While 13 Rue Madeleine may be quite a treat for World War II buffs (including World War II film buffs) and James Cagney fans (his performance is interesting and the role is a bit different for him, at least), everyone else should exercise a bit more caution before trying to tackle this film. The script, by Sy Bartlett, John Monks Jr. and James L. Shute, tends to unfold like a high school history textbook that needed two or three more drafts, read aloud by a teacher who has had five two many double espressos. This is definitely a film that could benefit from two or three viewings, plus note-taking, extra research, and so on.
But I'm going to review the film from my single viewing. After all, anyone using reviews as a consumer guide probably wants to know whether a film is worth watching as a casual viewer. Whether 13 Rue Madeleine is worth watching as an adjunct to a graduate course on the history of American spies in France during World War II is another matter. The film is supposedly based on truth, and director Henry Hathaway along with producer Louis De Rochemont claim to be concerned with authenticity to an extent that they went out of their way to shoot in actual locations, despite the fact that substitutes and sets would have been much easier and cheaper. So the answer to whether 13 Rue Madeleine is worth viewing educationally is probably "yes".
The film begins with a rapid pace, 10-minute long section of narration explaining the relevant geopolitical basics of American spies during World War II. Eventually, we're introduced to Robert Emmett Sharkey (Cagney), a Secret Service Agent who has been commissioned to train an elite group of spies. The group is known as "077" (maybe this was an influence on Ian Fleming's numbers for agents in the James Bond books?), and a member of the group is a German spy posing as a wannabe American spy. Sharkey's superior knows this, and knows which candidate is a German spy, but oddly makes a kind of game out Sharkey figuring it out. The candidates are put through rigorous and occasionally risky tests before they're assigned to functions according to their relative strengths.
13 Rue Madeleine then changes gears about halfway through as agents begin to head off on their assignments. The assignment that becomes the plot involves giving false information about the "Second Front" and trying to capture a Frenchman who has been building bomb launches for the Germans. Not everything goes as planned, primarily because of the German agent in the mix, and Sharkey has to become personally involved. The plot grows increasingly complicated, and by the end of the film, 13 Rue Madeleine is surprisingly (and delightfully) violent and nihilistic for its era.
If you watch without worrying about the copious and ubiquitous details of exposition, this is a decent film that sometimes leans towards potboiler construction, but that is ultimately "good enough". It still has awkward moments--the worst being that the ending feels a bit rushed--but fans of anything approaching war, thrillers, action or film noir of the era should feel that 13 Rue Madeleine isn't time wasted. It does have a bit of a propaganda feel to it, but that aspect isn't really overdone, and it ends up being tempered by showing the Germans as quite clever and effective, plus the conclusion isn't exactly a homecoming flag-waving ticker-tape parade.
However, it's a bit difficult to not worry about the details of the exposition, at least at first, since 13 Rue Madeleine comes out of the gate rattling off fact after fact in a tone of voice from the narrator that implies that you're going to have a quiz on it later.
Things are made a bit easier when some unintentionally funny moments appear. These do not dominate the film; they more provide light comic relief to the modern viewer. For example, when the candidates first learn about the rigorous aptitude tests they will be undergoing, they're also told that there is an endless supply of beer in the community refrigerator, and that they should help themselves whenever they feel like it. Somehow, being drunk doesn't seem like the best way to approach an aptitude test to me.
In addition to Cagney, the performances from the other principal cast members are fairly good. This includes three of the students who become spies, Suzanne de Beaumont (Annabella), Richard Conte (Bill O'Connell) and Jeff Lassiter (Frank Latimore), as well as Same Jaffe as the mayor of a small French town. On the downside, Hathaway doesn't focus the film enough on anyone but Cagney, so these other good performances make one think more about wasted potential. The bottom line is that the plot, the number of settings and the size of the cast are just too big and sprawling for a 90-minute film. It tends to feel like a high school history book that needs a couple more drafts because it tends to be choppy; it has to brush over way too much material too quickly.
On a more positive note, the few action scenes included are relatively realistic. Cagney gets out of breath struggling with foes. No one gets away with anything very easily. Nothing is staged just to make it look impressive cinematic ally. Rather, everything is meant to give authentic impact to the confrontations. In context, this approach works wonderfully.
So 13 Rue Madeleine is something of a mixed bag. I don't want to discourage anyone with great interest in Cagney or the relevant aspects of World War II and espionage, but everyone else should avoid having very high expectations. If you're not overly familiar with films of this era, start elsewhere.
But I'm going to review the film from my single viewing. After all, anyone using reviews as a consumer guide probably wants to know whether a film is worth watching as a casual viewer. Whether 13 Rue Madeleine is worth watching as an adjunct to a graduate course on the history of American spies in France during World War II is another matter. The film is supposedly based on truth, and director Henry Hathaway along with producer Louis De Rochemont claim to be concerned with authenticity to an extent that they went out of their way to shoot in actual locations, despite the fact that substitutes and sets would have been much easier and cheaper. So the answer to whether 13 Rue Madeleine is worth viewing educationally is probably "yes".
The film begins with a rapid pace, 10-minute long section of narration explaining the relevant geopolitical basics of American spies during World War II. Eventually, we're introduced to Robert Emmett Sharkey (Cagney), a Secret Service Agent who has been commissioned to train an elite group of spies. The group is known as "077" (maybe this was an influence on Ian Fleming's numbers for agents in the James Bond books?), and a member of the group is a German spy posing as a wannabe American spy. Sharkey's superior knows this, and knows which candidate is a German spy, but oddly makes a kind of game out Sharkey figuring it out. The candidates are put through rigorous and occasionally risky tests before they're assigned to functions according to their relative strengths.
13 Rue Madeleine then changes gears about halfway through as agents begin to head off on their assignments. The assignment that becomes the plot involves giving false information about the "Second Front" and trying to capture a Frenchman who has been building bomb launches for the Germans. Not everything goes as planned, primarily because of the German agent in the mix, and Sharkey has to become personally involved. The plot grows increasingly complicated, and by the end of the film, 13 Rue Madeleine is surprisingly (and delightfully) violent and nihilistic for its era.
If you watch without worrying about the copious and ubiquitous details of exposition, this is a decent film that sometimes leans towards potboiler construction, but that is ultimately "good enough". It still has awkward moments--the worst being that the ending feels a bit rushed--but fans of anything approaching war, thrillers, action or film noir of the era should feel that 13 Rue Madeleine isn't time wasted. It does have a bit of a propaganda feel to it, but that aspect isn't really overdone, and it ends up being tempered by showing the Germans as quite clever and effective, plus the conclusion isn't exactly a homecoming flag-waving ticker-tape parade.
However, it's a bit difficult to not worry about the details of the exposition, at least at first, since 13 Rue Madeleine comes out of the gate rattling off fact after fact in a tone of voice from the narrator that implies that you're going to have a quiz on it later.
Things are made a bit easier when some unintentionally funny moments appear. These do not dominate the film; they more provide light comic relief to the modern viewer. For example, when the candidates first learn about the rigorous aptitude tests they will be undergoing, they're also told that there is an endless supply of beer in the community refrigerator, and that they should help themselves whenever they feel like it. Somehow, being drunk doesn't seem like the best way to approach an aptitude test to me.
In addition to Cagney, the performances from the other principal cast members are fairly good. This includes three of the students who become spies, Suzanne de Beaumont (Annabella), Richard Conte (Bill O'Connell) and Jeff Lassiter (Frank Latimore), as well as Same Jaffe as the mayor of a small French town. On the downside, Hathaway doesn't focus the film enough on anyone but Cagney, so these other good performances make one think more about wasted potential. The bottom line is that the plot, the number of settings and the size of the cast are just too big and sprawling for a 90-minute film. It tends to feel like a high school history book that needs a couple more drafts because it tends to be choppy; it has to brush over way too much material too quickly.
On a more positive note, the few action scenes included are relatively realistic. Cagney gets out of breath struggling with foes. No one gets away with anything very easily. Nothing is staged just to make it look impressive cinematic ally. Rather, everything is meant to give authentic impact to the confrontations. In context, this approach works wonderfully.
So 13 Rue Madeleine is something of a mixed bag. I don't want to discourage anyone with great interest in Cagney or the relevant aspects of World War II and espionage, but everyone else should avoid having very high expectations. If you're not overly familiar with films of this era, start elsewhere.