NFR Project: 'The Informer' (1935)

 

NFR Project: ‘The Informer’

Dir: John Ford

Scr: Dudley Nichols

Pho: Joseph H. August

Ed: George Hively

Premiere: May 9, 1935

91 min.

It doesn’t rank highly on critical lists these days, but several decades ago this film was commonly regarded as one of the best ever made. Seeing it, especially in the context of the career of director John Ford, is a revelation. This dark tale of betrayal and death is redeemed by its profound depth of feeling.

What makes this film so extraordinary? First, Ford’s directorial assurance. By this time, Ford had made dozens of silent and sound films, including superior earlier efforts such as The Iron Horse and The Lost Patrol. Ford was unmatched in his ability to propel a film story forward smoothly, quickly, and unobtrusively. He wasted no footage. His touch is invisible, but his style is unmistakable. 

And of course he knew the setting. He was of Irish descent, and he idolized the Old Country. He left Maine as a young man to join his successful performer and director Francis Ford in Hollywood. He knew the culture and its people intimately, and that air of authenticity permeates The Informer.

It is 1922, and Ireland is in midst of the Troubles, its occupation by repressive British forces bearing down on the populace. An underground army of plain-clothes volunteers, known as the “organization,” carries out attacks on the occupiers. The British retaliate, and Dublin is a battle zone, heavily patrolled.

One foggy night, a big, beefy, n’er-do-well, Gypo Nolan (Victor McLaglen) is wandering the streets. He sees a wanted poster on the wall for his friend Frankie McPhillip – 20 pounds is the reward for turning him in. Gypo’s prostitute girlfriend Katie bemoans the fact that they haven’t any money, money that might take them to America and a new start.

Gypo is caught between the two sides. He had refused to kill an English soldier in the name of the cause, and thus was thrown out of the organization. “The English think I’m with the Irish, and the Irish think I’m with the English,” he says. He has no job, no prospects, and little self-respect left.

The dim-witted Gypo determines to sell out his friend. He turns him in to the police. Frankie is killed resisting arrest. Gypo gets his 20 pounds.

The rest of the film is a nightmarish odyssey through the fog-shrouded streets of Dublin, as Gypo careens from pub to pub, drinking like a fish, trying to put off the blame on an innocent man as the informer, and finally running for his life from the vengeful rebels.

A second great strength is the superior screenplay of Dudley Nichols. Nichols was a prolific and highly talented screenwriter – his works include Bringing Up Baby, Gunga Din, Stagecoach, and The Bells of St. Mary’s. He was able to translate ideas into actions, and emotional states into images. He spoke film.

The story, adapted from Liam O’Flaherty’s 1925 novel, is simple and powerful. We track the coming apart of a man, a tragedy sparked greed and short-sightedness. We could all of us be Gypo, if we were the sum of our flaws. Nichols paints the screen with recurring images – a wanted poster that keeps nagging at the legs of the protagonists, a handful of coins that jangle accusingly to the floor, the cash that leaks out of Gypo’s pockets as he attempts to rid himself of his ill-gotten gains.

The key strength is the performance of Victor McLaglen, who justifiably won the Oscar for Best Actor for his work. Gypo is an inarticulate brute, but McLaglen’s incredibly expressive face silently conveys shame, longing, anger, and fear with unprecedented subtlety. As McLaglen spent most of his film career as a comic Irishman, it’s astonishing to see him put so much humanity into Gypo. By film’s end, he receives a self-inflicted crucifixion, clinging with his last breath to the possibility of forgiveness.

Dublin’s foggy streets reflect the moral ambiguity and confusion of the situation. Ford and his cinematographer Joe August use the foggy night setting to exquisite advantage, moving characters in and out of shadow, stalking down the street to keep up with a frantic Gypo. Everything serves the story and nothing is extraneous.

A well-made film, this. In addition to McLaglen’s Oscar, Ford won for Best Director, Nichols won for Best Screenplay, and the wonderful film composer Max Steiner won for Best Score.

After this, Ford’s reputation was secure in Hollywood, and he began to craft a long list of classic films.

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: The Bride of Frankenstein.