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IMDbPro

The Fallen Sparrow

  • 19431943
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
1.5K
YOUR RATING
Maureen O'Hara, John Garfield, Patricia Morison, Martha O'Driscoll, and Walter Slezak in The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
Watch ’Official Trailer’
Play trailer2:09
1 Video
33 Photos
  • Film-Noir
  • Mystery
In 1940, an American former Republican prisoner during the Spanish Civil War, John McKittrick, is determined to find the killer of NYPD Lieutenant Louie Lepetino, who had helped him escape.In 1940, an American former Republican prisoner during the Spanish Civil War, John McKittrick, is determined to find the killer of NYPD Lieutenant Louie Lepetino, who had helped him escape.In 1940, an American former Republican prisoner during the Spanish Civil War, John McKittrick, is determined to find the killer of NYPD Lieutenant Louie Lepetino, who had helped him escape.
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
1.5K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Richard Wallace
  • Writers
    • Warren Duff(screen play)
    • Dorothy B. Hughes(novel)
  • Stars
    • John Garfield
    • Maureen O'Hara
    • Walter Slezak
Top credits
  • Director
    • Richard Wallace
  • Writers
    • Warren Duff(screen play)
    • Dorothy B. Hughes(novel)
  • Stars
    • John Garfield
    • Maureen O'Hara
    • Walter Slezak
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 31User reviews
    • 20Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 1 nomination total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:09
    Official Trailer

    Photos33

    John Garfield in The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
    Maureen O'Hara and John Garfield in The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
    John Garfield and Martha O'Driscoll in The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
    Maureen O'Hara and John Garfield in The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
    John Banner in The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
    Maureen O'Hara and John Garfield in The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
    Maureen O'Hara and John Garfield in The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
    Maureen O'Hara and John Garfield in The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
    John Garfield and Patricia Morison in The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
    Maureen O'Hara and John Garfield in The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
    John Garfield and Martha O'Driscoll in The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
    Maureen O'Hara and John Garfield in The Fallen Sparrow (1943)

    Top cast

    Edit
    John Garfield
    John Garfield
    • John McKittrickas John McKittrick
    Maureen O'Hara
    Maureen O'Hara
    • Toni Donneas Toni Donne
    Walter Slezak
    Walter Slezak
    • Dr. Christian Skaasas Dr. Christian Skaas
    Patricia Morison
    Patricia Morison
    • Barby Tavitonas Barby Taviton
    Martha O'Driscoll
    Martha O'Driscoll
    • Whitney Parkeras Whitney Parker
    Bruce Edwards
    Bruce Edwards
    • Ab Parkeras Ab Parker
    John Banner
    John Banner
    • Antonas Anton
    John Miljan
    John Miljan
    • Inspector Tobinas Inspector Tobin
    Hugh Beaumont
    Hugh Beaumont
    • Otto Skaasas Otto Skaas
    Ed Agresti
    • Nightclub Patronas Nightclub Patron
    • (uncredited)
    Bobby Barber
    Bobby Barber
    • Waiteras Waiter
    • (uncredited)
    Symona Boniface
    Symona Boniface
    • Guestas Guest
    • (uncredited)
    Patti Brill
    • Danceras Dancer
    • (uncredited)
    Jack Carr
    • Dannyas Danny
    • (uncredited)
    André Charlot
    • Peteas Pete
    • (uncredited)
    James Conaty
    • Nightclub Patronas Nightclub Patron
    • (uncredited)
    William Edmunds
    • Papa Lepetinoas Papa Lepetino
    • (uncredited)
    Fely Franquelli
    Fely Franquelli
    • Gypsy Danceras Gypsy Dancer
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Richard Wallace
    • Writers
      • Warren Duff(screen play)
      • Dorothy B. Hughes(novel)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on February 14, 1944 with Maureen O'Hara and Walter Slezak reprising their film roles.
    • Goofs
      The Bust which is knocked through the window and crashes out on the street appears in its original position in the next shot.
    • Quotes

      John 'Kit' McKittrick: Finally here to us

      Toni Donne: What is it you really want?

      John 'Kit' McKittrick: The girl that looks like you shouldn't ask a question like that and you know why

      Toni Donne: No, you stare at me at the refugee dinner and it wasn't just a way a man looks at a woman. You went out of your way to find who I was and where I worked. You came to the hat shop only to see me and you didn't ask me out tonight just because your lady out of town. What is it you want?

    • Crazy credits
      Opening credits: "...in a world at war many sparrows must fall ...
    • Connections
      Featured in The John Garfield Story (2003)
    • Soundtracks
      Nightclub Song
      (uncredited)

      Sung by Martha O'Driscoll (dubbed by Martha Mears)

    User reviews31

    Review
    Top review
    6/10
    Thick, overheated "anti-Fascist" noir leaves scorched aftertaste
    Hollywood fought World War II on many fronts: most obviously, in its documentaries and war dramas; in genre series coopted for the war effort (such as Sherlock Holmes programmers); and in thrillers dedicated to smoking out the Fifth Column at home (The House on Ninety-Second Street). There was also a more complicated, ideologically tinged kind of movie, not simply anti-Nazi but more broadly `anti-Fascist' (and defiantly leftist). Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine was one; The Fallen Sparrow was another.

    John Garfield (who else?) survived torture while fighting for the anti-Franco forces in the Spanish Civil War, but it took its toll; he recuperated in a sanitarium in the Southwest. Upon returning to New York – where a war buddy has met death by defenestration from a penthouse party – he finds some of his friends traveling in the same circles as vaguely sinister Europeans and fly-specked aristocrats – Germans, Italians, Spaniards – who take a perverse interest in him. Among them is Maureen O'Hara (in a dark, forties updo), who runs hot and cold when it comes to his advances.

    The dense plot of The Fallen Sparrow collapses into a noirish muddle. Multiple heavies purr in a babel of as many stage accents (Hugh Beaumont's Prussian the most amusing of them). Walter Slezak plays a mittel-European professor whose passion seems to be the aesthetics of torture, and whose limp summons up nightmares for Garfield. There are also family crests dating from at least the Borgias (whose speciality was goblets of poisoned wine), a senile old curmudgeon who believes he'll be restored to the throne of France, and a tattered standard Garfield has rescued from Spain, which becomes this film's black bird....

    Following all these threads require rapt attention, but who would be willing to devote anything less to the fight against Fascism? The film borrows from such immediate predecessors in the nascent noir cycle as The Maltese Falcon (especially the ending) and The Glass Key. It cooks up plenty of atmosphere but lacks vital clarity. It's not without interest – the attention to the psychological aftermath of torture is a bold and courageous stroke – but with its political passions looking quaint, if not naive, this overheated melodrama leaves a scorched aftertaste.
    helpful•34
    18
    • bmacv
    • Jun 16, 2002

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 23, 1943 (Mexico)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • German
      • Italian
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Jagat byte
    • Filming locations
      • RKO Studios - 780 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production company
      • RKO Radio Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 34 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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