OPERATOR 13
US, 1934, 85 minutes, Black and white.
Marion Davies, Gary Cooper, Jean Parker, Katherine Alexander, Douglas Dumbrille, Sydney Toler.
Directed by Richard Boleslawski.
Operator 13 is an entertaining Civil War drama, capitalising on the screen presence of Marion Davies, being both comic and serious, with Gary Cooper as a leading man.
Marion Davies portrays an actress entertaining the Union troops who is asked by a fellow-actor to go undercover in the South, which she does as an octaroon maid. She is caught up in passing on information, escapes but is asked by Pinkerton to go back to the South in order to trap the Southern captain, played by Gary Cooper, who has been attracted to her and she to him. Once again, posing as a Southern lady this time, she gets information, especially from a family she was staying with, and is able to effect a Union victory over the Confederates.
Once again, she is exposed and has to flee, the captain pursuing her – but each having a declaration of love for the other.
1. An entertainment of the 1930s, for Marion Davies fans, Gary Cooper fans?
2. Black-and-white photography, the Civil War, the Northern settings, the Southern settings, offices, mansions, the city of Richmond, battle sequences? The musical score?
3. The title, espionage?
4. The Union, experiencing defeat, Bull Run? The players, performances, the soldiers? Pauline, her status, spying? The encounter with the authorities, with Pinkerton? Gail, being asked to go undercover, the reasons for her agreement, loyalty to Pauline, patriotism?
5. Going to the south, Pauline as a Southern lady, Gail as her made, doing the washing, overhearing information, the means of passing it on, the ball, the captain, his suspicions of Pauline, the evidence, arrest, her going on trial, Gail as a witness, her credibility, the sentence, the two women escaping to the north? Pauline out of espionage?
6. Gail, Pinkerton wanting her to trap the captain, her jeering at the troops, her name blackened, Lincoln offering a pardon, the going to Richmond, her being a Southern heroine, as a lady, her background story, with the family, talk in the South, patriotism? The groom as a spy? Her passing on information, the effect of the battle, the captain and the mystery about who was the informant? The brother, his military background, the information? The experience at the battle scene? Her escape the uniform, the captain shocked to see her, the gun and her escape?
7. Hiding, the groom, his being shot, the love of the captain, the house being searched – and the parting of their ways? Until the end of the war?
