The Informer (1935)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

John Ford

Writers:

Dudley Nichols (screenplay)
Liam O'Flaherty (story)

Release Date:

9 May 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In 1922, an Irish rebel informs on his friend, then feels doom closing in.

Plot Keywords:

Comrades | Reward | Whiskey | Black And Tan | Remake

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Victor McLaglen	...	Gypo Nolan
Heather Angel	...	Mary McPhillip
Preston Foster	...	Dan Gallagher
Margot Grahame	...	Katie Madden
Wallace Ford	...	Frankie McPhillip
Una O'Connor	...	Mrs. McPhillip
J.M. Kerrigan	...	Terry
Joe Sawyer	...	Bartly Mulholland (as Joseph Sauers)
Neil Fitzgerald	...	Tommy Connor
Donald Meek	...	Peter Mulligan
D'Arcy Corrigan	...	The Blind Man
Leo McCabe	...	Donahue
Steve Pendleton	...	Dennis Daly (as Gaylord Pendleton)
Francis Ford	...	"Judge" Flynn
May Boley	...	Madame Betty
Grizelda Harvey	...	English Girl
Denis O'Dea	...	Street Singer (as Dennis O'Dea)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Barlowe Borland	...	Man (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler	...	House Patron (uncredited)
Clyde Cook	...	Flash patron (uncredited)
Earle Foxe	...	British Officer (uncredited)
Frank Hagney	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	British Officer (uncredited)
Robert Homans	...	Detractor (uncredited)
Cornelius Keefe	...	House Patron (uncredited)
Frank Marlowe	...	Admirer (uncredited)
Arthur McLaglen	...	Man (uncredited)
Frank Moran	...	McCabe (Bouncer) (uncredited)
Pat Moriarity	...	Admirer (uncredited)
Jack Mulhall	...	Man at Wake (uncredited)
James Murray	...	Bit (uncredited)
Anne O'Neal	...	Singer (uncredited)
Robert Parrish	...	Young soldier (uncredited)
Bob Perry	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Pat Somerset	...	British Officer (uncredited)
Harry Tenbrook	...	Admirer (uncredited)

Directed by
John Ford

Writing credits
Dudley Nichols		(screenplay)
Liam O'Flaherty		(story)

Produced by
John Ford	....	producer
Cliff Reid	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Joseph H. August		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
George Hively

Art Direction by
Van Nest Polglase

Set Decoration by
Julia Heron		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Walter Plunkett

Makeup Department
Robert J. Schiffer	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Art Department
Charles M. Kirk	....	associate art director (as Charles Kirk)

Sound Department
Hugh McDowell Jr.	....	sound recordist
Robert Wise	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Harry Redmond Jr.	....	special effects (uncredited)
Harry Redmond Sr.	....	special effects supervisor (uncredited)

Stunts
Gil Perkins	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Burnett Guffey	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Music Department
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Bernhard Kaun	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1935) (USA) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1936) (France) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1955) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• Fox Hills Video (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Nostalgia Merchant, The (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Turner Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• RKO Home Video (USA) (VHS)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (original rating) (1935) | Finland:K-16 (re-rating) (1935) | West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:PG | Argentina:16 | Sweden:15

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

The premiere took place aboard the French transatlantic liner "Normandie".

Quotes:

Terry: [realizing Gypo's stuck him with the bill as an angry bouncer glowers at him] Oh dear, oh dear. I have a queer feelin' there's going to be a strange face in heaven in the mornin'.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Surrogate (#4.7)" (2004)

Judas's timeless story.

A lot of movies of John Ford (Sean O'Feeney) deal with Ireland.At every stage of a long and brilliant career,he gets back to his roots in his homeland:"the informer" and "the plough and the stars" are early period;"the quiet man " is middle, "young Cassidy" is late.

Far from being "one of the worst movies of the thirties" ,"the informer " belongs to its time:that's true that the studios deny realism but that was true for Fritz Lang's "M" and Marcel Carné's "réalisme poétique" too.Anyway,at a pinch,no matter if it's a political subject in the Ireland of the twenties:what Ford has to say to us is universal:when a man betrays his best friend,be it for thirty coins of silver or for twenty quids,he will be eaten with remorse ,everything that he'll see and hear will remember him of the awful thing he's done.Gypo won't take advantage of his pitiful reward,he will loose everything except the victim's mother's compassion and forgiveness. All through this dark movie,Gypo will roam the foggy streets ,a desperate man:you should not forget that he is an outcast from the beginning:dismissed by the IRA,because he hadn't guts enough to kill a prisoner,and outside a girl,and Jackie (the man he will betray),he's on his own ,a man who suffers from hunger and,worse, lack of self-esteem -the one time when he finds solace is when he has a rest near his girl's fireplace-This character is not that much far from Peter Lorre's part in "M":both movies feature a secret trial.

As always in Ford's cinema,women are figures of peace love and understanding,and for them a man can always redeem his soul: here Katie and the mother.In "quiet man" ,Wayne is given a second chance thanks to Ireland and... Maureen O'Hara.And after all Ford's last movie will be "seven women" (1966) :a doctor(Ann Bancroft) will triumph over barbary against all odds.