Runtime: 91 minutes
Directed by: John Ford
Starring: Victor McLagen, Heather Angel, Preston Foster, Margot Grahame, Wallace Ford
From: RKO
This month on TCM, each Friday is devoted to the films of John Ford. At least one of his movies will be checked out by myself as he is a legendary director and I've only scratched the surface w/ his work. Plenty of praise for this has passed across my eyes, making it an easy selection for me.
The basic plot description sounds uncomplicated: in 1922 Dublin, an Irish man rats out his friend for 20 pounds; it is more complicated than that. As it is 1922, Ireland is about to become independent but the changeover has not occurred quite yet. There is a long sordid history between the countries which I won't get into here... in some ways the Irish have good reason to forever have an issue with Great Britain. The lead-the amazingly named GYPO NOLAN-is a brute who is pugilistic and would rather argue with his fist rather than words. Gypo needs money, his pal is wanted by the black & tans for murder, the money will go to himself and his streetwalker girlfriend to escape a bad life on the Emerald Isle-the population as a whole is terrified by the black and tans paramilitary forces still present-by emigrating to America, and he is terribly conflicted by his decision. He turns to whiskey to drown out his sorrows & this results in him shoving, punching, and otherwise fighting with quite a few people. Of course, the IRA begins to suspect who the stool pigeon was...
Even if the movie literally spells it out in the beginning and says that Gypo is a Judas, and it was never a dull moment as one long night in Dublin was seen; it was constantly foggy and naturally Ford filmed this very well. There is also innovative camerawork-the director was influenced by such things as the silent classic Sunrise.Victor McLagen was the highlight as he was great in his role; in fact, he won an Oscar. It does need to be noted that Ford was less than ethical in how he treated McLagen for him to deliver the “right” performance. That includes being verbally abusive, lying to him, and having him perform scenes while incredibly hungover. That is unfortunate by today's standards although that personally did not affect my enjoyment of the movie.
It is a thoughtful film where Gypo has to wrestle with a range of emotions and such topics as the complicated relationship between Ireland and Great Britain are addressed adeptly. It won four Oscars (McLagen, Ford, the quality score from Max Steiner, and for the screenplay by Dudley Nichols) yet even among film fans this may be unjustly forgotten or at the very least, overlooked. It is well worth tracking down, especially if you are Irish yourself and/or are interested in that country's history.
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