THE FALLEN SPARROW
US, 1944, 94 Minutes, Black and White.
John Garfield, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak.
Directed by Richard Wallace.
The Fallen Sparrow is an unusual thriller of the 40s. It has much of the tone of such films as The Maltese Falcon but also anticipates the FBI file films such as The House on 92nd Street of 1945. The central role is a Hemingwayesque American hero played typically by John Garfield. Maureen O'Hara, is an interesting and ambiguous heroine. Walter Slezak has a sinister role as a professor. The plot is certainly complicated and as obscure in some ways as The Maltese Falcon, this time it is a civil war emblem. Interesting although dated.
1. The significance of the title, Kit's final reference to Tony as the fallen sparrow, indication of themes?
2. The film as a war film and propaganda? How successful, effective? America in the mid-40s and World War II? The presence of Nazi agents in America? The background of American heroism and the prospect of torture? How well were these themes interwoven to the thriller plot?
3. The focus on Kit? An American type ? the Hemingway type hero? American background, the presence in Spain, imprisonment and torture? The background of family and the police, friends in the police and as agents? The effect of prison and torture, the escape and the recovery on the ranch? Style of toughness, jargon etc.? The tough self-image? The attitudes towards women, romance? Capacity for violence and killing? John Garfield's particular style for this hero?
4. The thriller techniques, the style of the private eye thrillers and the influence on this film? The presentation of the puzzle of the death, clues and elements of mystery, especially focused on Tony? Murders? The cause ?Kit and his flag and the significance for the spies? The espionage background and its operating in an American city? How satisfying was the film as a thriller?
5. The initial focus on Kit, his recovery, return to New York, the confrontation with the police and the hostility and the revelation of their later testing him? His visit to Louis' family? Discussions with Abe? With Bobble? With the singer? The light that they threw on the mystery, confusing the mystery especially the details of Louis' death?
6. How convincing was the presentation of the spy ring and its complexity? The professor and his being in a wheelchair, his lectures on torture, his hold over Otto, over Tony? The prince and his background? The place of Tony with these people? Sinister and suspicious circumstances, their covers, their work as agents and communication, attitudes towards torture and death? Authentic for the 40s, in retrospect?
7. Tony as the ambiguous heroine? Glimpses of her in the train, at the party? Kit's visit to the shop and his pursuing her? The outing and the discussions? Did he believe her, did the audience believe her? The picture of her being pressurized by the professor? Her decisions to help, her decisions to draw him into the web? The ambiguity of the ending and her story of the child in Germany, her going on the plane to Lisbon? The fallen sparrow? Maureen 01Hara's style and personality in this role?
8. The presence of the other women and their associations with the spies, with Abe? Robbie and her place in society and her getting her thrills from adventure? The singer and her helping Kit, her love for Abe and her grief?
9. The personality of the professor, his sinister lectures and the detail of his talk about torture, his intensity? The irony that he was the villain? His using of Otto? In the final confrontation with Kit and the professor's walking, the truth drug, the discussion about violence and capacity for killing?
10. The film made a great deal of the theme about torture ? the impact and significance of Kit's long explanation of his torture to Abe, the professor's lectures, constant references, the final truth drug situation and Kit breaking through the drug?
11. The purpose of the film in 1943, as throwing some light on American attitudes of the time, impact now?
