - Erika; John Gabriel - Prof. Ziener; Hana-Maria Pravda - Mrs. Alain; Carol Gillies - The Snake, Camp Matron
Credit
Klara Kerpin - Costume Designer, James F. Collier - Director, Ann Chegwidden - Editor, William F. Brown - Executive Producer, Tedd Smith - Composer (Music Score), John Blezard - Production Designer, Michael Reed - Cinematographer, Basil Appleby - Production Manager, Frank R. Jacobson - Producer, Lawrence Holben - Screenwriter, Allan Sloane - Screenwriter, Corrie Ten Boom - Book Author, Elizabeth Sherill - Book Author, John Sherill - Book Author
The Hiding Place is a 1975 film based on the autobiographical book of the same name by Corrie ten Boom recounting her and her family's experiences before and during their imprisonment in a Naziconcentration camp during the Holocaust in World War II. As the Nazis invaded Holland, Corrie and her family allow Jews to hide in a part of their home that is specially remodeled by members of the Dutch resistance. However, the Nazis eventually discover that Corrie and her family are hiding Jews, and the family and their friends are arrested under the betrayal of a Dutch collaborator. The hidden Jews are never found. Corrie's father, Casper, dies before he reaches the concentration camp, and Corrie worries that she will never see her home again. The Nazis send Corrie and her sister, Betsie, to the Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany for hiding Jews in their home. At the concentration camp, Betsie encourages Corrie to remain hopeful that God will rescue them from the brutalities they experience. With little food and constant work, the women suffer constantly, and Corrie's sister Betsie (Julie Harris), dies. Ultimately, Corrie(Jeanette Clift George) leaves the camp through what is discovered later to be a clerical error. Her life after this ordeal was dedicated to showing that the love of Jesus is greater than the deepest pit into which humankind finds itself. The Hiding Place was directed by James F. Collier. Jeanette Clift George received a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer - Female.[1].
