Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

Mischa Redfern I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

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.

AaronCapenBanner Henry Hathaway directed this spy thriller that stars James Cagney as O.S.S. secret agent Bob Sharkey, who is in charge of training future agents to be sent out into the field. One of them is a German spy that they learn about, and decide to use as a disinformation agent. Unfortunately, the spy catches on to this, and outwits them back to Nazi occupied France with his information, forcing Sharkey to pursue him there, which may well cost him his life... Exciting and intriguing film with good cast and efficient direction, leading to a most surprisingly violent ending that is both tragic and yet triumphant, illustrating the sacrifice sometimes required to defeat the enemy.

Spikeopath O.S.S. agents are in training for work behind enemy lines in WWII. Upon receiving his latest batch of trainees, training leader Bob Sharkey is informed one of the rookies is actually a German mole. Letting the mole continue thinking he is undetected, Sharkey feeds the mole false information about important upcoming operations. But as Sharkey arranges his agents missions, and that of the mole, things go wrong and Sharkey himself must go into occupied France and risk the wrath of the Gestapo at 13 Rue Madeleine.13 Rue Madeleine is a very efficient and enjoyable War/Spy/Thriller, it's directed by multi genre helmsman Henry Hathaway and stars acting legend James Cagney as Sharkey. Tho playing a tough guy, this is quite far removed from the sort of roles that defined Cagney's career, he's ably supported by Richard Conte and Walter Abel, but in all honesty it's Cagney's film all the way. As many other reviewers have mentioned, the majority of the picture feels like a documentary, or more a sort of public service explanation on the History Channel, not a bad thing exactly, but the dulcet narration is something I personally could have done without. However once the picture nicely turns its attention to the crucial mission, things start heating up and the film becomes a film in the truer sense of the word. We are fully engaged with the central characters having been with them thru Sharkey's training school, and as the (fabulous) ending draws closer, it's hoped that the majority of viewers are as involved with the plot as I personally was. Because then when the end does come, it impacts the way the makers hoped it would.A very commendable picture and certainly recommended to fans of Cagney, Conte and this type of movie. 7/10

Robert J. Maxwell Cagney disappears in a tremendous explosion at the end of this movie, but he was to disintegrate even more gloriously a few years later.That's the sad part. We've grown to like Cagney as the head of the 077 Branch of U.S. Army Intelligence. He trains a new class of students in espionage and dirty tricks and then sends three of them (Frank Lattimore, Annabella, and Richard Conte) overseas on a dual mission. (1) Kidnap the Vichy French rat who has been designing the launching pads for the V-2 rockets. (2) Spread the false information that the Allies plan to land in Holland rather than Normandie. (PS: Kids, I have specified that the information about the landings in Holland was false, but in the interests of elucidation I'm compelled to add that this is World War II we're talking about here and, see, Hitler occupied France and the Allies -- meaning Britain, the U.S., and so forth -- had to keep their true plans secret. And -- and -- well, we won the war.) It turns out that Conte is, lamentably, a German agent, one of the best. He murders Lattimore, which, as far as cinematic history goes, isn't an insufferable loss, and then rejoins the Abwehr, having accomplished his mission, which was to learn all he could about the operations of Army Intelligence.But Lattimore must be replaced if the real two missions of the group are to be successful, and there's only one man who can do it -- Cagney himself. Cagney parachutes into France, kidnaps the Vichy rat and has him sent to England for questioning about the V-2s, and then is himself captured by Conte. Conte wants to know what those two original missions were. (I admit to a little confusion here about exactly who knows exactly what. Mission Number One, the spreading of false information, is dropped almost as soon as it's explained.) Well, Cagney is a tough guy, as we all know, but nobody can stand up to the Gestapo methods of enhanced interrogation. Every man has his breaking point. Before this point is reached, however, the U.S. Air Force bombs the living hell out of Gestapo headquarters and kills everyone in it, Cagney and Conte included.My guess is that a lot of instructive material about the 077 techniques was cut from the final print. We see the students being instructed in martial arts, demolition, radio communications, and so forth, but it would have been rather neat to learn how to burglarize a place.The rest of the film generates a lot of tension, along with scenes of camaraderie near the start. It results in a rather poignant moment aboard the airplane from which Lattimore and Conte will be parachuted into a French field. Conte has posed as a genial American, and Lattimore has formed a bond with him. Just before the mission is launched, Lattimore is by necessity told of Conte's real identity and is ordered to shoot him if he has to. While the two sit across from one another in the plane, waiting for the order to jump, Lattimore's guilt and discomfort can't be masked and Conte, ever on the alert, picks it up. It's a somewhat painful exchange because, after all, who wants to witness the end of a friendship? Maybe some small percentage of that male bonding was real, even for a person like Conte. It certainly seemed so. It's the finest moment in the film for both actors. Conte nevertheless doesn't hesitate to cut Lattimore's static line so that he falls to his death.The movie belongs to a relatively short-lived genre that originated towards the end of the war and lasted a few years. The style resembles a documentary. There is a narrator -- almost always, as here, Reed Hadley of the sonorous baritone. Lots of typed messages. Rows and rows of filing cabinets containing thousands of documents. Hidden identities. Most of them were produced by Louis de Rochemont and directed by Henry Hathaway. For a relatively pure example of the genre, see "The House on 92nd Street." In all of them, there are a number of highly dramatic and suspenseful moments but the mission is always accomplished.