O.S.S.

source: O.S.S.

Liked this film. Its practically a film about what would becomes as the CIA. Four new agents try to get secrets across france but are slowly gets caught, one by one. As each try to survive, each mission seems to gets murkier by the minute. I would say it was a nice surprise to see a film that talks openly about espionage AND how it is deployed. I just wished the lady character could have been played better AND is played less frustrated. She gives too tense vibes for an espionage film. Alan Ladd is not really that much of an actor either but works well as a straight man but is much believable as a man trying to keep his head afloat. The tension too is not as build up as I would have liked . Otherwise, other than that seemingly from war attacking sequence, which was wonderful. There is nothing really to write about it. Just random fun facts like the writer for this film would serve as a writer for some of the Bond films. Fine film.

Nothing but praise for this taught well made 2nd WW narrative. All good reviews and worth viewing , highly recommended. My one eye opener , unlikely to have been noticed or be of any serious concern to the uninitiated , the scene where Brink is in the wash room building we first see him camera right , and about 24 /5 seconds later he is seen cam. Left , ie: presumably the director knew this and producer left that as we saw it ! Yes they both got away with that , albeit I wonder how many movies in the US and how many films in the UK let that important film making rule slip by even prior to 1946 ? That broken rule , if dialogue is involved can compromise the clarity of an actors voice, meaning additional budget for post dubbing ? In this instance, I am not sure if there was suspenseful music b g , albeit no dialogue , so it almost past muster ? That rule applies to this day , never cross the line . If you do, characters appear in the frame when they should not as the audience concentration can become disorientated ?

If you weren't aware the Office of Strategic Services (O. S. S.) was the secret spy operation led by William Donovan during WWII. The organization sent spies into Germany and other nearby countries during the war to gather intelligence and destroy various targets behind enemy lines. When the war ended the organization changed and became the Central Intelligence Agency (C. I. A.). So much for a brief history lesson. The film O. S. S. Was released in a year after the end of WWII. Written by Richard Maibaum who would go on to write 12 of the James Bond films the film shows his penchant working with spies. Unfortunately the film doesn't quite compare to those movies in spite of this. Alan Ladd stars as John Martin, a man caught trying to steal plans for an electronics circuit here in the US. Rather than send him to jail he's recruited by the newly found O. S. S. To be sent out on test missions. Along with Martin are several other agents including a woman named Elaine Dupree (Geraldine Fitzgerald). After thorough training their first mission comes through: blow up a railroad tunnel to slow down the enemy. Signs of what was common at the time have Martin doubt that Dupree can handle the job since she's a woman. Posting as an artists which she has some background in, she proves him wrong when she catches the eye of German Colonel Paul Meister (John Hoyt). He admires her work and contracts her to make a bust of himself. When he is later transferred and headed to Normandy on a troop train, Dupree convinces her to take her with him. He agrees and she takes along a duplicate busts packed with plastic explosives. Martin is also on board the train and when the time is right the pair set off their special package and accomplish their mission of blowing up the train tunnel. But Meister survived the explosion and is now hunting the duo. They meet a corrupt Gestapo agent who realizes that all is lost for the Reich. He agrees to help them escape the country for a fee. Now the question is can will he follow through? And even if he does, will it be enough to help Martin and Dupree escape the country? As a historical piece of post war propaganda the film is interesting to watch. The concept of a woman being considered unable to do the job and proving that she could was ahead of its time. The only problem with the film is the pacing. It moves along far too slow for what should have been a film packed with action. 13 RUE MADELINE made just a year later starring James Cagney showed how this could be done and is a much better picture. Ladd is wasted here. One would never realize his talents seeing this film made after his starring roles in TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST and THE BLUE DAHLIA. His acting here is more wooden than would be expected and he spends more time looking around at people suspiciously than anything else. On the other hand Fitzgerald shines and shows why she was a force to be reckoned with at the time. The end result is a decent film but not one that will be long remembered. Kino Lorber is releasing the film on blu-ray with a brand new 2k master of the film. Extras are limited and include an audio commentary track by film historian Samm Deighan and a collection of movie trailers.

Fifteen years before he entered the world of 007 screenwriter Richard Maibaum was detailing the exploits of the wartime O. S. S. (Office of Strategic Services). A much more conventional film than 'House on 92nd Street' or 'Call Northside 777' (Nazi Jack Lambert actually says "Your papers please"), and it does go on a bit; but better than the name on it as director Irving Pichel might make you fear. And Geraldine Fitzgerald makes an interesting heroine.

Direction and screenplay are below average in this movie. The script is clunky, the music distracting, and the acting so-so. While the subject is interesting and the plot is superb it falls short. Alan Ladd is great even when he doesn't try to act well and the other actors do their best, but I think they were held hostage by bad direction. Maybe Irving Pichel was just having a bad day when he made this movie. Worth watching if you appreciate the courage and sacrifices of a past generation that allow us to live free.

Another post-war spy movie looking at American intelligence working in Occupied France during the dying days of the war. This one's led by an on-form Alan Ladd, although as ever with these intelligence stories, it's the female characters who really stand out. It's a fast-paced little story that pulls out all the stops when it comes to suspense and does a good job chronicling the kind of action - and danger - that agents saw on the ground.

This film, shot soon after WWII's conclusion, starts out in a semi-documentary fashion, with that time period's usual background commentary, this time applied to the nascent stages of the O.S.S. and how its development would enhance the war effort. However, as the core unit gets trained, it shifts to a pretty decent spy drama, with Alan Ladd and Ms. Fitzgerald taking the leads in their unit's task, which inherently was to supply the Allies with German armored division positions and to facilitate the explosion of a railroad tunnel which had been providing the Germans with their main conduit for battle preparations. Ladd's gender-biased character doesn't like the fact that he has to work with a woman on such a trying mission, but Ms. Fitz's character isn't falling for his hype, and she soon shows her mettle by performing her assigned tasks more than adequately. It is in this dialog between our two major protagonists that we see just how well our stars (and writers/director) handled their roles. Crisp, articulate dialog sets the pace for their encounters, which was coupled with an intelligent story line, whose development was duly enhanced by the supporting actors as well. But as my summary title indicates, our "hero" isn't really the prototypical war hero you were used to seeing in movies of that era. Our man Ladd is asked to perform one more task by his CO and he "bites the guy's head off" with a "why me?" diatribe reminiscent of a film more ensconced in the anti-war movies of the 60's-70's. It is Ladd at his vitriolic best, barking at the CO to get somebody else, but the CO has to finally give him an official order, to which Ladd reluctantly assents. This scene ever so realistically shows the reactions of a real human soldier as opposed to some sort of Hollywood hero fabrication. Other moments of pathos and reality occur, especially between "Sparky" and the unit's radio operator. John Hoyt's fine contribution as the German colonel also merits mentioning. Although it may not rank amongst your all time favorites list, watch it anyway and if you don't have at least a small well of tears at the film's conclusion... Just maybe "she could have been a girl from around the corner!"

Alan Ladd (John Martin) is trained as an OSS agent and sent on an assignment in France with a team of 3 others. Their leader Don Beddoe (Gates) is killed early on and Ladd is put in charge. The mission is to blow up a bridge and report back on German troop numbers and movements. Their boss Patric Knowles (Commander Brady) then flies into France to tell Ladd that he has one more mission to complete. This spy story is a bit long but it holds the interest well enough. The main bulk of the film takes place in France and by the end of the film only one of Ladd's group remains alive - we watch them get caught one by one. You can see how the film is going to end from about halfway through when Geraldine Fitzgerald (Elaine) tells Ladd not to come back to save her life if he feels that she is in danger. I felt that she was just as strong a character as he was in the lead role. There are some good moments during the film, eg, when Beddoe gets caught at a cafe and signals to Fitzgerald to leave. Overall, despite the length of it, the film is made up of entertaining segments, and I enjoyed watching it the second time more than the first.

The Office of Strategic Services was formed when Franklin Roosevelt decided once and for all we needed a separate intelligence organization if in fact we were going into World War II. And in the postwar era we needed one to compete with both friends and enemies who had been at this for centuries more than we had. During the war the cloak of secrecy was firmly wrapped around the OSS, but after VJ Day a whole bunch of films came out about some of their behind the lines spy missions. The best of these films were Cloak and Dagger, 13 Rue Madeleine and OSS. This film follows the training and then the missions in occupied France of a team of OSS operatives, code-named Applejack and their controller. The controller is Patric Knowles and the operatives are Alan Ladd, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Don Beddoe, and Richard Benedict. It's a tough dirty job with a chance of survival not real great, but this team does its job. Geraldine Fitzgerald engages in a little Mata Hari activity with a German colonel played by John Hoyt and proves quite the temptress. Actor Joseph Crehan plays William J. Donovan briefly in the beginning of the film. Donovan, a Republican, was named by President Roosevelt to organize and head the new agency. He had a colorful career both in peace and war and was previously played by George Brent in Warner Brothers, Fighting 69th. He's worthy of a biographical film himself and I wonder why none has ever been done before. Alan Ladd is his stalwart best. Heroics he does, but they are believable heroics. One of his best films from his Paramount era period.