Helmut Dantine "Mrs. Miniver" (1942), playing a downed German pilot captured by the title character (played by Greer Garson). This film was a huge hit and Dantine received much positive attention. In August 1942 Warners signed him to a new contract. The studio kept him busy in war films: "The Pied Piper" (1942); "Desperate Journey" (1942), fighting Errol Flynn; and "The Navy Comes Through" (1942). He had a sympathetic role in "Casablanca" (1942), as the young refugee trying to earn money for a visa via gambling who is helped by Humphrey Bogart. Warners begin to give Dantine more sizeable roles in "A"
Mrs. Miniver (character) Mrs. Miniver (character) Mrs. Miniver is a fictional character created by Jan Struther in 1937 for a series of newspaper columns for "The Times", later adapted into a film of the same name. "The Times" columns were short reflections on everyday life, based in part on Struther's own family and experiences. While the columns started out as lighthearted domestic scenes where the outside world barely intruded, the approach of World War II slowly brought darker global concerns into Mrs. Miniver's world. One of the more memorable pieces appears near the middle of the series, where the Minivers get gas masks.