The Fallen Sparrow **** (1943, John Garfield, Maureen O’Hara, Walter Slezak, Patricia Morison, Martha O’Driscoll) – Classic Movie Review 12,816

The tense and suspenseful 1943 RKO black and white spy film noir The Fallen Sparrow stars John Garfield as a volunteer Spanish Civil War vet dodging Nazi agents.

Director Richard Wallace’s tense and suspenseful 1943 RKO black and white spy film noir The Fallen Sparrow stars John Garfield, Maureen O’Hara, Walter Slezak, Patricia Morison, and Martha O’Driscoll.

Garfield plays John ‘Kit’ McKittrick, an American veteran of the Spanish Civil War who is in possession of a priceless keepsake. He is pursued by Nazi spies in New York after returning home from fighting the fascists in Spain, where he was captured and tortured, and sets out to find out who murdered his friend.

Good, sinister atmosphere propels a moody, unusual and enjoyable World War Two wartime thriller movie, beautifully photographed by Nicholas Musuraca, and smoothly and imaginatively directed at a fast lick by Wallace. Garfield is seen at his best in an ideal, if tricky to play, role for him, and O’Hara, Slezak, O’Driscoll, and Morison are all excellent in star support.

The screenplay by Warren Duff is based on the 1942 novel by Dorothy B Hughes. It was Oscar nominated for Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

The cast are John Garfield as John ‘Kit’ McKittrick, Maureen O’Hara as Toni Donne, Walter Slezak as Dr Christian Skaas, Patricia Morison as Barby Taviton, Martha O’Driscoll as Whitney Parker, Bruce Edwards as Ab Parker, John Banner as Anton, John Miljan as Inspector Tobin, Hugh Beaumont as Otto Skaas, Sam Goldenberg, George Lloyd, Russ Powell, James Farley, Lee Phelps, Charles Lang, and Miles Mander.

The Fallen Sparrow is directed by Richard Wallace, runs 94 minutes, is made and released by RKO Radio Pictures, is written by Warren Duff, based on the novel by Dorothy B Hughes, is shot by Nicholas Musuraca, is produced by Robert Fellows, and scored by Roy Webb and Constantin Bakaleinikoff.

It is edited by Robert Wise.

Release date: August 19, 1943 (US).

It was popular, earning a profit of $0.7 million, on box office rentals of $1.5 million.

RIP stage and screen legend Patricia Morison, who died at 103 on 20 May 2018. She made her film debut in 1939 and is best known for the 1943 spy film noir The Fallen Sparrow, the 1946 Sherlock Holmes mystery film Dressed to Kill, The Song of Bernadette. and the 1960 Franz Liszt biopic Song Without End.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,816

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