Themes: Political Unrest, Hostage Situations, Double Life
Main Cast: James Cagney, Don Murray, Dana Wynter, Glynis Johns, Michael Redgrave
Release Year: 1959
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 110 minutes
Plot
Filmed on location, Shake Hands With the Devil is set in Ireland during the "troubles" of 1921. James Cagney plays a brilliant medical professor who doubles as head of the Irish Republican Army. Cagney convinces one of his more pacifistic students, Don Murray, to join the underground struggle against British rule. Murray suffers a crisis of conscience when his sweetheart Dana Wynter is taken hostage by the IRA and is slated for execution by the zealous Cagney. Several members of Dublin's Abbey Players appear in supporting roles in Shake Hands With Devil. Watch for Richard Harris in the small part of Terence O'Brien. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
For the time in which it was made, Shake Hands with the Devil packed quite a punch. If time has made the extremities of Devil's plot and characterizations seem dated, and if it is not quite accurate as history, it still is an involving look at the horrible conflict that has bedeviled Ireland for so many years. Devil's biggest problem is the naïve look it takes at the complicated Irish-English conflict -- but that won't bother many audiences, who will enjoy the heightened melodrama that this creates. The character if Sean Lenihan is also problematic. He's intended to represent the dangerous, vengeful aspect of the IRA, someone who is blindly zealous and whose deep rooted anger keeps him from seeing the larger vision. And James Cagney plays him with all the fiery brilliance that the part requires. And yet, because Cagney is Cagney, the audience disproportionately likes him -- even as he becomes increasingly mad. It's not Cagney's fault -- his work is top notch. The part is a tricky one to write, and the team of writers couldn't get it quite right. Cagney is joined by a superb cast that includes excellent work from the gorgeous Dana Wynter, Glynis Johns and Michael Redgrave. Only Don Murray is a letdown, giving a by-the-numbers performance that is indicated rather than true and committed. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Tom Morahan - Art Director, Tony Sforzini - Costume Designer, Irene Gilbert - Costume Designer, Michael Anderson - Director, Gordon Pilkington - Editor, George Glass - Executive Producer, Walter Seltzer - Executive Producer, William Alwyn - Composer (Music Score), Muir Mathieson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Tom Morahan - Production Designer, Erwin Hillier - Cinematographer, Michael Anderson - Producer, Josie MacAvin - Set Designer, Ivan Goff - Screenwriter, Ben Roberts - Screenwriter, Marian Thompson - Screenwriter, Rearden Conner - Book Author, Reardon Connor - Book Author
