13 Rue Madeleine
July 2003 Reviewed by: Wes Phillips Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

13 Rue Madeleine is probably the least known of the films in Fox's new mid-priced ($14.98) War Classics series, which includes The Desert Fox, The Blue Max, and Sink the Bismarck!. It is also the oldest, featuring mono sound and black-and-white cinematography. However, as good as the other titles are -- and all feature very good, new telecine transfers and improved sound -- 13 Rue Madeleine might be the most satisfying of the lot. Its powerful narrative and explosive denouement have not been overexposed on late-night TV and endless circuits of the repertory cinema circuit.

This is not intended as an indictment of the other films in the series -- after all, the reason we've seen them all so many times is that they are exceptionally fine films, combining great acting with richly nuanced story lines. 13 Rue Madeleine certainly belongs among such gems, but its mock-documentary nature lends it extraordinary staccato drive, and Cagney's energetic line delivery and physicality make it jump off the screen with barely controlled energy. It's a smashing tale with a bang-up finish.

The film's prologue sets it up as a documentary, based on the files of the fictional "United States Intelligence Corps," an OSS-style covert-operations wing of what the film's narration dubs "the army of secret intelligence" that the US established in the months following Pearl Harbor. The story follows a group of candidates for the Intelligence Corps -- "O-77" -- as they undergo training for an operation that will insert them behind enemy lines. They are under the tutelage of Robert Sharkey (Cagney), a "widely traveled scholar and soldier of fortune . . . master of five languages and one of America's top athletes." As field director of the USIC, Sharkey oversees the training of all of its operations groups, but he takes a particular interest in O-77. The agency has identified one of its members as a Nazi mole and has set up a mission that will funnel disinformation back to his superiors.

The Nazi spy is crafty, however, and Sharkey eventually has to pursue him into occupied France, where, if he is captured, his knowledge of intelligence secrets could compromise the Allied invasion of Europe. The final confrontation between Sharkey and his bête-noir at 13 Rue Madeleine makes for one of the most powerful endings in war-movie history.

The film has its flaws. The narrative gets lost in several places and the mock-documentary device is jettisoned once it has set up the tale. This is no huge loss, but it has a propulsive energy that's very appealing. However, Cagney's Sharkey is a star turn that reminds us of the overwhelming power of personal charisma.

The film certainly shows its age in picture and sound, but both are reasonably crisp in this new transfer. Dialogue has the occasional crackle, but it is comprehensible, and the photography is presented with clarity and detail. The disc includes an interesting extra -- a Fox newsreel "Captured Pictures Show How Nazi V-2 Rocket Was Developed." This depicts recovered Nazi footage of early rocketry experiments, dominated by lots of thrilling explosions. It is a nice touch, even if it is not precisely on topic -- at least Fox was trying to add value to the package. There are also trailers for other features in the War Classics release.

Given the reasonable prices, general high level of craft, and the fine new video presentations that Fox has given these titles, the trailers seem less like advertising and more like letting us in on some good news. The Fox War Classics series is exemplary and its inclusion of 13 Rue Madeleine just might be its classiest moment.

Editor’s note: The previous titles in this series have been reduced in price, too, and include such great movies as Tora, Tora, Tora; Patton; The Young Lions; and The Longest Day.

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