American medical student studying at Ireland's College of Surgeons in 1921 becomes a revolutionary for the Irish Republican Army in a battle against Britain's Black and Tans, soldiers used to forcibly shut down Irish forces fighting for their independence away from the British government. Story of rebels and martyrs has moments of interesting drama, but has to fight itself against a curiously old-fashioned and artificial production (this despite being filmed partly in Dublin). James Cagney--whose character is sarcastically referred to as "pure and noble"--is student Don Murray's professor and a leader in the IRA. Cagney attempts to bring off a maniacal side to his role, and he most likely had a great deal of conviction in the work he was doing, but his star presence stands out obtrusively among the cast (he isn't actually treated as visiting royalty, yet this moldy part is pretty much a glorified cameo). Murray comes off a bit better (though he's bland, as usual), however Glynis Johns is terrific as a barmaid unafraid of using her wiles to get out of danger and Sybil Thorndike has a riveting moment in court playing an elderly woman arrested for aiding an IRA leader after his escape from prison. Financed by Marlon Brando's company, Pennebaker Productions; Erwin Hillier was the cinematographer (his finest shots come at the very end); Michael Anderson directed, lugubriously. ** from ****

James Cagney was as great a star that existed in Hollywood. I enjoyed this film of the Irish "struggles" as they are referred to, and features a great beauty, Dana Wynter and a favorite actress of mine Glynis Johns. Mr. Cagney was perfect in his performances and again in this film Cagney when on screen dominates every scene. Don Murray is effective but frankly when Cagney is in a scene no matter who shares the scene one always looks at Cagney. That is what happens when a real movie star is in a scene and James Cagney bred at the great Warner Bros of the 1930's was a box office movie star and great actor.James Cagney would make one or two more movies in particular Billy Wilder's zany "One Two Three" and then retire. When Cagney retired he retired. No cameos, no guest shots. Jack Warner asked Cagney to return in Warner Bros film version of My Fair Lady but Cagney -who would have been wonderful-refused. ( In fact J L Warner used to refer to Cagney as "the refuser" because James Cagney refused every enticement to return.Shanke Hands With The Devil is a fine movie, and I recommend it

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.

James Cagney was a versatile American motion picture star who could shift from playing the most ruthless movie gangster 'The Public Enemy,' himself to the amiable and patriotic all American song and dance man George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy and to the macabre Lon Chaney in The Man of a 1000 Faces. Cagney took these three faces and melded them together into the creation of the character of Dr Sean Lenihan , the protagonist in the film adaptation of Riordan Conner's novel Shake Hands With The Devil.Riordan Conner the son of the last chief of the Royal Irish Constabulary knew the tactics and strategies of the revolutionaries but not the revolutionaries themselves. The Conner novel ambles between high Victorian Gothic intrigue and an over-drawn O'Henry morality tale. It is easy by the end to see how at the conclusion of the war Conner could not decide between Ireland or England. Cagney had no difficulty in such a decision. The character he made of Dr Lenihan has many strange twists. As a tough guy Cagney wasn't just a tough heavyweight; he had the invincible attitude of an all-star boxer, but like General Patton, a real life tough-guy, Cagney was taken to write poetry off-set. Out of the spotlight, Cagney was tacit and introspective as reflected in one of his poems: Why do you weep poor old man? It hurts me when you weep. I weep for the long lost wonderful years I once thought were mine to keep. Lenihan lives up to almost all aspects of the lovable bad-guy. A medical professor and surgeon by day, Lenihan converts under cover of darkness to a fierce, demoniacally inspired terrorist willing to do anything: murder, kidnapping and reprisal. "There are no hymns for the dead in a street war," Lenihan tells the American medical student who has come under the protection of the Rebels. And the real James Cagney knew not a little about war on the street. Born on July, 17, 1899 in modest circumstances in New York City's "gas house district," Cagney grew up in the upper East side, then a tough neighborhood. Cagney bragged that several of his playmates met their end at Sing-Sing Prison. Lest you think the Cagneys were as dirt poor as Hollywood propagandists portray, James attended both High School and briefly College. Cagney's brother became a medical doctor in a time in which about one-half of all Americans finished 6th Grade. His brother's influence is apparent in Shake Hands with The Devil. As Dr Lenihan, Cagney has all the mannerisms, arrogance and power of command of a doctor. Graduating from prestigious Stuyvesant High School, Cagney briefly studied art at Columbia University until a friend told him of a job in a vaudeville show. His break came with the part of "Little Red" in the staging of Maxwell Anderson's play "Outside Looking In." His film debut came when Cagney was cast in "Penny Arcade." When Warner Bros. bought the movie rights, Cagney was given the opportunity to star in the film version entitled 'Sinner's Paradise.' Tapped for "The Public Enemy" (1931), Cagney created the gangster film genre in his memorable role as vicious gunman totally without conscience but not without an element of the romantic. The Cagney imprint on the bad guy persona was a twist of the tough know-it-all braggart yet with an enchanting, if not, likable streak. Over 38 crime and action dramas or comedies followed. Some like the "The Public Enemy" and the morality tale "Angels With Dirty Faces" (1938) became genre classics. Shake Hands With The Devil breathed some life into Riordan Conner's tale of the hours of hiding interspersed by running gun battles by acknowledging the criminal facet of an irregular army fighting wholly outside conventions, neither giving nor expecting quarter. And Cagney's doctor sent into hiding is full of interesting surprises for a man of medicine who professes a love of peace. Dr Lenihan becomes so entranced by war that he must be sacrificed by his comrades to accomplish the prisoner exchange which will end the conflict. Yet if Cagney plays Dr Lenihan persuasively, he in his private life was all-American. In the 1940s, the Roosevelt democrat turned conservative, Cagney played in many US sponsored World War II propaganda films including "Yankee Doodle Dandy," based on the life of the American patriotic composer George M. Cohan. Like Cohan, Cagney would receive the US's highest civilian decoration---The Medal of Freedom---for his performance. In 1961 Cagney celebrated the height of Pax Americana in his bravura performance in "One, Two, Three," filmed on location in West Berlin. Do not think of Cagney as the ugly US-er. Cagney was unassuming. Richard Harris said of Cagney: "My first film (Shake Hands with the Devil) was with James Cagney. He arrived in Dublin with no bodyguards, secretaries or hair stylists. Just himself and his suitcases." Shake Hands With The Devil has been subject to many criticisms. Yet the diabolical portrait of a revolutionary James Cagney painted in Shake Hands stands as a haunting reminder than neither icons ensconced in stone nor words strung or sung whether in flowery resolutions or fancy declarations won a war for independence or any other armed conflict. Triumph in wars of independence brings with it tragedy but Shake Hands, notwithstanding its eloquence, does suffer from an important historical lapse. The martyr in the Irish Cause came from the pro-peace faction. A true patriot to the end, James Cagney died on the 70th anniversary of the Easter Rebellion in 1986, at his farm in Stanfordville, New York. His credits include innumerable films, a Best Actor Oscar, and Presidency of the Screen Actors Guild.