O.S.S.

Fifteen years before he entered the world of 007 screenwriter Richard Maibaum was detailing the exploits of the wartime O. S. S. (Office of Strategic Services).

A much more conventional film than 'House on 92nd Street' or 'Call Northside 777' (Nazi Jack Lambert actually says "Your papers please"), and it does go on a bit; but better than the name on it as director Irving Pichel might make you fear. And Geraldine Fitzgerald makes an interesting heroine.

Alan Ladd (John Martin) is trained as an OSS agent and sent on an assignment in France with a team of 3 others. Their leader Don Beddoe (Gates) is killed early on and Ladd is put in charge. The mission is to blow up a bridge and report back on German troop numbers and movements. Their boss Patric Knowles (Commander Brady) then flies into France to tell Ladd that he has one more mission to complete.

This spy story is a bit long but it holds the interest well enough. The main bulk of the film takes place in France and by the end of the film only one of Ladd's group remains alive - we watch them get caught one by one. You can see how the film is going to end from about halfway through when Geraldine Fitzgerald (Elaine) tells Ladd not to come back to save her life if he feels that she is in danger. I felt that she was just as strong a character as he was in the lead role. There are some good moments during the film, eg, when Beddoe gets caught at a cafe and signals to Fitzgerald to leave.

Overall, despite the length of it, the film is made up of entertaining segments, and I enjoyed watching it the second time more than the first.

This film, shot soon after WWII's conclusion, starts out in a semi-documentary fashion, with that time period's usual background commentary, this time applied to the nascent stages of the O.S.S. and how its development would enhance the war effort. However, as the core unit gets trained, it shifts to a pretty decent spy drama, with Alan Ladd and Ms. Fitzgerald taking the leads in their unit's task, which inherently was to supply the Allies with German armored division positions and to facilitate the explosion of a railroad tunnel which had been providing the Germans with their main conduit for battle preparations.

Ladd's gender-biased character doesn't like the fact that he has to work with a woman on such a trying mission, but Ms. Fitz's character isn't falling for his hype, and she soon shows her mettle by performing her assigned tasks more than adequately. It is in this dialog between our two major protagonists that we see just how well our stars (and writers/director) handled their roles. Crisp, articulate dialog sets the pace for their encounters, which was coupled with an intelligent story line, whose development was duly enhanced by the supporting actors as well.

But as my summary title indicates, our "hero" isn't really the prototypical war hero you were used to seeing in movies of that era. Our man Ladd is asked to perform one more task by his CO and he "bites the guy's head off" with a "why me?" diatribe reminiscent of a film more ensconced in the anti-war movies of the 60's-70's. It is Ladd at his vitriolic best, barking at the CO to get somebody else, but the CO has to finally give him an official order, to which Ladd reluctantly assents. This scene ever so realistically shows the reactions of a real human soldier as opposed to some sort of Hollywood hero fabrication.

Other moments of pathos and reality occur, especially between "Sparky" and the unit's radio operator. John Hoyt's fine contribution as the German colonel also merits mentioning.

Although it may not rank amongst your all time favorites list, watch it anyway and if you don't have at least a small well of tears at the film's conclusion... Just maybe "she could have been a girl from around the corner!"

Alan Ladd and Geraldine Fitzgerald head up a team of spies in "O.S.S.," a 1946 film about the Office of Strategic Services formed just before the U.S. entered World War II. Ladd and Fitzgerald are part of a group, trained by Patric Knowles, who then parachute into France, perform acts of sabotage and also spy activities. One of the complications is that the Ladd character, John Martin, is a chauvinist who believes that "Elaine Duprez" (Fitzgerald) can't do what he considers a man's job effectively. She proves him wrong as she flirts with a German officer and gets to travel with him by train. The sculpture she is doing of him contains a bomb, which she passes out the window to John and he plants. She climbs out and the two run out of the tunnel. Eventually the two fall in love, but it's bittersweet as they watch the rest of their team fall prey to the Germans.

This is a pretty good film, not the most exciting thing you'll ever see, but it's heightened by the acting of Geraldine Fitzgerald and the presence of Alan Ladd. It's hard to think of Ladd as a great actor; he was very limited, but what he did, he did very well. Handsome, tough, with a no-nonsense line delivery, he was perfect starring in the noir films for which he is justifiably famous and, of course, Shane.

The attractive Patric Knowles does a good job, as does the rest of the cast. "O.S.S." is effective in that you care about the characters. There is some tension, though probably not enough, and nowhere near enough action for this kind of movie. If it were any other actors, it wouldn't be worth seeing; but given the cast, it's a decent watch.

Nothing but praise for this taught well made 2nd WW narrative. All good reviews and worth viewing , highly recommended.

My one eye opener , unlikely to have been noticed or be of any serious concern to the uninitiated , the scene where Brink is in the wash room building we first see him camera right , and about 24 /5 seconds later he is seen cam. Left , ie: presumably the director knew this and producer left that as we saw it ! Yes they both got away with that , albeit I wonder how many movies in the US and how many films in the UK let that important film making rule slip by even prior to 1946 ? That broken rule , if dialogue is involved can compromise the clarity of an actors voice, meaning additional budget for post dubbing ? In this instance, I am not sure if there was suspenseful music b g , albeit no dialogue , so it almost past muster ? That rule applies to this day , never cross the line . If you do, characters appear in the frame when they should not as the audience concentration can become disorientated ?