A handshake from the devil
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | A handshake from the devil |
| Original title | Shake Hands with the Devil |
| Country of production | UK , USA |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1959 |
| length | 111 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Michael Anderson |
| script | Ivan Goff , Ben Roberts based on a model by Marian Spitzer (Marian Thompson) based on the novel of the same name by Rearden Conner from 1933 |
| production | Michael Anderson for Pennebaker Productions |
| music | William Alwyn , played by the London Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Muir Mathieson |
| camera | Erwin Hillier |
| cut | Gordon Pilkington |
| occupation | |
| |
A handshake of the devil ( English title: Shake Hands with the Devil ) is a British - American feature film from 1959, the 1921 Irish War of Independence plays. It is based on the novel of the same name by Rearden Conner ( London 1933).
The film was produced entirely in Ireland; the interior shots were filmed in the Ardmore Studios in Bray , the exterior shots on the original locations. Although not a crime film , the nightly scenes in Dublin are reminiscent of the film noir . Military adviser was Lieutenant Colonel William O'Kelly of the Irish Defense Force . The film premiered on January 7, 1960 in West Germany . Rather unusual for the production time, the film was also shown in the People's Republics of Poland and Hungary . Further performance titles are De Mãos Dadas com o Diabo ( Brazil ), Luces de rebeldia ( Spain ), L'épopée dans l'ombre ( France ), Szövetség az ördöggel (Hungary), Il fronte della violenza ( Italy ), Un encuentro con el diablo ( Mexico ), Podajac reke diablu (Poland), De sammansvurna ( Sweden ), Kampen ude nåde ( Denmark ), Heirapsia me to Diavolo ( Greece ), Hürriyet kahramanı ( Turkey ).
action
The film is introduced from the off by a narrator (originally Michael Rennie ). It's 1921, the year of all-out war , the year of the Black and Tans .
The American student of Irish origin Kerry O'Shea studies medicine with Professor Lenihan in Dublin . O'Shea fought on the American side on the Western Front during World War I and through the war experience has become a staunch pacifist .
Through his friend and fellow student Paddy Nolan O'Shea is in the Revolutionary War and the conflict between the IRA and the Black and Tans , a notorious for their brutality British special forces for counterinsurgency , drawn. You are involved in an IRA ambush in which Nolan is shot and seriously wounded by the British. Nolan asks O'Shea to take him to Professor Lenihan. As it turns out, Lenihan occupies a leading position in the IRA and is called the commander . Lenihan can operate on Nolan, but the student dies as a result of the wound.
Since O'Shea has lost a textbook marked with his name at the location of the attack, which was found by the British, a search for him is made. Lenihan introduces him to the "General", his superior and, as it turns out, an old comrade in arms of O'Shea's father. It also turns out that O'Shea's father was also badly shot during an operation and only survived with Lenihan's help. However, due to his pacifist stance, O'Shea declines the invitation to join the IRA and participate in the fight. The general finally accepts the student's attitude and is ready to allow him to escape Ireland by sea through an IRA network.
The IRA secretly takes O'Shea to a small coastal town to be taken out of the country by boat. Then one of the leading IRA commanders, Liam O'Sullivan, escapes from prison. As he is injured, O'Shea is against his principles willing to operate on him, but before O´Sullivan can reach the IRA hideout, he is discovered by the Black and Tans in the trunk of Lady Fitzhugh's car, an old one, but very energetic lady who sympathizes with the IRA. Upon discovery, O'Sullivan defends himself with a revolver and is shot in return by the Black and Tans.
In search of Lady Fitzhugh's helpers, the Black and Tans search the pub where the group is staying. When IRA member Terence O'Brien tries to get rid of his revolver, the gun falls to the ground and the soldiers arrest O'Shea as a supposed gun owner. In order not to be considered a traitor, he does not deny possession of a weapon and is arrested. Colonel Smithson, who wants to find out from him the background of O'Sullivan's escape, brutally beats him up. But Lenihan manages to break into the Black and Tans barracks and free the prisoner under the pretense of a British transport command. O'Shea is now joining the IRA.
Lady Fitzhugh has since gone on a hunger strike while in custody . Since Lenihan knows that it is impossible to free Lady Fitzhugh from the well-guarded prison by a coup d'état , he decides to free her by taking a hostage . To do this, he kidnaps Jennifer Curtis, the widowed daughter of a high-profile British advisor to the British government in Ireland. In the "custody" of the IRA rebels, O'Shea and Curtis fall in love.
To hit the Black and Tans effectively, Lenihan is planning an assassination attempt on Colonel Smithson in the port of Dublin. Meanwhile, the bar girl Kitty, who supported the rebel group, realizes that the British authorities are on to her. Fearing imprisonment, she decides to flee Ireland. Lenihan, who has a split relationship with Kitty - on the one hand he desires her, on the other hand his political attitude forbids him to have a relationship with her - expressly warns her not to become disloyal.
When Lenihan's commandos, disguised as dock workers, lie in wait for Smithson in the harbor, Kitty happens to appear and wants to flee to Liverpool . She is intercepted and identified by the Black and Tans on the gangway of a ship. From the course of the conversation, Lenihan, who is watching the scene, wrongly concludes that Kitty betrayed the group. A wild shooting ensues between the soldiers and the IRA, in the course of which Smithson, but also some members of the IRA, are killed. In cold blood, Lenihan shoots Kitty, who implores him to spare her life because she has not betrayed the group. When a Black and Tans armored car drives into the port area, the group sets it on fire with a hand grenade .
When O'Shea is back on the coast waiting in a lighthouse for the boat that is supposed to smuggle him out of Ireland, the IRA men learn that Lady Fitzhugh has died, but the British are now making an offer of truce . While the “general” agrees with the offer, Lenihan wants to keep fighting, for him the proponents of an agreement with the British are simply traitors. When he tries to shoot Jennifer Curtis in revenge for Lady Fitzhugh, O'Shea intervenes and shoots Lenihan. Then he throws away his revolver, which lands on the beach and is slowly washed over by the sea.
criticism
" One of the fastest, toughest and most picturesque dramas about the Irish Revolution ... "
“ Expressive film about the Irish struggle for independence in the twenties. Calls against senseless fanaticism. Recommended for ages 16 and up. "
Lore
The film was edited on DVD in English, Spanish and Italian . The German dubbed version was broadcast several times on German television. A German DVD edition has been available since September 2018.