Customer Reviews

Shake Hands With the Devil [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a fast paced drama,with a sensational supporting cast.Set in the Ireland of 1920,Cagney gives an understated performance as a University professor by day and an IRA activist by night.Don Murray plays the Irish American idealist caught in the middle,and in love with an IRA hostage. This picture captures brilliantly all the passions and emotion of the Irish Question,and the scene at Dublin docks is one of the best action sequences ever on film.Cagney even reprises,for a moment, his gangster persona of the 30`s, as he senses betrayal in Glynis Johns.(Look out for a very young Richard Harris.) Cagney,of course will not accept the partition of Ireland and declares "The fight goes on".This film has been reviwed as politically incorrect in most Movie Books,but in actual fact when viewed with the events in Northern Ireland over the last 30 years ,maybe it`s not so far off the mark after all.Michael Anderson does a solid job,but I wonder how John Ford would have approached it?

"Shake Hands with the Devil" is a highly intelligent movie. It is a virtual miniature Irish history lesson. It is set around 1920-at the height of the Revolution against England that led to Irish independence. Most Irish movies this reviewer has seen suffer from a common ailment: They require some foreknowledge of that troubled island's past to be fully appreciated. SHD is no exception. To those who pick up on the historical allegories, there is much to relish. The principal character is James Cagney. Ostensibly he is a professor in a Dublin Medical School. Behind the scenes he is a commander of an IRA brigade. Militarily, he reports to Michael Redgrave. The two are polar opposites. Gagney is rough and ready. Redgrave is dignified and reserved. There is an uneasy alliance between them. Though the true-life roles are reversed, the images of Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera shine through. Viewers who know their history will quickly sense the impending deadly conflict between the male leads. A high point to SHD is the outstanding work of the female leads in particular and the supporting cast in general. The latter include the dreaded Black and Tans, the IRA men and the regular Brit soldiers. All look the part. The former includes Glynis Johns, Dana Wynter and Sybil Thorndike. Thorndike is an upper class matron caught concealing an IRA soldier. She refuses to inform her contacts to the Brits and is thrown into Mountjoy Gaol, which housed so many patriots. She promptly goes on a hunger strike -and dies in prison. How very Irish- and allegorical. One is reminded of the patriot Terrence MacSwiney. By day, he was Lord Mayor of Cork. He was actually the local IRA commander! He too was tossed into a London prison and died on a hunger strike. (His case is notable because the Irish petitioned the Brits to allow his funeral cortege to pass through the streets of London on the way to the docks. The Brits actually granted the request! The result was a huge propaganda boost for the Irish cause. Londoners apparently were impressed with the young, spit and polished supporters of the demised!) Johns' role too is historical. Cagney suspects the barmaid/hanger on as an informer. Informers on both sides have had their own "history" in the Irish Troubles. My amazon friends will have to watch SHD to learn Johns' true sympathies. She is central to a stirring and deadly dockside shootout between the IRA and the Brits. This scene is one of the best this reviewer has seen anywhere! All the lads give a good account of themselves- in the finest traditions of both sides! Wynter too performs well as the kidnapped daughter of a Brit big shot. She is to be swapped for the Thorndike character but the hunger striker's death "complicates" matters. Some of us may remember Wynter from "Sink the Bismark!" Finally there is the matter of the Black and Tans. The Tans were a para-military group who went about randomly terrorizing Catholics or anyone remotely suspect of supporting the Republican cause. They were WWI vets who certainly would have been otherwise unemployed if not deployed to Ireland. The Tans remain a nasty blot on British Army to this day. There is so much more to the story of Ireland's troubles than "the Clancy Brothers and Irish rebel drinking songs" as a previous reviewer states. If only the Troubles were that prosaic. The curious should enjoy SHD-more so if they are able to connect the dots of Ireland's past. Those who know their Irish history should truly appreciate this under-shown film. Fair warning: SHD is unstintingly unsentimental. There is nary a trace of John Ford romanticism here. If those who have read this far wonder why only 4 stars are awarded, the answer lies in the unsatisfactory ending. Perhaps the Director got lost in the Collins/ de Valera allegory. Or perhaps he didn't know how to end the movie. The resolution of dealing with the kidnapped Wynter leads to a bizarre final scene that should not harm an otherwise superior historical movie. A final observation: This is one b/w film that should have been colorized. The Irish countryside looks much better in living color!

"Shake Hands with the Devil" is a film about the Irish War for Independence. It was adapted from Patrick Reardon Conner's (1907-91) first novel (1933) of the same name. Conner's father was Chief Constable of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), the major (unarmed) police force in Dublin. Following the Sinn Fein triumph in the election of 1918, violence increased and hundreds of RIC police were killed, the IRA began the Irish War for Independence, and the British Army moved into Dublin to maintain control. They were reinforced with WW 1 vets ("Black and Tans") but the violence continued and eventually a treaty was signed with England. The RIC was disbanded in 1922; the novel (and film) was set in 1921

This was 60 year old Jimmy Cagney's 60th film. He plays a Surgeon who is secretly a Commandant in the IRA. Cagney (1899-1986) was one of the biggest stars of the 30s and 40s, nominated for an Oscar for "Angels with Dirty Faces" (1938) and a winner for "Yankee Doodle Dandy" (1942). While he is best known for his gangster roles (e.g., "Public Enemy", "Roaring Twenties" "White Heat" ), the majority of Cagney's screen appearances were not as a gangster - he played an insurance salesman ("The Millionaire", 1931), an engineer ("Other Men's Women", 1931), a boxer ("Winner Take All", 1932), an auto racer ("The Crowd Roars", 1932), a Broadway producer ("Footlight Parade", 1933), etc. Indeed, Cagney often appeared in comedies (e.g., "Here Comes the Navy", "Hard to Handle", "Jimmy the Gent"), although it was his gangster films that earned the really big bucks.

Cagney was a famous Irish man and this was the only film he made outside the country and in Ireland. He was the titular head of the "Irish Mafia" which was a collection of Hollywood celebs including Pat O'Brien and Frank McHugh among others.
Don Murray (1929) plays an Irish American student who enters Medical school in Dublin. Murray was nominated for an Oscar for "Bus Stop" (1956) though he's probably better known for his role in "Knots Landing" (1979-81).

Michael Redgrave (1908-85) plays "the General" - an IRA leader. Redgrave had a prodigious career as an actor appearing in more than 50 films between 1938 and 1975. He was nominated for an Oscar ("Mourning Becomes Electra") and twice for a BAFTA ("Time without Pity", "The Night My Number Came Up").

German born and English raised Dana Wynter (1931-2011) won the Golden Globe in 1956 as Most Promising Newcomer on the heels of good performances on TV and in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956) and "The View from Pompey's Head" (1956). She doesn't appear until the 2nd half of the film, and plays Murray's love interest and a hostage held under Cagney.

Welsh Glynis Johns (1923) was nominated for an Oscar for "The Sundowners" (1960) and a Golden Globe for "The Chapman Report" (1962), but she is probably better known for her role in "Mary Poppins" (1964). In 1973 she won a Tony for "A Little Night Music". She plays a local prostitute who is friendly with Cagney's IRA members.

Sybil Thorndike (1882-1976) is a hoot as Lady Fitzhugh, a member of the upper class who is secretly an IRA supporter. Known best for her theatre work, she worked periodically in films.

This was the film debut of noted Irish actor Richard Harris (1932-2002) who plays a member of the IRA.

Director/producer Michael Anderson (1920) is best known for his Oscar, DGA, and Golden Globe nominated "Around the World in 80 days" (1956) among the 3 dozen films he made, but he was more concerned with drama ("Operation Crossbow", "Logan's Run", "Chase a Crooked Shadow", "The Naked Edge"), often with a focus on British soldiers ("Conduct Unbecoming", "The Quiller Memorandum"), which serves him well in this film.

The wonderful photography is from Erwin Hillier (1911-2005) who studied with German film maker F.W. Murnau and often worked with Michael Anderson.

The excellent musical score is by William Alwyn (1905-85) who is best known for his work with Carol Reed in films like "Odd Man Out" (1947) and "The Running Man" (1963).

In 1959 the big money makers were "Ben Hur", "Sleeping Beauty", "North by Northwest", "Some Like it Hot", and "Pillow Talk". The big Oscar winner was "Ben Hur" (Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor). Other notable films released that year include "Room at the Top", "The Diary of Anne Frank", "The 39 Steps", "The 400 Blows", "Anatomy of a Murder", and "The Last Angry Man".

The NY Times called it "One of the fastest, toughest and most picturesque dramas about the Irish Revolution" and notes that "Mr. Cagney's portrait of an aging, hard-headed warrior is a ferocious but tragic one, like the conflict itself."

The film seems to have a slant against the British. A whole spectrum of Irish people is displayed, from the hardcore (Cagney) to the devoted (Redgrave) and committed (Harris) to those on the periphery (Johns). The British are mostly represented by the "Tans" who are repressive, to say the least. There are a few perfunctory liberal expressions by the occasional British, but mostly they are the bad guys.

Apart from Victor McLaglen's marvelous "The Informer" (1935) and Carol Reed's "Odd Man Out" (1947), "Shake Hands with the Devil" was one of the few films about the IRA prior to 1960. Other (and more recent) films about the IRA include "Michael Collins" (1996), "The Crying Game" (1992), "In the Name of the Father" (1993), "Bloody Sunday" (2002), "Some Mother's Son" (1996), "The Boxer" (1997), "My Brother's War" (1998), and "The Last September" (2000).

Bottom line - This film has it all - great acting, an excellent script, good direction, camera work and music. About the only negative is the production value. Fans of Cagney will enjoy this film. At age 60- he still is a force to be reckoned with.

James Cagney made according my personal opinion, a tour de force performance and his most superb artistic achievement, personifying the leader of IRA. Through the innocent gaze of a naïve student who sudden and accidentally becomes involved in rebel activities, Cagney will exert on him a spelling influence but gradually he will realize the core of the human being behind the mask: a murderous fanatic.

A ravishing jewel of Michael Anderson, one of the best and remarkable British filmmakers ever.

The James Cagney movie is an excellent account of the terror and violence of Irish rebellion in 1920.
The VHS copy I ordered was defective and I returned it for a credit.

This fast paced movie provides a good yarn but is bad history. James Cagney seems out of place here trying to re-role his old gangster parts in the IRA. He gives a convincing portrait of the many fanatics who have run the IRA over the years, but he seems out of place. Richard Harris is young here and is your happy go lucky two-fisted Irish type. The British are all portrayed as Nazi's pretty much. This seems the beginning of Hollywood's negative pattern of depicting all British officers as ego-maniac Nazi's. This trend has continued up to the present with Mel Gibson and some of his biased anti-British films. The Black and Tans who are highlighted in this movie get especially bad treatment. Legend has made this para-military force composed of many ex-servicemen from the Great War as Churchill's equivilent to Hitler's Black shirts! The reality was somewhat different. The Black and Tans were brought in to deal with a difficult situation in Ireland where the IRA was busy shooting up whoever they felt like. Granted they responded in kind in what became a nasty war of murder, and counter murder. Buy this movie if you like the Clancy Brothers and Irish rebel drinking songs and don't care too much about the real history because you just want to see the Brits get shot up! Otherwise, a good book on the History of Ireland during those troubled years might serve one better. Its entertainment, but not history.