Fallen sparrow

The film opens with the words: "In a belligerent world, many sparrows must fall." In November 1940, John "Keith" MacKittrick ( John Garfield ) returned to New York after he learned from the newspapers that his friend Lieutenant of the New York Police, Louis Lepetino, had fallen to death after falling from a window in a high-rise building. In the hallway of the train, Kit encounters an attractive young woman ( Maureen O'Hara ), who quietly drops something in his jacket pocket. In New York, Keith immediately goes to police inspector Tobin ( John Miljan ), who claims that Louis died as a result of suicide. However, Keith does not believe in this and decides to start his own investigation. He stops at his old friend Eb Parker ( Bruce Edwards ), who tells about the events in his life over the past few years. As part of the international brigades, Keith participated in the Spanish Civil War , where he ended up in a Nazi camp. For two years, Kit was tortured, and the nightmare of these tortures seriously affected his psyche. Keith's most terrible memories are connected with the sound of the steps of a foot-dragging, lame Nazi , the appearance of which foreshadowed the most cruel torture. However, Kit did not see the face of this Nazi, and he does not know his name. In the end, thanks to Louis Kit, he managed to escape from the camp, after which he underwent rehabilitation in Arizona and now returned to New York to investigate the death of Louis. Eb invites Keith to lodge with him temporarily, and in the evening he invites to go to a secular evening in honor of refugees from Europe, who are arranged in their home by their mutual friend Barbie Taviton (Patriche Morison ).

On a chic evening, Keith meets Barbie, with whom he once had an affair, but greets her quite coldly, remembering that she did not support him when he left for Spain, and only once visited him during rehabilitation. At the evening, Keith meets the famous Norwegian historian Christian Skaas ( Walter Slezak ), who moves in a wheelchair, and his nephew Otto ( Hugh Beaumont ). Dr. Scaas’s reasoning about the superiority of modern methods of torture , combining physical and moral torment, gives Kit painful memories of his stay in the camp. At the evening, Keith also meets her old friend and cousin Aba, the singer Whitney Parker ( Martha O'Driscoll ). She then sees Otto dancing with the very woman she ran into on the train. As it turns out, her name is Tony Dunn, and she is the granddaughter of Prince François de Namur. After Barbie and Otto declare that they are leaving to ski, Keith goes along with Whitney to a nightclub where she works as a singer, where she shows him her new accompanist, pianist Anton ( John Banner ). Whitney tells Keith that Louis fell out of the window at a party at Barbie, which was also attended by Skaas, who she suspects are German agents. At the time of the fall, Otto Skaas was in his room, the rest of the guests were in the hall, and only Tony was the immediate witness to the fall, crying out at that moment. When Keith returns to Ab's apartment, a butler named Ramon opens the door to him, since Ab went on a business trip to Washington . In her room, Kit sees that Ramon has already unpacked his belongings, while the lining of his suitcase is torn. In the pocket of his jacket, Keith unexpectedly discovers Louis’s purse with his police badge, which also includes Keith’s letter with a plea to Louis to pull him out of the camp, in which Keith also writes that he has something that they want to get. The letter again awakens scary recollections of torture, and Keith hears the shuffling steps of the lame person again.

The next day, Keith comes to the hat shop, where Tony works as a demonstrator, but she talks to him extremely unfriendly and refuses to go to lunch. However, Keith understands that such a fragile woman like Tony, could not push out the window of a strong and physically developed Louis. Then Keith comes to Whitney to talk to her about Anton, who is also a refugee. After Whitney leaves for work, Kita begins another attack of sound hallucinations, during which he goes outside to calm down. At this point, he notices how, immediately after Whitney, a lame person enters the house. Whale quickly climbs the fire escape into Whitney's apartment. Having heard the noise, Anton, who lives in the same house, comes into the room. After he leaves, Keith tells Whitney that the lame man is stalking him because he has something that this man wants. The next morning, Tony calls Keith to apologize for his rudeness, and invites him to dinner in the evening, and asks him to come to her house to meet Prince Francois (Sam Goldenberg). At this meeting, where Dr. Scaas and Otto are also present, the prince shows Kit his family standards, which, he explains, symbolize the fame and honor of his family for many generations, and they must be fought for. Later, at a dinner at the restaurant, Kit kisses Tony, and she confesses that Louis, with whom she had come close before he died, gave her his purse a day before his death. She put it in Kit's pocket to warn him that he was being watched. After the evening together, Tony kisses Kit and asks him to trust her, as they can help each other. After taking Tony home, Keith returns to Eba's apartment, where in the dark someone attacks him and hits him in the head. Having coped with the attacker, Keith turns on the light and sees that it is Anton. The pianist refuses to answer Keith’s questions, stating that he will be killed for this, but reports that the Nazis gave Kit the opportunity to escape from the camp so that he could follow the flag of his Spanish brigade. The whale declares to Anton that the standard is still with him, and he can pass it on to the “little man in Berlin”. The whale sends the pianist out of the apartment, and then Roman, who has overheard their conversation, after which another attack begins. However, Keith decides to immediately continue the investigation, find the "lame" and kill him. In the evening, Keith wakes up to the sound of a shot, finding in the living room a dead Eba with a wound in his temple and a pistol nearby. Calling Whitney, Keith asks her to invite Inspector Tobin and tell him everything, while he comes to see Louis’s parents, where he finds a box in his clothes, which he sent as a souvenir to him from Spain. Returning to the apartment, Keith informs Inspector Tobin of a lame man, but he does not pay attention to his words. The inspector concludes that Eba’s death was suicidal, even though he was afraid to even touch his weapon, according to Keith. Keith claims to suspect Otto Skaas of killing Louis, however, according to Tobin, he has an alibi at the time of Eba’s murder. Further, Keith informs Tobin that he is being pursued by a lame man who wants to get the flag of his brigade kept in him. Keith believes that Eba was killed because he was investigating Louis’s murder and suspecting Skaas in him. Then Keith opens the souvenir, removing from it the medallion of Leo Saint Raphael, which was attached to the flag of his brigade. Using the medallion as bait, Keith hopes to use it to reach the lame person. In the club, Barbie informs Keith about the engagement with Otto. After the appearance of Tony, Keith puts on her a locket around her neck, saying that he was on the standard of his brigade. Together they leave the club, and at the door of her apartment, they explain to each other in love and kiss. Entering the apartment, Tony shows the medallion to two German agents, whose faces are not shown.

The next day at the police station, Tobin informs Keith that Louis, on a government assignment, was investigating the activity of the spy network. In fact, he did not fall out of the window, but was shot in Dr. Scaas’s room at the time when Otto Scaas was allegedly in the next room, after which Louis was thrown out of the window. In turn, Keith explains to Tobin that the battle standard of his brigade is a personal matter between him and the "little man in Berlin." Whale's brigade destroyed one of the generals who was "an old friend of that man since the beer putsch ." And then this man vowed to destroy the entire brigade to the last man, and hang her flag in his garden. In turn, Kit swore that this would not happen. Tony assigns Kit an urgent meeting in his shop, where he confesses that she is being forced to work on a spy network, and that Louis was killed because he was close to uncovering the network. Then, having learned that the flag is from Kita, she asks to give it away, calling her simply “a dirty rag”, which is pointless to risk her life. In response, Keith makes a passionate speech that this flag has become a symbol of struggle, a sign of memory of his fallen comrades, and therefore he will not give it up. And if the filthy hands of the “little man” touch this flag, then, as Kit declares, he will burn in hell. Kit then persuades Tony to take his side, but she replies that she will give him an answer in the evening at the prince’s reception, promising to help him get into Dr. Scaas’s office to find and kill the lame man who will be at the reception.

In the evening, a police officer disguised as a taxi driver takes him to the Prince Kit’s house, who is waiting for him at the entrance. During the reception, Dr. Skaas invites Keith to his office, offering to drink from the tribal cups. Then they go downstairs to watch the performance of a gypsy dancer. During the speech, Tony escorts Kita to the second floor in the office of Skaas. Soon Keith hears the steps of a lame man, and when the door opens, he sees Dr. Scaas. The doctor says that he will not kill Keith, because he has the information he needs, and Keith will not kill him, because he is not cruel enough to commit cold-blooded murder. Skaas admits that it was Otto who killed Louis, and Eba he shot himself, entering the apartment with the help of Roman. Then Skaas says that he added a substance that suppresses the will to the Whale's Cup, and now, when it starts to act, he will introduce a "truth serum" to him. When the doctor with the filled syringe is already heading towards Keith, he, already falling, pulls out a pistol and kills the doctor with several shots. Then he manages to call through the window of the driver waiting for him, which brings Keith to his senses. When the driver rushes after Anton, Keith is left alone with Tony for a moment. She says that it was a trap, and she knew that he knew about it, and believed in it. While the police are approaching the house, Tony admits that she is not the prince's granddaughter at all, but the Nazi spies deceived the prince into their affairs, promising to make him king of France. She tells Kit that she was married to the real Otto Skaas, who died in a concentration camp . And the one who pretended to be Skaas was a Nazi. Taking her three-year-old daughter hostage, the Nazis forced Tony to work for espionage agents. Keith promises to fix everything and, to the sound of police sirens, persuades Tony to flee through the back door, agreeing to meet later in Chicago . Keith informs arriving Tobin that the man who pretended to be Dr. Scaas was in fact the head of the spy group and asked the detective not to prosecute Tony, who helped him in the investigation. Kit tells Tobin that he hid a flag in Lisbon , and is going to fly there to pick it up. While awaiting departure to Portugal, Keith sees Tony getting on the same plane to Lisbon. Accompanied by the police, Kit comes on board the aircraft, where the police accuse Tony of being a German spy who issued a passport today at the German embassy. After the police take Tony out of the plane, Keith, before flying to Lisbon, notes that "another sparrow fell."

As film historian Jeff Meier noted, in 1942-43, after the United States declared war on Japan , relatively few films of noir were created. It was felt that “noir films with their morally ambiguous images and pessimistic view of man were not suitable for the time when the nation fought for survival”. The desire to overcome disunity and unity continued until 1944-45, when the production of noir films began again on an ongoing basis ^[2] . On the other hand, as Glenn Erikson noted, during the Second War, low-key spy stories in the spirit of Graham Green regained their popularity, among which the film Noir Gun for Hire (1942) achieved the greatest success. However, Erickson writes, “the translation of complicated political wartime layouts into the language of cinema was quite risky,” and could have unpredictable consequences. And although the studio Warner Bros. released the pro-Soviet propaganda film Mission to Moscow (1943), the Paramount film company was afraid of risk, and in the film For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) on the controversial topic of the Spanish Civil War "never used such sharp words as a fascist or communist " ^[3] . According to the critic, at some point the topic of the Spanish Civil War became particularly sensitive, and the approach to it was different. If the film “ Blockade ” (1938) was unsuccessful (in creative terms) an attempt by the left in Hollywood to support the anti-fascists and the Spanish Republic , the “ Secret Agent ” (1945) was already more focused on intrigue in the spirit of Graham Green on the romantic background of the crashed Republican idea. The Fallen Sparrow is somewhere in the middle between these two films. ^[3]

This film is based on the author of the suspense story by Dorothy Hughes , who also wrote books, which were later put into the noir films " In a secluded place " (1950) and "The Pink Horse " (1947) ^[4] . According to the Hollywood Reporter , in 1942 RKO bought from the writer the rights to film the novel for 15 thousand dollars, intending to make a film with Maureen O'Hara in the lead role ^[1] . Meanwhile, the political attitude towards the Spanish fascists at that moment was “slightly overheated”. In this regard, the director of RKO, William Gordon, sent a memorandum to the producer of the film, Robert Fellows, in which he drew attention to the problems that the film could cause. In particular, it was pointed out “the desire of the State Department to maintain the most friendly relations with the current Spanish government”, as well as “the possibility of Spain becoming an ally”. He even suggested replacing Spain with France seized by the Nazis . Similarly, in his letter to RKO , the head of the Production Code Administration, Joseph Breen, “strongly urged to consult with the international department regarding the desirability of the Spanish aspect of the story contained in the film.” Fellows chose not to listen to such warnings and continue working on the film, retaining all the political components of the story unchanged ^[4] .

According to the film historian Andrea Passafume, RKO spent six months looking for an actor for the role of Keith. At first, the role was offered to James Cagney , but he refused, because he considered the support of the Republicans "his own personal business." After that, negotiations were held with Cary Grant , Randolph Scott and George Brent , but all refused. Finally, the studio Warner Bros. was rented by John Garfield , who was known for the roles of tough guys ^[4] . According to the American Film Institute , for the right to film John Garfield in this film and Joan Leslie in the film Sky is the Border (1943), RKO donated Warner Bros. their rights to shoot the films " The Burden of the Passions of Men " and "The Animal Kingdom" ^[1] . According to Passafyume, for Garfield it was a good career move, thanks to which he expanded his acting range and achieved recognition as a strong performance of such a psychologically complex character as Keith ^[4] .

Overall film score

Criticism quite favorably, although with reservations, took the film after its release on the screens. Thus, in the review of the New York Times , the picture was described as “far from flawless” “strange and disturbing melodrama”, built around a “bizarre idea” about the unusual collision of a group of Nazi agents with a former volunteer of the republican army ^[5] . Developing from a “strange and dubious” starting point, “the film too often wanders into the disorienting labyrinth of ingenious and mutually intersecting plot lines” and creates a “rather confusing koshi-mouse game in which psychology, deception and drugs are used as weapons” ^[5] . However, as noted in the review, “due to the strong playing of John Garfield in the title role and the special skill with which director Richard Wallace highlighted significant climaxes in history, the film appears as one of the outstanding and excitingly interesting melodramas of recent months” ^[5] .

Similar estimates give the picture and modern film historians. Jeff Meyer draws attention to the fact that "this is the first Hollywood film released during World War II, which paints a portrait of a psychologically traumatized American, who, because of the war, finds it difficult to adapt to everyday life and resume old relationships with loved ones and friends" ^{[2 ]} . The connection with the film noir genre, according to Meier, is evidenced by the "internalization of the plot and the emphasis on mentally divided individuals, which will become a characteristic feature of noir films after 1945." At the same time, the final of the film, “in which the hero sacrifices his beloved woman, because she is an enemy spy, serves as a propaganda moment, which was absolutely justified in the 1943 film” ^[6] . Butler points out that “although the film suffers from a confusing script, it nonetheless turns out to be more than worthy of a small spy thriller mixed with a film noir.” And with a more elaborate script, he could have become “a sturdy classic, and not just a good film with some flaws, which eventually turned out to be” ^[7] .

Spencer Selby draws attention to the fact that the painting “deeply and sensually develops the idea of ​​psychological torture”, representing “an emotionally injured person who is persecuted by both internal and external demons” after what he experienced during the Spanish Civil War ^[8] . Glenn Erickson describes the picture as a “political thriller with a political intrigue that is weak in terms of nervous tension, but with the weight of John Garfield,” which seems so natural as if he doesn’t play his characters, but “lives inside them”. Further, the critic notes that the film “jumps around cocktail parties, nightclubs and hotel rooms, where suspects are presented with such speed that the audience does not have time to digest them and begin to distinguish them”. At the same time, “history has a way to slow down, so that any character utters another patriotic mini-essay about the need to stop these Nazi bastards. The public is reminded that the good old United States of America at this time were drawn into a war on both fronts. Time to be tough, and this means that we need to clean out all these disgusting Axis spies ” ^[3] . The critic also draws attention to certain parallels of the picture with John Houston 's classic noir “The Maltese Falcon ” (1941), in particular, in terms of using the reception with McGaffin , and similarities of some characters, in particular, Slezak as Professor Skaas - with the character Sydney Greenstreet , and O'Hara - with Mary Astor ^[3] .

Evaluation of the work of the director and creative team

Critics praised the work of the main director of the film Richard Wallace. In particular, the New York Times drew attention to the high "skill with which Wallace used both music and the camera to make the volunteer conscious of fear permeated by tension," thanks to which the picture rises above the level of "simply contrived and gloomy" ^{[ 5]} . Dennis Schwartz considered that Wallace put a big picture, which, despite the vagueness of the plot, is characterized by increasing tension. “And if the plot was not so vague, it would have turned out to be a much better psychological thriller, since Garfield is brilliant as an energetic, psychologically injured war veteran” ^[9] . Butler also underlines Wallace’s ability to use camera and shadows to create a frightening effect ^[7] . Passafumme draws attention to the fact that the film editor was Robert Wise , a year before he became the director and subsequently won the Oscars for such classic films as West Side Story (1961) and Sound of Music (1965) ^{[4 ]} .

Actor Assessment

Experts praised the acting in the film, especially highlighting the work of John Garfield in the lead role. As the New York Times writes, “Garfield is almost convincing all the time, and without his confident and subtle playing in this complex role, impressions of Mr. Wallace’s efforts would be completely lost” ^[5] . Kiney calls Garfield's game “exciting” ^[10] , and according to Butler, “that the film finally copes with its often vague scenario, the main merit belongs to Garfield” ^[7] . The critic believes that being "one of the strongest actors of his time, Garfield, as a rule, fully devoted himself to the role, demonstrating inspiring dedication and commitment to work." So in this film, “he is completely in control of the situation, showing every painful turn in the psyche of his hero, and does it exactly as it should.” Butler believes that in other hands such a role could turn into the ecstasy of the actor himself and lead to a serious replay on his part. However, “Garfield is much more interested in creating an image than in producing an effect,” and always remains faithful to the tasks that the drama confronts him, and not to satisfy his own ego ^[7] . As Erickson notes, “in his domineering and impudent manner,” Garfield alone drags the entire film on himself ^[3] .

Passafumé notes that “dark-red Maureen O'Hara plays the unusual second main role of the fatal beloved of Keith” ^[4] . According to the New York Times, “it is strong at the most exciting moments, but it looks lifeless in more tranquil scenes” ^[5] . Glenn Erickson believes that she is “beautiful, but rather sluggish in the role of a mysterious woman from the Continent, and all the time it looks as if someone has taken her beloved puppy from her” ^[3] . Butler generally believes that she is “just not properly chosen for the role” ^[7] . As for Walter Slezak , then, as Passafyume points out, this “characteristic actor makes a delightful sinister touch to the role of the mysterious Dr. Scaas, a professor who admires the effects of psychological torture” ^[4] . The game of Slezak, in the same vein, is also noted by Schwartz and Keeney, and Butler generally believes that “Slezak is in good shape and plays almost at the same high level as Garfield” ^[7] .

• Spencer Selby. Dark City: The Film Noir . - Jeffeson, NC and London: McFarland & Co Inc, 1997. - ISBN 978-0-7864-0478-0 .
• Michael F. Keaney. Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940–1959 . - Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2011. - ISBN 978-0-7864-6366-4 .
• Geoff Mayer and Brian McDonnell. Encyclopedia of Film Noir . - Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2007. - ISBN 978-0-3133-3306-4 .

• Fallen Sparrow on IMDB site  
• Fallen Sparrow on Allmovie  
• Fallen Sparrow on the website of the American Film Institute
• Fallen Sparrow on Turner Classic Movies
• Fallen Sparrow Movie Trailer on YouTube