clanciai Another great espionage film, like his previous "House on 92nd Street" basically documentary, but gradually it evolves into high drama of human relationships and cruel intrigues. James Cagney is perfect as leader of the school of agents and spies, and although only an instructor from the beginning, he eventually will get good use of his hard fists. The final scene is tremendous for its effect and implication, a last laugh indeed.Richard Crenna is also very credible as his counterpart, and Henry Hathaway succeeds in getting his face in a final expression as well.I don't know how true the story is, but it could very well be true all the way, just like "House on the 92nd Street" was, and even more, the subsequent one, "Call Northside 777" with James Stewart, which is the best of the three.

Leofwine_draca 13 RUE MADELEINE is a good war effort telling of corruption and espionage in Nazi-occupied Holland. It stars former gangster actor James Cagney as a man who is tasked with training some secret service agents to be parachuted into Holland to retrieve a figure crucial to the Allied cause. However, a series of events including betrayal and murder eventually lead to a mission of revenge, one that is fraught with danger.This film was directed by the reliable Henry Hathaway and is a visually impressive movie. One key parachuting sequence is hair-raising stuff but there's plenty of suspense and incident throughout to keep you watching. Cagney is a good lead here and acquits himself well physically in some strong fight sequences. Richard Conte has a memorable supporting role. The abrupt ending is certainly one to be remembered too.

morrison-dylan-fan 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.The plot:Desperate to infiltrate the Nazis activities,the US government sets up a new war-time spy agency,whose goal is to go behind enemy lines,and to spy on the Nazis.As he begins training his latest group of would-be spies,Bob Sharkey is told that one of his students is actually an undercover Nazi spy.Standing out from the pack, Sharkey's suspicions instantly turn to a student called Bill O'Connell,due to O'Connell showing a surprising level of espionage skills,despite having only had a weeks' worth of training.Asking his superior's about O'Connell being arrested,Sharkey is told that he must feed O'Connell false info,due to there being info about O'Connell being linked to the Nazi- occupation of France.Sniffing out the lies just before he and his fellow spies are dropped in France,O'Connell kills one of the agents via cutting his parachute,and then jumps safely to the ground himself.Horrified about what O'Connell has done to one of his students,Sharkey decides that he must go behind enemy lines,and get hold of O'Connell. 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-fuelled 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.

dougdoepke This was TCF's second attempt at documentary style storytelling. Producer De Rochement really succeeded with his earlier espionage thriller, House on 92nd Street (1945). Here, however, the first part bogs down with too much exposition, unlike House. No doubt post-war viewers were fascinated to see how our special op's trained for overseas missions. But after 70-years, much is dated and that expository part remains too lengthy for an action picture, even though Cagney's energetic drive manages a spark. Nonetheless, the introductory segment does serve to introduce main characters along with a suspected Nazi double-agent, which provides a brief guessing game. The second part, however, delivers the goods, as special op's and their French allies tangle with the Nazis and their French (Vichy) allies. A high point is when Cagney is led up a hill to meet with a French scientist. The area is so secluded that we know something's not right. But what? Here, people aren't always what they pretend to be, which makes for good intrigue. Still, what's with poor Annabella. She does get second-billing, but only about ten lines and little screen time. Conte is the real co-star. But then that doesn't put a woman's name up on the marquee. At the same time, director Hathaway films in straightforward style befitting a documentary approach, but also serves to leave out atmosphere and mood. Here plot is all.The film may be dated. Still, it does provide insight into what has become, for better or worse, the CIA.