Main Cast: Victor McLaglen, Heather Angel, Preston S. Foster, Margot Grahame, Wallace Ford
Release Year: 1935
Country: US
Run Time: 91 minutes
Plot
The Informer, Liam O'Flaherty's novel of the the Irish "troubles" of the early 1920s, was first filmed in England in 1929, with Cyril McLaglen in the lead. When director John Ford remade The Informer in 1935, the role of the tragic Irish roisterer Gypo Nolan went to Cyril's brother Victor McLaglen. The scene is Dublin, during the Sinn Fein rebellion. Gypo has tried to join the IRA, but has been bounced because he lacked full commitment to the cause. Gypo's best friend is Frankie McPhillip (Wallace Ford) a fugitive from the British "Black and Tans" with a price on his head. Hoping to start a new life with his streetwalker girlfriend Katie Madden (Margot Grahame), Gypo informs on Frankie, collecting the twenty-pound reward. Frankie is cornered and killed by the British troops; Gypo briefly suffers the pangs of conscience, but is too simple-minded to grasp the full impact of his betrayal. Suspecting that Gypo has turned in Frankie, IRA commander Gallegher (Preston Foster) orders his men to keep tabs on the big lout. As Gypo stupidly squanders his money on food, drink and entertainment, Gallegher's lieutenants keep tab of every penny spent. Finally dragged before the rebel court, Gypo tries to bluff his way out of trouble, fingering another man (Donald Meek) as the informer, but this subterfuge quickly falls apart. Sobbingly, Gypo confesses his treachery. Before his execution can be carried out, he escapes, but his hiding place is given away inadvertently by Katie. Regretfully, because they realize Gypo is too childish to be fully responsible for his actions, the IRA members shoot the man down. With his last ounce of strength, Gypo drags himself into the church where Frankie's mother (Una O'Connor) prays for his son's soul. "Twas I informed on your son, Mrs. McPhillip," Gypo weeps, "Forgive me." "Ah, Gypo, I forgive you," the grieving mother replies. "You didn't know what you were doing." Exultantly, Gypo looks heavenward, and, just before succumbing to his wounds, bellows "Frankie! Frankie! Your mother forgives me!" The Informer earned Victor McLaglen an Oscar, as well as several other nominations; the film did poorly at the box office, but John Ford had anticipated this reaction, reportedly waiving his considerable salary just to make certain that picture--a labor of love for the director, who was himself a native of Ireland--would be completed. The film was remade in 1968, relocated to the black ghetto of Los Angeles and retitled Uptight!. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The Informer was a box-office dud for John Ford, but it brought him his first Best Director Oscar and remains one of the most studied films of its era. The pathos created by the convincing performance of Victor McLaglen is made all the more intense by Ford's sensitive direction and Max Steiner's emotional score. Filmed in black-and-white and taking place mostly at night, The Informer creates an effective atmosphere of desperation, as the sadness of the story takes hold on the audience, especially since the Irish struggle for independence remains a powerful current-day theme. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
Charles Kirk - Art Director, Van Nest Polglase - Art Director, Walter Plunkett - Costume Designer, John Ford - Director, George Hively - Editor, Max Steiner - Composer (Music Score), Joseph H. August - Cinematographer, Cliff Reid - Producer, Julia Heron - Set Designer, Dudley Nichols - Screenwriter, Liam O'Flaherty - Short Story Author
A brutish but well-meaning Irishman, Gypo Nolan (Victor McLaglen), informs on his best friend Frankie McPhillip (Wallace Ford), who is a member of the Irish Republican Army, in order to collect the reward of £20 and sail to America with his girlfriend Katie Madden (Margot Grahame). The film traces his conscience-stricken emotional disintegration that eventually leads him to give himself away.
The Informer was adapted as a radio play on the July 10, 1944 and October 17, 1950 episodes of The Screen Guild Theater, the March 28, 1948 episode of the Ford Theatre. On the Academy Award Theater's May 25, 1946 episode, McLaglen reprised his role.
Trivia
A presentation copy of the script, originally presented to a Seymour Roman and signed by many of the prominent cast and crew, was ostensibly found in Madison, Wisconsin among items being cleaned out of an apartment by a landlord. It was brought to the Antiques Roadshow and was appraised for $4,000-$5,000.
