Mot de passe: Émeraude

Not a documentary of course but the plot was a bit of a stretch to believe. I did wonder why Ed did't remove his white hat when being followed through Paris as it made him stick out a mile, and as another reviewer has it it was an annoying silly hat, and out of place in 1944. Not a great film by any means but not too bad and worth watching if there's not much better on another TV channel, and finding anything on TV worth watching is becoming increasingly difficult. I've read a few book on WWII spies and double agents and truth is stranger than fiction and it's a wonder how some got away with it for so long. Fortunately the Germans had no successful spies in the UK during WWII with a few of them turned to be double agents.

"Code Name Emerald" is one of my favourite war films. Obviously it never actually happened (unless it's on one of those "not to opened until..." type files, which would be found to be empty at the designated date), but it could have. The depicted rehearsal for the landings did actually take place on the south coast of England, and was somewhat of a disaster, and in which there were quite a number of American GIs killed. If one "Overlorder" (i.e. someone familiar with the plans of the forthcoming D-Day landings, code name "Operation Overlord") had been captured at that time, imagine the panic of the top brass. Three years of meticulous planning gone up the Swanee.

In this movie one was, which is the basis of the story. The nasty Nazis have got their Teutonic hands on an Overlorder a certain young "Lootenant" Andy Wheeler (Eric Stoltz). The good guys have to either rescue him or kill him before he blabs. End of plot. But will poor Andy live or die? What could have become a "Boys Own" piece of hokum, turned out to be quite an interesting cleverly crafted movie, nicely underplayed by good experienced actors, with Ed Harris at the fore. War film critics of a purist nature will probably pick holes in it, and find mistakes all over the place, but I found none. Mind you, I enjoy the movie that much, I've probably never looked for any.

A double agent is dispatched to try to recover one of the 'Overlords' - the small group of people who knew when and where the Allied invasion would land. Ed Harris was a good choice to play the seeming turncoat. His intensity makes him hard to read while the viewer is jerked back and forth trying to figure out where his loyalties actually lie. Most of the film's running time is taken with the cat and mouse game of Ed trying to manipulate his objective's Nazi captors is pretty interesting, especially when one realizes that he is playing for the highest possible stakes: the success or failure of the biggest undertaking of the entire war. Then, when the action kicks in late in the picture, for once a big chase sequence has a dramatic purpose and isn't just there as a mindless diversion. Ed has to outwit and outrun the whole Nazi war machine in Fortress Europe, or the invasion is doomed.

Everything has a rather old fashioned feel to it, probably since this was just the type of movie that got made over and over in the late 40s and early 50s, but the production looks good and the period detail is convincing. Nothing here felt completely original, but it is a well enough made movie to be entertaining in itself.

The problem of this film, like of many others of the same kind, is, that the further away in time you get from the second world war, the more the plot and the film must be almost painfully discernible as contrived and artificial. Reconstructing reality must be more difficult and appear less convincing the further in time from the reality exhibited you get.

This is a very good story and very intelligent plot, the actors are all superb, especially Ed Harris, here young and fresh with many great roles ahead of him, and Max von Sydow as the honest German officer. Also Horst Bucholz is doing well like all the others, and of course Eric Stoltz as the prisoner. Helmut Berger adds an appropriate portion of nastiness as a very convincing fanatical German Nazi, in some ways he makes the deepest impression in his radiance of constant extreme but well controlled menace, and Cyrielle Clair provides the necessary female bit.

In spite of the obvious artificial construction of the plot and story, it is well worth seeing and rewarding indeed for those in chase of excitement, and for those who love Paris. It is all filmed in Paris and France.

Code Name: Emerald is an excellent espionage thriller involving a cool double-agent plot connected to the D-Day landing. It's expertly helmed by Jonathan Sanger and shot in beautiful Paris starring A-list actors.

It also offers proof that American movie-goers are mentally defective. Check out the domestic box office receipts for September 1985.

Code Name Emerald - starring arguably the greatest actor of all time, Max Von Sydow - and also starring international stud Horst Bucholz and American stud Ed Harris, placed 10th for the month, taking in $561,000.

Now look what placed No. 2: Invasion USA starring noted thespian Chuck Norris. It hauled in a cool $17.5M. Do I have have to include the plot synposis?: "A one-man army comes to the rescue when the United States are invaded by communists."

Jeezus that's depressing.