Dublin, 1921. What I've gleaned from Wikipedia about this time in Irish history, as it applies to this movie: it was near the end of the War of Irish Independence between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the British who were aided by a band of hired enforcers called the Black & Tans, who were apparently particularly brutal in putting down protest and going after IRA members. Young medical student Kerry O'Shea (Don Murray) is our way into this situation. An American, he came to Ireland after the death of his father (who had been an IRA foot soldier) and decided to stay. He is opposed to violence, but he helps out a woman who was almost caught smuggling illegal arms to the IRA. Later, in the aftermath of a car bombing, his friend Paddy, an innocent bystander, is wounded by the Black & Tans. Kerry gets him to safety and, to his surprise, his professor, Sean Lenihan (James Cagney) is a commandant in the IRA. Because Kerry accidentally left a notebook with his name on it in the street, the IRA guys figure he's a marked man so they give him two choices: he can join up (which means for life, and it means death if he ever tries to back out) or they can send him back to America. He opts for America, but while he stays at an IRA hideout waiting for the next ship out, he bonds with some of the guys, and also meets the General (Michael Redgrave) who was with Kerry's dad when he died. After Kerry takes the rap for an illegal gun that belonged to another IRA member, he is arrested and beaten up by the Black & Tans but doesn't give them any information. Lenihan leads a squad on a rescue mission and when they free Kerry, he decides to stay with the IRA. As it happens, the General is about to sign a treaty with the British that will give Ireland dominion status with its own Parliament. Lenihan considers that a betrayal of the cause, and soon Kerry thinks that Lenihan has become what we might call "blood simple," loyal not so much to the cause as to bloodshed, and eventually the two wind up in a standoff that can only leave one of them alive.
I'm not a student of Irish history, and this film simplifies the issues, probably too much. Still, it's an engrossing film with good performances all around. Cagney is just right as a character we admire in the beginning and change our mind about later. Orson Welles said that Cagney was one of our greatest actors because he always went full tilt without going over the top, and that's the case here; even in the climax, Cagney keeps Lenihan human and somewhat sympathetic, until he kills a very likable character in cold blood. Some viewers think Murray is too passive, but I think he's just right as an audience surrogate: a little confused, a little suspicious, but ultimately able to take a moral stand that we appreciate. (He's also darned handsome.) The supporting cast is strong: Cyril Cusack as a poet turned freedom fighter, Glynis Johns as a young prostitute, Sybil Thorndike as a titled lady who is sympathetic to the IRA, Richard Harris in an early role as an unlikable IRA member who clashes with Murray, and Donal Donnelly as a slow-witted kid. Dana Wynter is lovely but fairly bland as the necessary (but not really) love interest. Pictured are Murray and Cagney. [DVD]
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