With Christmas coming up,I started to search round on Amazon UK for a James Cagney DVD that I could give as a present. Being interested in going for a lesser-known film of Cagney's,I was pleased to stumble upon an espionage title starring Cagney,which led to getting ready to see Cagney spy at 13 Rue Madeleine.
View on the film:
Getting quickly re-written thanks to the US government banning any movie from mentioning the pre-CIA OSS,and the real life Sharkey (William Donovan) not being too happy over the film showing a Nazi spy infiltrating the agency,the opening 30 minutes of John Monks Jr. And Sy Bartlett's screenplay builds up a real steam of tension,as Sharkey finds himself unable to stop O'Connell from delving deeper into the agency's roots.
As O'Connell drops from the sky,the writer's sadly fail to keep the tense atmosphere building,due to O'Connell being left off-screen for the next 50 minutes,which leads to the dangerous mood between O'Connell and Sharkey only being revived for the films wonderful bleak ending.
Despite not filming in the real locations which the opening credits state, (with Quebec locations being used for the films US/French settings)director Henry Hathaway shows a great skill at releasing a nervous energy,with Hathaway using tightly coiled shots to show the raging paranoia which has taken over the resistance fighters of France.
Showing some of his excellent Judo skills in the opening scenes,James Cagney gives a very good performance as Sharkey,with Cagney slowly revealing Sharkey's revenge-fueled sorrow. Taking on Cagney, Richard Conte gives a brilliant,ruthless performance as Bill O'Connell,with Conte showing a real ruthless bite,as O'Connell begins to reveal all the info that he's gotten from the US,in 13 Rue Madeleine.
View on the film:
Getting quickly re-written thanks to the US government banning any movie from mentioning the pre-CIA OSS,and the real life Sharkey (William Donovan) not being too happy over the film showing a Nazi spy infiltrating the agency,the opening 30 minutes of John Monks Jr. And Sy Bartlett's screenplay builds up a real steam of tension,as Sharkey finds himself unable to stop O'Connell from delving deeper into the agency's roots.
As O'Connell drops from the sky,the writer's sadly fail to keep the tense atmosphere building,due to O'Connell being left off-screen for the next 50 minutes,which leads to the dangerous mood between O'Connell and Sharkey only being revived for the films wonderful bleak ending.
Despite not filming in the real locations which the opening credits state, (with Quebec locations being used for the films US/French settings)director Henry Hathaway shows a great skill at releasing a nervous energy,with Hathaway using tightly coiled shots to show the raging paranoia which has taken over the resistance fighters of France.
Showing some of his excellent Judo skills in the opening scenes,James Cagney gives a very good performance as Sharkey,with Cagney slowly revealing Sharkey's revenge-fueled sorrow. Taking on Cagney, Richard Conte gives a brilliant,ruthless performance as Bill O'Connell,with Conte showing a real ruthless bite,as O'Connell begins to reveal all the info that he's gotten from the US,in 13 Rue Madeleine.