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Shake Hands with the Devil (1959 film)

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Genre
  
Action, Drama, History

Cinematography
  
Country
  
IrelandUnited States

7.1/10
IMDb

Director
  
Music director
  
Duration
  

Language
  
English

Shake Hands with the Devil (1959 film) movie poster

Release date
  
1959 (1959)

Writer
  
Rearden Conner (novel), Marian Spitzer (adaptation), Ivan Goff, Ben Roberts

Cast
  
(Sean Lenihan), (Kerry O'Shea), (Jennifer Curtis), (Kitty Brady), (The General), (Lady Fitzhugh)

Similar movies
  
The Informer (1935), The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), Michael Collins (1996), The Dawning (1988), The Gentle Gunman (1952)

Tagline
  
A story of love and hate...and the sudden sound of guns!

Shake hands with the devil full lenght movie


Shake Hands with the Devil is a 1959 film directed by Michael Anderson. The picture was filmed in Dublin, and at Ardmore Studios in Bray, Ireland.

Contents

Shake Hands with the Devil (1959 film) wwwgstaticcomtvthumbmovieposters1171p1171p

The film is set in 1921 Dublin, where the Irish Republican Army battles the Black and Tans, ex-British soldiers sent to suppress the rebels. It stars James Cagney and Don Murray. Also featured are Dana Wynter, Glynis Johns, Sybil Thorndike and Michael Redgrave.

Shake hands with the devil trailer 1959 james cagney don murray dana wynter


Plot

Irish-American Kerry O'Shea (Don Murray) is studying at the College of Surgeons in 1921 Dublin, Ireland, during a guerrilla war – the Irish War of Independence. Apolitical and sick of killing after fighting in World War I, he is drawn into the struggle between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the British Black and Tans.

He and his friend and fellow medical student, Paddy Nolan (Ray McAnally), are caught in the middle of an IRA ambush, and Nolan is shot by the British. Nolan tells O'Shea to fetch Sean Lenihan (James Cagney), one of their professors. Lenihan, it turns out, is also a high-ranking IRA leader known as "the Commandant". Lenihan removes the bullet, but Nolan dies anyway.

Since O'Shea left his textbook (with his name inscribed) at the scene of the ambush, he is now a wanted man. Lenihan takes him to meet his superior, "the General" (Michael Redgrave), an old comrade-in-arms of O'Shea's father. When O'Shea refuses his invitation to join the IRA, the General arranges for a boat passage out of Ireland. Lenihan takes him to a hideout by the sea, the base of an IRA unit commanded by Chris Noonan (Cyril Cusack). Lenihan is furious to find local barmaid Kitty Brady (Glynis Johns) consorting with the men there.

When Liam O'Sullivan (Noel Purcell), a top IRA leader, is wounded escaping from prison, O'Shea agrees to accompany the unit to the rendezvous point to treat him. O'Sullivan is discovered in the boot of the car of aged Lady Fitzhugh (Sybil Thorndike) and killed in a shootout by the British. When the soldiers check the people in the nearby pub (where the IRA men are waiting), Terence O'Brien (Richard Harris) tries to hide a pistol he brought (against Noonan's explicit orders). When it is found, it is O'Shea who is taken away. He is brutally beaten by Colonel Smithson of the Black and Tans Christopher Rhodes, but refuses to talk. Lenihan leads a raid to rescue him. At that point, O'Shea decides to join the IRA.

Lady Fitzhugh is sentenced to prison and goes on a hunger strike. Lenihan kidnaps Jennifer Curtis (Dana Wynter), the widowed daughter of a top British adviser, to try to force a prisoner exchange. Complications ensue when Kerry falls for her. When Kitty gets into trouble, both with Lenihan and the British, she decides to leave Ireland.

Lenihan prepares to assassinate Colonel Smithson at the dock. However, he suspects he has been betrayed when Kitty, purely by coincidence, tries to board a ship there. During the ensuing shootout, Lenihan shoots Kitty dead in cold blood.

When the men reassemble at a lighthouse, they hear two bits of news. First, Lady Fitzhugh has died. Second, the British have offered a peace treaty. The General is satisfied to have peace, but not Lenihan. When he decides to execute Mrs. Curtis, O'Shea has to stop him. They exchange shots, and Lenihan is killed.

References

Shake Hands with the Devil (1959 film) Wikipedia
Shake Hands with the Devil (1959 film) IMDbShake Hands with the Devil (1959 film) Rotten TomatoesShake Hands with the Devil (1959 film) themoviedb.org


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