Opération secrète

This is a WWII swashbuckler!

I remember seeing it as the second half of the double bill at the Avalon in Brooklyn in 1952. The feature was something "serious" like Winchester '73. Anyway, as the film progressed, I said more than once: " This is really a good movie!" – I was 15.

Forrester (Cornel Wilde) is the man of mystery. He is a Marine who does a stint with the French Foreign Legion. This was all in the European Theater. He is recruited by, maybe, the OSS to parachute into Nazi territory and check on the devastation wrought by our B 17's.

With the help of a phony nun (Phyllis Thaxter) he is able to secure films of a German top secret weapon. These real weapon films are truly fascinating. Even the combat footage of the 17's is better than average. The whole thing ends with a shoot out on a beach where the main characters are to be picked up by a submarine. We then pan to an executive board type hearing to find out ---- Who is Forrester?

Phyllis Thaxter was beautiful. Cornel Wilde was adequate but quite dashing. Karl Malden, as the Legion's Maj. Latrec, shows some of the charisma that would blossom into his great talent.

Yes. It was a B black and white movie. It WAS a good one!

I watched "Operation Secret" on the Fast32 streaming service (which is an excellent source of Western and war films) and was very impressed. Cornel Wilde was good enough, but Karl Malden stole the acting honours, with Steve Cochran doing well as the French resistance leader.

A couple of minor gripes: there was no way that the Resistance fighters could have filmed such close-up footage of the V1 bomber and the tunnel into the cliffs was very brightly illuminated.

Being released in 1952 the makers couldn't resist the temptation to include some anti-Communist propaganda.

But overall one of the best Resistance "B" films I've ever seen.

Most of the film consists of flashbacks. It begins at a court in France investigating the death or murder of one Armand (Paul Picerni) of the resistance, supposedly committed by an American (Cornel Wilde) assisting the resistance by secret missions conducted from England. The stage here is very international, involving French, English, American and German actors, and all the proper languages are spoken authentically. The story is based on true adventures of a French-American working for the French resistance inside France, and the film exhibits the story clear enough with authentic documentary materials to underline the realism. All the actors are good if not excellent, you didn't see Phyllis Thaxter in many films, but she always made a sincerely honest and tender impression, here both as a nun and a resistance fighter with guts, but the character you will enjoy most and remember best from this film is Karl Malden as a 100% jovial Frenchman always enjoying his Cognac and never flinching from a battle or decision. He brings cheers into the film into every scene of his appearance. The division within the resistance does not enter the story until towards the end, but when it does that becomes the major interest of the film and the main thriller. What did really happen, who did what, what happened to whom, who survived and how and so forth - that's the extensive investigation here and all questions are answered - nothing is left unsolved. To bring clearance into this complicated confusion of destinies is actually the major feat of the film.

This film has all the necessary ingredients to be a good WW 2 movie. However, the script is a bit suspect from two angles; it bites off far more than it can chew, and it smacks of anti-communist sympathies; most likely because it was made during the McCarthy period of communist witch hunts.

Cornell Wilde and Karl Malden are excellent in their roles, and the storyline, if not very believable, is still quite interesting from a cinematic point of view. Wilde's character gets out of more jams than a taxi driver in Midtown New York City. However, if one can suspend disbelief, the film can be entertaining.

I hate when I read about a film and learn that it was based LOOSELY on a real life person. This means you have no idea what's fact and what's fiction...and if the person's life is exciting enough to merit a film, why fictionalize it?! Apparently, this is what they did in "Operation Secret" as it's based loosely on the WWII exploits of Colonel Peter Julien Ortiz.

The story is told through a series of flashbacks at a hearing. Apparently, Peter Forrester (Cornel Wilde) is accused of murdering someone in the French underground during the war...and now that it's over, his loyalty is in some doubt. The story you see is about the French underground and Forrester's exploits....all of which are very exciting.

The movie is quite enjoyable and shows it's Cold War roots, as the film is not only anti-Fascist but anti-Communist as well. My only complaints are very minor...such as the overused of some archive footage. In one case, it also was used poorly, as you see an early model Me-163 rocket plane turn into a later model mid-flight....and the two planes are extremely dissimilar...so much so that non-airplane nuts would see the difference as well. But this is minor...and the film quite enjoyable and worth seeing.