Shake Hands with the Devil

Loaded Weapon.

Shake Hands with the Devil is directed by Michael Anderson and adapted to screenplay by Marian Spitzer from the novel written by Rearden Conner. It stars James Cagney, Don Murray, Dana Wynter, Glynis Johns, Michael Redgrave and Sybil Thorndike. Music is by William Alywyn and cinematography by Erwin Hillier.

It's 1920s Dublin, Ireland, and the Irish Republican Army are at war with the British Black & Tans. Into the conflict comes Irish American Kerry O'Shea (Murray), who in spite of being apolitical is drawn into darker waters as the violence rages. Complications arise when a hostage situation unfurls, all while the strings are being pulled by the IRA's fearsome commandant, Sean Lenihan (Cagney), who wants Kerry under hi...

I wonder whether an appreciation of this film depends on whether you are British or Irish? What it depicts, for me anyway, is the old adage that "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" and James Cagney ("Lenihan") manages to encapsulate that succinctly. His character, a respected professor with republican leanings, recruits "O'Shea" (Don Murray) after one of his friends is shot by one of the infamous "Black 'n Tans" and the film tracks his ensuing involvement with the 1921 revolution. The story follows a simplified line as regards to the actual nature of historical fact, but it does touch on the complications and perils faced by people on both sides of the argument well. Cagney is convincing, as - oddly enough, is Michael Red...