The Informer **** (1929, Lars Hanson, Lya De Putti, Warwick Ward, Carl Harbord) – Classic Movie Review 12,412

The 1929 British part-talkie drama film The Informer is based on Liam O’Flaherty’s 1925 novel, and stars notable Swedish film and stage actor Lars Hanson and tragic Hungarian silent star Lya De Putti.

The 1929 British part-talkie drama film The Informer is directed by German film-maker Arthur Robison. It is based on Liam O’Flaherty’s 1925 novel, and stars Lars Hanson, Lya De Putti, Warwick Ward and Carl Harbord.

Lars Hanson stars as Gypo Nolan, who betrays his best friend to the authorities as a member of the outlawed Irish Republican Army, and is pursued by the other members of the IRA.

The film was made by British International Pictures at Elstree Studios near London just as the sound revolution was happening, so it was made in two versions, one with a soundtrack, sound effects and talking scenes, and the other a fully silent version.

The film has survived. The Informer is beautifully restored by the BFI National Archive, though the garish colour tinting is over-insistent. There is a lot of over-emoting silent movie style, though the film-making and camerawork are impressive.

The much better-known 1935 sound remake version The Informer is directed by John Ford.

The cast are Lars Hanson as Gypo Nolan, Lya De Putti as Katie Fox, Warwick Ward as Dan Gallagher, Carl Harbord as Francis McPhilip, Dennis Wyndham as Murphy, Janice Adair as Bessie, Daisy Campbell as Mrs McPhillip, Craighall Sherry as Mulholland, Ray Milland as Sharpshooter, Ellen Pollock as Prostitute, and Johnny Butt as Publican.

Robison was one of a number of Germans ironically engaged to work in the British film industry when the Film Act of 1927 fired it up by requiring exhibitors to show a minimum percentage of British films, though British directors worked in Germany too, Alfred Hitchcock for example.

Lya de Putti’s story is tragic.

It is the last film of Hungarian silent era film actress Lya de Putti (Amália Helena Mária Róza Putti). She was born on 10 January 1897 and died on 27 November 1931, and was noted for her portrayals of vamps. In 1931, she was taken to hospital to have a chicken bone removed from her throat, leading to a throat infection, pleurisy, pneumonia in both lungs, and her death, aged 34, leaving just $1,100 and some jewellery.

Lars Hanson had much better luck.

Swedish film and stage actor Lars Hanson (26 July 1886 – 8 April 1965) was a notable star in the silent film era, appearing with Greta Garbo in the 1923 film Gösta Berling’s Saga [The Saga of Gösta Berling], MGM’s 1927 hit Flesh and the Devil, and 1928’s The Divine Woman, as well as The Wind (1928) with Lillian Gish. When the silent film ended, Lars Hanson returned to Europe, thinking his heavy Swedish accent a liability in American films. He continued to appear in Swedish films until 1951 and combined his film work with an outstanding stage career in Sweden.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,412

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