The Red Machine (2009)

The Red Machine is a movie starring Lee Perkins, Donal Thoms-Cappello, and Meg Brogan. Washington, DC, 1935: At the height of the Great Depression, a charming and irrepressible young thief is forced to help an icy and mysterious United States Navy spy steal a brand new device... See full summary »

Directors:

Stephanie Argy, Alec Boehm

Stars:

Lee Perkins, Donal Thoms-Cappello, Meg Brogan

4 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lee Perkins	...	F. Ellis Coburn
Donal Thoms-Cappello	...	Eddie Doyle
Meg Brogan	...	Agnes 'Aggie' Driscoll
Maureen Byrnes	...	Stella Snyder
Mo Byrnes	...	Stella Snyder (as Maureen Byrnes)
Eddie Lee	...	Ichiro Shimada
Madoka	...	Naomi Shimada (as Madoka Kasahara)
David Ross Paterson	...	Admiral Byron McAdams
Roger Ainslie	...	Harrison Llewelyn Petrie
Bryan Larkin	...	Robert Eldridge Dean
Josiah D. Lee	...	Tanaka
Walter Komorowski	...	Wallis
Landall Goolsby	...	Lowell
Robert Scheid	...	Murray
Chad Nadolski	...	Talmadge

Storyline

Washington, DC, 1935: At the height of the Great Depression, a charming and irrepressible young thief is forced to help an icy and mysterious United States Navy spy steal a brand new device that the Japanese military is using to encode its top-secret messages. During the mission, which is complicated by the spy's dark past in Tokyo, the two discover that they are pawns in a larger game. Together, they devise an intricate but risky scheme to outwit the people trying to use them.

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Plot Keywords:

burglary | spy | military | washington d.c. | thief | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Drama | History | Mystery | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

2010 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Whittier, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mental Slapstick

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Eight actors from The Red Machine (2009) appeared in the short film Gandhi at the Bat (2006), which was also directed by Stephanie Argy and Alec Boehm: Lee Perkins, Donal Thoms-Cappello, David Ross Paterson, Nicholas Tucci, Stephen Kirkpatrick, John Gordon, Doug Swim and Ryan Pamiez.

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Goofs

As Eddie and the lieutenant arrive at the code breaking building, there is what looks like a modern air-conditioning unit mounted high on the outside wall.

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Quotes

F. Ellis Coburn: It's a capital offense, you know.
Eddie Doyle: What?
F. Ellis Coburn: What we're doing. It's espionage. If they catch us, the Japanese have every right to ship us back to Tokyo and have us executed.
Eddie Doyle: You never told me that.
F. Ellis Coburn: Didn't I?
Eddie Doyle: No. I would have remembered that.
F. Ellis Coburn: It's true.
Eddie Doyle: You're just saying that to try and cheer me up.
F. Ellis Coburn: It might not make the Denver Post, but it's one hell of an accomplishment.

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Crazy Credits

Is there any significance to the letters marked during the ending credits?

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Soundtracks

jupanese juju
Written by yokoyama, candler and fairey
Performed by the hungry march band

User Reviews

Great 'caper' film, surprisingly well done

And I agree with Cameron McAllister in Atlanta - kudos to your review, sir. Thankfully-bereft of large-scale, multi-peopled-large-casts, loud noises, over-the-top music and up-scale 'city scenes', this quiet but interesting film depicts, on a mini-scale, some of the most cogent and intimate efforts by the US Guv what it took to capture the essence of the 'newer' Japanese code machine triggering WWII. It won't take a 5th of expensive Scotch (nod to the director for its inclusion, and how many of us knew, then, the Japanese also have a succor for this beverage?) to appreciate this little-known but seriously-considered effort. I was engrossed from the start. But you kind-of have to 'hang in there' for the Cracker Jack surprises.