The Hiding Place

At the centre of this story of Corrie and Betsie ten Boom, Dutch sisters who, with their family, helped smuggle countless Jews out of Holland during World War II and were incarcerated in a German concentration camp, lies a would-be celebration of Christian faith. The good intentions of all concerned notwithstanding, the film falls flat. Collier's ersatz heroic style is inadequate as suggesting either the torments of concentration camp life or the consolations of true faith; so much so that the real Corrie ten Boom appears personally in a prologue to testify how faith kept her and her sister alive. In short, the film - produced for Billy Graham's Evangelistic Association - lacks the commitment of its protagonist, preferring instead religious clichés and production values.