Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Fresh and Exciting

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Outstanding 1959 film showcasing the Irish rebellion against the occupying British.What terrific irony here with James Cagney, as usual in top form, as a surgeon who is also ahead of the rebel group. True to his cause, Cagney, who is supposed to save lives,will take life away for a free Ireland.He meets up with Don Murray, an American, whose father was also an Irish patriot. Murray is studying medicine in Ireland when he becomes part of the rebellious forces.As the bar-maid, Glynis Johns turns in a glowing supporting performance. Dana Wynter is also effective as the daughter of a British official, kidnapped by Cagney and his group to revenge the sentencing of the elderly Dame Sybil Thorndike for pro-rebel activities.We see an eventual break within the group as a truce is called. Cagney is totally against the latter as he wanted a totally free Ireland. This invariably leads to a showdown with Murray and others.A terrific film.

A commodius vicus of recirculation brings us back to Howth Castle and environs in 1921, the time of the Irish revolution, the IRA versus the Black and Tans. But make no mistake. This isn't a sentimental tale about lovers of freedom fighting against the oppressors. It's about as brutal as you can get.And there's nothing in the way of history here -- no nonsense about Essex and Tyrone four hundred years ago. The script begins in medias res, right in the middle of the conflict. Jimmy Cagney, a surgeon, is the Commandant of the IRA and serves as a mentor to the American Don Murray, one of his medical students who is swept up by accident into the confrontation.The movie treats the Black and Tans as a kind of Gestapo and takes pains to separate them from the more reasonable British Army. The IRA in turn comes off with far less sympathy than the Mafia did in "The Godfather" movies.Cagney is especially hard hearted. He plays it that way all through to the film's end -- and his -- one of those guys that every war seems to attract, in which battle acquires functional autonomy. The goal is lost sight of and killing becomes a goal in itself. As I write this, the news is reporting the murder of two British soldiers in Northern Ireland. They weren't part of an army of occupation. One was an engineer. Neither was an enemy but we can be reasonably sure that for those who shot the two to death, they managed to convince themselves the murder was an act of patriotism. Cagney is that kind of guy. He stops at nothing. One scene, on the beach with the cynical Glynnis Johns, suggests that his real problem is repressed sexuality.Don Murray is okay. He's clean-cut and handsome, and Dana Wynter at his prisoner is radiant. She's so gracile. When Cagney is about to put a bullet in her, it's no wonder that Murray does him in. It would have been like shooting a pet rabbit. But what a cast! Cyril Cusack is marvelous, as he always is. Richard Harris is fine too, as a loud-mouthed braggart. Noel Purcell is given a screen credit but his role is smaller than most of mine have been, and I got no credit at all, just minimum wage and a box lunch.The direction is by Michael Anderson, best known, I suppose, for "Around the World in Eighty Days." As a director of thrillers like this, there is a good deal of variance in the quality of his work. There are some startling shots. A cowering figure seen from behind Cagney's spread legs. And some of the startling shots don't work at all. Cagney, mortally wounded, is seen from ground level, and when he topples over forward his face bangs into the camera as it hits the dirt, facile novelty.Cagney was 60 years old when this was filmed and he looks a little chubby, almost cherubic, but he still manages to bend over and lurch forward when he walks, though perhaps with less lilt. His impression of an Irishman is mediocre. His best impression was always that of Jimmy Cagney, but he's not a contribution to the film's several weaknesses. He's a journeyman actor and knows his business.Ireland would have been a good location for shooting films noir. The cities are sprawling and grimy with some cobblestone streets and a constant gray overcast, often drizzly. When I was last there, during the last outbreak which seems to have ended finally, the graffiti was all about the IRA, pronounced Eee-rah by the kids. See Carol Reed's "Odd Man Out" for a sublime example of what poetry can be wrung from such a grim setting.

This is one of the very best films from the tail end of Cagney's career. Unlike so many of his previous films, this movie was entertaining AND had something profound to say as well. The film is about IRA terrorists in the early days of the Irish Republic. Instead of being happy with the gains the Irish made, Cagney's character has been fighting so long he's lost track of WHY and is simply hellbent on murder and killing for its own sake. When other members begin calling for restraint, Cagney wants to escalate the killings until eventually he becomes a liability to the organization. While some times Cagney tended to "chew the scenery" at the expense of the film (i.e., he overacted), this movie actually benefited from this style. An excellent and timeless story.

This is without question a superbly well-made film on "The Troubles", back at a time when the IRA was in full bloom. As has been noted here, everything works well - the excellent cinematography (with beautiful vistas of the Irish countryside), a superb cast, great direction, and a richly textured script. All the characters are well drawn and fleshed out. Cagney's work here as the fanatic physician/seditionist is among his best screen portrayals. One suspects at first that the film is going to be an outright paean to the IRA, but as the film progresses, the murderous and fanatic side of their work is made clear, and we are left with a complex and ambiguous picture. I cannot recommend this film highly enough; it is simply not to be missed.