Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Yvonne Jodi Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

wes-connors During World War II, American-born bomber pilot Paul Massie (as Gene Summers) is sent from Boston to England, then German-occupied Paris. His mission is to assassinate a man secretly spying for the Nazis. In the event he is captured, Mr. Massie is trained in the art of interrogation and undercover work, by Eddie Albert (as Major "Mac" McMahon) and James Robertson Justice. His training complete, Massie is given the French identity "Jean Doumier" and arrives in Paris via parachute...When Massie meets his target, small-time lawyer Leslie French (as Marcel Lafitte), he has second thoughts. The suspected Nazi informant turns out to be a friendly family guy who loves cats. Massie thinks Mr. French may be innocent and shares his reservations with French resistance fighter Irene Worth (as Leonie). She reminds Massie of his "Orders to Kill"...Some of the build-up is tedious, but this turns out to be an intelligent drama about the morality of war...Note that the American stars' billing is exaggerated; top-billed Eddie Albert is a supporting actor to Massie, who is the star of the film. Moreover, Lillian Gish (as Mrs. Summers) appears in only two scenes. It would have been nice to see Ms. Gish become involved during the latter portions, inquiring about and/or visiting her son; this could have tied in with the parts of the opening which appear to signal flashbacks. The adaptation by Paul Dehn, direction by Anthony Asquith, and cast are excellent.******* Orders to Kill (7/25/58) Anthony Asquith ~ Paul Massie, Eddie Albert, Irene Worth, Lillian Gish

ianlouisiana Anthony Asquith,son of the Earl of Oxford,public school and University - educated,was a charming,intelligent and sophisticated man who made films that tended to reflect his personality."Pygmalion","The Winslow Boy","The Browning Version" were all popular with the moviegoers of Middle England who comprised his core audience.But in the late 1950s he suddenly changed tack and produced two extraordinary works debating the nature of courage,moral and physical."Carrington VC" starred David Niven,and "Orders to kill" featured Associated British contract actor Paul Massie. Canadian - born Mr Massie - slim,aesthetic - looking and sensitive - had a somewhat irregular movie career but won a richly - deserved BAFTA for "Most promising newcomer" for his performance as a French - speaking American flyer sent over to Occupied France to assassinate a Resistance member turned traitor. He is willing if not happy to kill from 20,000 feet up,but mano a mano is quite a different matter,particularly as the more research he does on his putative victim the more doubts he has about the man's guilt. He expresses his misgivings to his superiors but they are implacable,he must carry out his mission. "Orders to kill" brings into question the ethics of war just as "Carrington VC" does its effects on the individual. Is it ever "right" to take a human life even if such an act is sanctioned by Church and State?This is an argument familiar from the days of Capital Punishment,and a pillar of the stance of the Conscientious Objector. Will Massie's moral scruples be interpreted as cowardice by London in just the same fashion as would his refusal to fly any more bombing missions on similar grounds? Asquith reveals no easy answers. Not a War Film per se,"Orders to Kill" remains the British Cinema's finest examination of the minutiae of man's conduct in time of conflict. Generally ignored when Puffin Asquith's movies are discussed,it is criminally neglected and the work of a man of conscience who understood such insubstantial words as "Duty" and "Courage" and wasn't afraid to put a debate about their meaning to the cinema audience.

mandrake62 Spoiler alertWhat I remember most about this film is the way the idealistic young soldier in manipulated by a wheeler-dealer senior officer who is essentially a self serving bureaucrat. It rings so true of what can when the patriotism and of an innocent young man can be manipulated. The mission is based on flawed intelligence. The mission is poorly planned and puts the young operative at greater than necessary risk. In a way it is a microcosm of larger events with which we are all too familiar. As it turns out in the film, an innocent man is killed, a young man must live with having killed an innocent harmless man in cold blood. As for the senior officer who issued the orders, it is just a bureaucratic error. Not really anyone's fault he assures the guilt ridden young man. Besides he is very preoccupied with getting his fat butt over to Paris as soon as it is liberated to enjoy its I think it would be very This is a beneficial for young people to see to help them recognize one of the more subtle forms of evil so well represented. Maybe that is one of the true benefits of film art, it broadens our experience without the negative consequences that can result. As for the young man in the film, he had to learn the hard way. It is available on Amazon in new and used copies mostly shipped from UK but also new copies fulfilled by AmazonPrime at a higher price. All copies are Region 2 format.

triviah This is a quietly gripping movie about a man ordered to kill a traitor in wartime France. The protagonist bonds with his quarry and his family and agonizes over following his orders to kill. To find out whether he kills the man and whether he is guilty or innocent you'll need to see this.