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13 Rue Madeleine
Product Group: DVD
Studio: 20th Century Fox
ISBN: B00008AOTM
UPC: 024543071907
Binding/Media: DVD
Running Time: 95 minutes
Release Date: 2003-05-20
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
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Editorial Reviews
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Description
A group of allied agents working undercover in occupied Paris struggle to infiltrate German files in order to discover the location of a rocket launching site before the D-Day invasion. However, in their midst a traitor lurks.
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Amazon.com
A neat World War II thriller, 13 Rue Madeleine benefits from the postwar craze for shooting outside the studio. With Quebec doubling for occupied France, this is a spy movie with a sense of open air. James Cagney plays an OSS agent, training his recruits for an important pre-D-Day mission. When one of them turns out to be a Nazi spy, Cagney must parachute into France himself and straighten things out. Director Henry Hathaway and producer Louis de Rochemont pioneered the docu-drama approach with The House on 92nd Street, and they again use newsreel footage and stentorian narrator here, blended into the fictional story. The script is slightly muddled, but there are a fistful of suspenseful situations and a gangbusters ending--as well as the typically wired-up Cagney, who is exactly the guy you want on your side if D-Day is hanging in the balance. --Robert Horton
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Customer Reviews
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Not So Classic Cagney, But Still a Great One
Rating  (5)
Date: 2010-04-03
I ahven't seen this movie in many years, and forgot how good it was. Blu-Ray helped, but it must be an old master. I'm still glad I have added it to my collection
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Pretty good Espionage film with typically fine Cagney performance.
Rating  (3)
Date: 2009-06-16
13 Rue Madeline(1947) is one of the many spy films produced after the war detailing the heroic efforts of the OSS and there ilk. This one is designed like a docu-Drama with one of the lamest of 40s and 50s devices: the overuse of a monotone narrator to explain the plot. It does not help to include such a meandering voice on an already leisurely paced film and it keeps this film strictly as a historical piece and little else.
The film could have certianly used a little more blood and thunder. If there's any consollation it's in the lead acting of James Cagney who delivers a full blooded performance. He's quite athletic in this and delivers the action nicely, what little there is of it. He also invokes that sense of hard boiled world weariness he brought his gangster characterizations especially in that conclusion as he laughs maniaclly at his and the enemy's imminent destruction.
Most of the cast can't begin to compare to this role, but there are a few standouts. Richard Conte has a diificult role as a German Double agent who despite being set up primarily as a villian still gains some sympathy. He was largely under utilized in most films but is a standout here. The same can be said for veteran actor Sam Jaffe as the leader of the Dutch resisitance who brings his usual amount of sincerity to a part that wasn't as well written as could be.
The film is certainly interesting and features a pretty exciting final thirty minutes, but there were(and would) be better genre pieces than this and this film is largely reccomended for Cagney fans who wish to savor another of the actor's charismatic performances.
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13 Rue Madeline
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-02-24
This is a good James Cagney film and also a historical event in WWII. Very interesting performances by all the cast. Well worth purchasing.
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Cagney on the film site
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-12-18
The hotel Louis XIV in Port Levecque where James Cagney checks in as a Vichy rep. is really in Quebec City. It is in the lower city at the foot of the stairway leading up to the Chateau Frontenac. I know because I was there in 1946, staying in that hotel in the very room the Cagney checked into. My parents and I had to vacate the room very quickly because Cagney was abruptly checking in. I always thought he was staying in the room at that time, but, having seen the film for the first time, I realized the room was filmed for that sequence. The outdoor cafe that was shown as Cagney was approaching the hotel was constructed on that little place outside the hotel. I was ten years old. Cagney was very curt with us.
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Dated
Rating (3)
Date: 2008-10-20
This movie served its purpose for the immediate post-war period. It pays tribute to our intelligence services during WWII. It is not, however, a great movie. Nor are there any great performances.
It does not provide a lot of suspense or action. It does not provide any great insights into WWII intelligence gathering or operations. The first part of the movie is a government primer on how thoroughly the intelligence agents are trained. The announcer's dramatic voice-over throughout the movie is intended to lend authenticity to the tale.
Cagney gives a credible low-key performance by subordinating his normally feisty character portrayal to the low-key script he was handed. The dangerous German counterspy who infiltrates the intelligence operation is revealed early in the movie. After that it is a story of sacrifice and duty to country. Worth seeing, but not worth buying.
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Retail Price: $14.98
Amazon.com's Price:$3.96
That's 74% Off!
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