Il grande nemico

Newspaper reporter Bill Bradford (George Brent) is recruited to bring down gangster Alexander Carston. Julie Gardner (Bette Davis) is Carston's bookkeeper who holds the codes to his books. Bill intends on turning her and convicting him of tax evasion.

This is a pretty good gangster movie which is lightly referring to Al Capone. It's great to have Bette Davis and she has a pretty good role. It would be nice to have someone just as iconic to be her partner in crime.

Above-average gangster film, typical of the '30s genre. Fun watching, but nothing too extraordinary...EXCEPT some of the close-up scenes involving Ricardo Cortez. With the help of some great lighting, his eyes and facial expressions are chillingly sinister! In particular, there is his private showdown with Armitage (Robert Strange)...simply unforgettable.

I also found Cortez's expressions to be reminiscent of Pacino in the Godfather (or should i say the reverse)...i wonder if Pacino studied this film at some point.

Bette Davis clearly showed great acting chops, but her role was fairly typecast and thus limited her range somewhat. George Brent did just fine...his role was probably the most straightforward. The supporting cast was outstanding...lots of subplots, double-crosses, and idiosyncrasies that enriched the story.

George Brent is a reporter and pretty chummy with racketeer Ricardo Cortez. Bette Davis is Cortez' personal secretary and keeps his books for him in code. Everyone knows what Cortez is, and Miss Davis fears him -- he's ruthless with 'associates' whom he doesn't find useful and she might be at risk. The local DA can't jail him, but the Feds look to get him on income tax evasion, like they got Capone.

Miss Davis wears hideous-looking costumes, with lots of lace, that make her look even skinnier than usual. Brent is competent, and it's Cortez who owns this movie. His veiled threats are terrifying. Still, despite the occasional flares of machine-gun fire, it's a well-financed programmer.

This was Bette Davis' reward for fighting the Warner Brothers for better roles and losing. Her next movie would win her an Academy Award.

Bette Davis was already an established actress when she did this film with 27 movies under her belt, and an Oscar nomination for Of Human Bondage. She would win an Oscar for Dangerous the same year this film was released. This is a different Bette Davis than most of us are used to seeing. She was a cute blonde in this film and here acting ability was very evident even in this average gangster flick.

This flick had a good story about trying to bring down a mobster (Ricardo Cortez) with a T-Man (George Brent) posing as a newspaper reporter. You have to suspend belief at some of the story, but it's not 2007! Brent and Davis would join forces later with Bogey and Ronald Reagan in the Oscar-nominated Dark Victory.

Saw 'Special Agent' for two main reasons. One is my high appreciation for Bette Davis, considered an acting legend, well more like a legend in any field, for good reason. Her performances in the likes of 'All About Eve' (iconic), 'Now Voyager' and 'The Letter' are evidence of that. Also love the genre it fits under, many good to classic films in the genre, and when it is done right (many cases of that being the case, but others have fallen into the potential traps) melodrama can be great.

Found 'Special Agent' to be a well done film on the whole. It may not fit my definition of a "special" film and may not be in the extraordinary category. Not everything works, the story could have been better or at least consistently executed. A vast majority of elements do work though, and generally wonderfully. A lot of good things here in 'Special Agent', namely the lighting and the acting, and it is just good fun. As long as not too much is expected, many should enjoy it.

Will start with what doesn't quite work, and actually it isn't a lot and is more mixed feelings than anything disastrously done. While always compelling and well paced, the story can be far-fetched and at times a touch over-complicated. The final third is not always easy to swallow.

Davis does very well in her role and admired that she tried to break away from her relative type-casting at the time, but can see where another commentator is coming from in their feelings of her sophisticated image not always fitting with the film's atmosphere.

The cast do a great job, with George Brent a charming male lead and Robert Strange and J. Carroll Naish imposing enough but the best performance comes from Ricardo Cortez on absolutely chilling form. 'Special Agent' is always confidently directed, while the story is generally fun and atmospheric without being overwrought and it is never dull.

It is a very well made film, with the visual standout being the lighting which is genuinely eerie. It has been said that the lighting makes Cortez scarier than he already is and personally cannot disagree. The dialogue is taut and sophisticated with the odd amusing part too, never feeling over-melodramatic or talky. Nicely scored too.

Overall, good fun. 7/10