13 Rue Madeleine (1947)

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

John Monks Jr. (original screenplay) and
Sy Bartlett (original screenplay)

Release Date:

3 March 1947 (Sweden)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Thriller | War

Plot:

When spy chief Bob Sharkey finds out one of his agents-in-training is actually a Nazi double agent, his strategic decision not to arrest him results in tragedy.

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Double Agent | Nazi | WWII | France

Cast

James Cagney	...	Robert Emmett 'Bob' Sharkey
Annabella	...	Suzanne de Beaumont
Richard Conte	...	William H. 'Bill' O'Connell
Frank Latimore	...	Jeff Lassiter
Walter Abel	...	Charles Gibson
Melville Cooper	...	Pappy Simpson
Sam Jaffe	...	Mayor Galimard
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dick Gordon	...	Psychiatrist (scenes deleted)
Horace McMahon	...	Burglary Instructor (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Thirteen Rue Madeleine (International: English title) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

French | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | UK:U (video rating) (1990) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (tv rating) | Canada:PG | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #11740, General Audience)

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Story is based on Peter Ortiz who was an OSS agent in world war two in France.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The file on William O'Connell, the Nazi spy Kuncel (Richard Conte) hiding in an OSS-like unit, lists his birthday as July 13, 1914, and his age as 32, pushing the action of the movie to the summer of 1946 at the earliest - but the story is set in the months before D-Day, the spring of 1944, and Kuncel-O'Connell would have to be under 30.

Quotes:

Charles Gibson: I don't want to send you.
Robert Emmett 'Bob' Sharkey: I've been working hard. I need the change.
Charles Gibson: You won't come back.
Robert Emmett 'Bob' Sharkey: [Gibson drops his eyes] I've just discovered something about you.
Charles Gibson: What?
Robert Emmett 'Bob' Sharkey: You're a worrier.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Monkeybone (2001)

Unlucky number 13 in war

The story of an early OSS operation where the US is trying to destroy German missile targets positioned in Nazi controlled France, which are aimed at the British coast. The mission depends on the operators finding Duclois, the French designer of the missile sites. The operation is led by Bob Sharkey, who is to train the right people to accomplish the job. One of those people, O'Connell, is actually a trained Nazi double agent Kuncel, who is to learn where and when the Allied Second Front is to take place. Despite given false information about the front, O'Connell discovers that he is suspected and kills Lassiter, the agent assigned to spy on him. Since he is the only person who knows the details of the original plan, Sharkey takes Lassiter's position, despite knowing that if he is caught, the Nazis will use any means to get information out of him. Very gritty, documentary style tale of counter intelligence in action. Hathaway creates much suspense and crafts the twists and turns into the story with no slow spots. Cagney abandons his Warner Brothers gangster persona, yet keeps his tough guy character in a role commanding authority. Fine support from Conte (very sinister as O'Connell/Kuncel), Annabella, Abel, and Jaffe. Rating, 9.