Operation Secret | |
---|---|
Directed by | Lewis Seiler |
Written by | Harold Medford James R. Webb |
Produced by | Henry Blanke |
Starring | Cornel Wilde Steve Cochran Phyllis Thaxter Karl Malden Paul Picerni Lester Matthews |
Cinematography | Ted D. McCord |
Edited by | Clarence Kolster |
Music by | Roy Webb |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 108 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Operation Secret is a 1952 American drama film directed by Lewis Seiler and written by Harold Medford and James R. Webb. The film stars Cornel Wilde, Steve Cochran, Phyllis Thaxter, Karl Malden, Paul Picerni and Lester Matthews. The film was released by Warner Bros. on November 8, 1952. [1] [2] The film is based on the exploits of US Marine Corps Major Peter Ortiz. [3]
The story is told through testimonial flashbacks at a military tribunal held in Paris after the end of World War II. Its purpose is to investigate and uncover the identity of a traitor reputed to have fed information to German Occupation forces. In its efforts to find the truth, four witnesses are called to testify: (a) Peter Forrester, an American, ostensibly OSS, who served with the French Resistance movement; (b) Maria Corbett, a Resistance member who posed as a Catholic nun; (c) Marcel Brevoort, a Resistance leader who served with Forrester before and after France's fall; and (d) Major Latrec, the most zealous anti-Nazi in the group, demonstrably loyal to the Underground's cause. Testimonial recall of their unit's activity during the war builds to a surprising revelation.
New York Times critic Bosley Crowther said the film "spins its story vigorously but with little impact. This dissipation of potential tension may be attributed to the fact that the self-effacing bravery displayed here has been in evidence on film before, and with greater effect." Crowther said that even though it was based on fact, "this annal of dedicated men braving dangerous assignments appears to be largely hackneyed deeds out of an old and not too thrilling history." [2]
A New York Daily News critic observed that earlier films about the underground in Europe had presented all the fighters as "heroes and patriots." but that "now, apparently, it can be told that some of the leaders of resistance movements were fighting first for Russia and only incidentally for their native lands." She praised Wilde for an "effective performance." [4]
Cornel Wilde was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker.
Affair in Trinidad is a 1952 American film noir directed by Vincent Sherman and starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. It was produced by Hayworth's Beckworth Corporation and released by Columbia Pictures.
Forbidden Games is a 1952 French war drama film directed by René Clément and based on François Boyer's novel Les Jeux Interdits.
A Bell for Adano is a 1945 American war film directed by Henry King and starring John Hodiak and Gene Tierney. It was adapted from the 1944 novel of the same title by John Hersey, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1945.
Sirocco is a 1951 American thriller film noir directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Humphrey Bogart, Märta Torén and Lee J. Cobb. It was distributed by Hollywood studio Columbia Pictures and was based on the novel by the French author Joseph Kessel. The film name is derived from Sirocco, a strong wind blowing in the Mediterranean, coming from the Sahara desert. It is hot and dry and is said to make people irritable. The film is set in Syria somewhat east of the wind's paths.
Murderers' Row is a 1966 American comedy spy-fi film starring Dean Martin as Matt Helm. It is the second of four films in the Matt Helm series, and is very loosely based upon the 1962 spy novel Murderers' Row by Donald Hamilton.
Pierre (Peter) Julien Ortiz OBE was a United States Marine Corps colonel who received two Navy Crosses for extraordinary heroism as a major in World War II. He served in North Africa and Europe during the war, as a member of the French Foreign Legion, the U.S. Marines and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), operating behind enemy lines several times. Ortiz also acted in Hollywood films after the war. He was one of the very few U.S. Marines to serve in combat in Europe during World War II, and one of the most decorated Marine officers of the war.
The Purple Heart is a 1944 American war film, produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, directed by Lewis Milestone, and starring Dana Andrews, Richard Conte, Don "Red" Barry, Sam Levene and Trudy Marshall. Eighteen-year-old Farley Granger had a supporting role.
Two Flags West is a 1950 Western drama set during the American Civil War, directed by Robert Wise and starring Joseph Cotten, Jeff Chandler, Linda Darnell, and Cornel Wilde. The opening credits contain the following statement:
On December 8th, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a Special Proclamation, whereby Confederate Prisoners of War might gain their freedom, provided they would join the Union Army to defend the frontier West against the Indians.
Arthur Lester Matthews was an English actor.
Stars and Stripes Forever is a 1952 American Technicolor film biography of the late-19th-/early-20th-century composer and band leader John Philip Sousa. This 20th Century Fox feature was produced by Lamar Trotti, directed by Henry Koster, and stars Clifton Webb, Debra Paget, Robert Wagner, and Ruth Hussey. The film's title is taken from Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever", which has become the best known of his military marches. The film was released twenty years after Sousa's death.
The Scarlet Coat is a 1955 American historical drama and swashbuckler in Eastmancolor and CinemaScope released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Nicholas Nayfack, directed by John Sturges. It stars Cornel Wilde, Michael Wilding, George Sanders, and Anne Francis. The film is based upon the events in the American Revolution in which Benedict Arnold offered to surrender the fort at West Point to the British in exchange for money.
Springfield Rifle is an American Western film directed by Andre de Toth and released by Warner Bros. Pictures in 1952. The film is set during the American Civil War and stars Gary Cooper, with Phyllis Thaxter and Lon Chaney Jr.
13 Rue Madeleine is a 1947 American World War II spy film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring James Cagney, Annabella, Richard Conte and Frank Latimore. Allied volunteers are trained as spies in the leadup to the invasion of Europe, but one of them is a German double agent.
Orders to Kill is a 1958 British wartime drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Paul Massie, Eddie Albert and Irene Worth. It was written by Paul Dehn and George St. George based on a story by Donald Chase Downes, a former American intelligence operative who also acted as technical adviser to the film.
Diplomatic Courier is a 1952 American spy film noir directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Tyrone Power, Patricia Neal and Stephen McNally. The nightclub scene in the film features actor Arthur Blake, famous for his female impersonations, impersonating Carmen Miranda, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Bette Davis. The plot was loosely adapted from the 1945 novel Sinister Errand by British writer Peter Cheyney.
Manila Calling is a 1942 American black-and-white World War II propaganda war film drama from 20th Century Fox, produced by Sol M. Wurtzel, directed by Herbert I. Leeds, that stars Lloyd Nolan, Carole Landis, Cornel Wilde, James Gleason, Lester Matthews, Louis Jean Heydt, and Ted North.
Sangaree is a 1953 American 3-D color period costume drama film by director Edward Ludwig. It was adapted from the 1948 novel of the same name by Frank G. Slaughter.
Rogue's March is a 1953 American historical adventure film directed by Allan Davis, with special location sequences directed by Geoffrey Barkas, and starring Peter Lawford, Richard Greene, and Janice Rule. It was partly shot on location in the Khyber Pass.
The Moon Is Down is a 1943 American war film starring Cedric Hardwicke, Lee J. Cobb and Henry Travers and directed by Irving Pichel. The Screenplay was written by Nunnally Johnson and is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by John Steinbeck. This was the Dorris Bowdon's last movie and Natalie Wood's first movie and features an uncredited John Banner who would go on to play Sgt. Shultz in the TV comedy series Hogan's Heroes.