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To me, this movie is perfection.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

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.

A reasonably good thriller about the so-called "Tan War". The acting is uniformly excellent, although the story has been altered from the original novel. If I had any major complaints, they would be that the Auxiliaries (called uniformly Black & Tans by the Irish) are pictured as too befuddled and they're just too stereotypically, comically menacing. And in the final shootout just before the Truce, Cagney and Company kill more of them then were killed during the entire Rebellion. A much more realistic, menacing portrayal of the Auxies can be found in John Ford's "The Informer" (1935).Also, Glynis Johns hairstyle is way too 1950s, and she's just a little too Irish from County Baloney.Other than that, it's a very good movie.

This movie is one of the older classics that doesn't get much play any more. It is a thought provoking piece, full of vivid characters, and told in an almost non stop action adventure way to make it super entertaining, even for the most impatient viewer. The movie centers on the Irish rebellion, with the reluctant hero, Don Murray, forced into the fray against the terrible Black and Tans. More historically accurate on the background scale than people want to admit. Cagney plays the "commadant" of several squads, who is a very hard liner in the IRA, totally against all compromise with the British authorities. The other characters are vividly expressed by the acting, writing, and directing. There is no weak spot in this film. The attitudes and reactions of each character to the evils by each, Cagney and the leader of the Black and Tans, makes this a remarkable film. Noonan, Cassidy, and also their British counterparts are portrayed as realistically dealing with the bloodshed caused by extremists. Innocent captives are taken by both sides, one a proper older lady jailed by the British, and the other a gorgeous knockout of a lady (Dana Wynter, who alone is worth watching the film for by a guy's standpoint, as there are absolutely no women in today's films as physically attractive as she is), a blue blood captured by the IRA, whom Murray swears to protect from harm. One thing that makes this movie so believable, is that the characters don't automatically assume and know everything that goes on. If the movie was made today, it would probably have such a flaw. This movie is ever so credible, particularly from a character standpoint. You feel the pain and torment of each individual. The movie is so relevant today, and it would be of great value to have it released in countries and lands where there is tumult. If every American should see "Jungle Fighters", "Southern Comfort," and "Ox Bow Incident", to show the dangers of judging others, then this movie should be seen by every Iraqi (and probably everybody) to see just how horrible terror tactics are, and the need for peaceful resolution to problems.

There are just too many unbelievable things happening in this plot to make it more than an average film. Yet some of the performances, as has been noted by one of the viewers here, are veddy good indeed. Cagney turning nearly as psycho as in White Heat is one, an excellent turn by Dana Winter, and the always always always reliable Cyril Cusack. The lone American Don Murray was somehow always chosen for the peace lover among maniacs. The only time it really worked was in From Hell to Texas, a darned good western by Henry Hathaway. Otherwise he always came off so aww shucks virtuous that he almost needed a black robe and round hat. In fact he once played a priest, also to sickening effect. So earnest. So miscast.And so what, for the movie.However, the woman playing the old rich titled Lady about which the latter half of the plot revolves is also good. And there are spots of the black and white photography of the Emerald Isle, especially some of the night shots that are very nice. But is there a single scene in the entire movie worth re-watching? Not really. With this one, mostly, shake hands with mediocrity.