Ordine di uccidere

I saw this move perhaps 40 years ago, during the height of my interest in espionage and spy tradecraft. I remember being mesmerized by the gritty reality of this movie and the fine portrayal of the agent/assassin as played by Eddie Albert. It remains what is perhaps one of his most serious roles, and the film reveals a side of his talent rarely revealed in his other movies. Every detail of the film, from mission preparation through to the conclusion, was exceptionally well done. I would love to find a copy of this somewhere; it remains a personal favorite.

This is a quietly gripping movie about a man ordered to kill a traitor in wartime France. The protagonist bonds with his quarry and his family and agonizes over following his orders to kill. To find out whether he kills the man and whether he is guilty or innocent you'll need to see this.

Spoiler alert

What I remember most about this film is the way the idealistic young soldier in manipulated by a wheeler-dealer senior officer who is essentially a self serving bureaucrat. It rings so true of what can when the patriotism and of an innocent young man can be manipulated. The mission is based on flawed intelligence. The mission is poorly planned and puts the young operative at greater than necessary risk. In a way it is a microcosm of larger events with which we are all too familiar. As it turns out in the film, an innocent man is killed, a young man must live with having killed an innocent harmless man in cold blood. As for the senior officer who issued the orders, it is just a bureaucratic error. Not really anyone's fault he assures the guilt ridden young man. Besides he is very preoccupied with getting his fat butt over to Paris as soon as it is liberated to enjoy its I think it would be very This is a beneficial for young people to see to help them recognize one of the more subtle forms of evil so well represented. Maybe that is one of the true benefits of film art, it broadens our experience without the negative consequences that can result. As for the young man in the film, he had to learn the hard way. It is available on Amazon in new and used copies mostly shipped from UK but also new copies fulfilled by AmazonPrime at a higher price. All copies are Region 2 format.

Paul Massie, Eddie Albert, Leslie French, and Irene Worth star in "Orders to Kill," a 1958 film produced and directed by Anthony Asquith.

Done in a low-key, realistic way, the story concerns a young American soldier, Gene Summers (Massie) who is chosen to go to France to kill an attorney who was a Resistance member, Lafitte (French) but has become a traitor. For Summers, it's an exciting assignment, and he relishes learning his new identity and being taught to kill either with his bare hands or by knife. One of the men in charge of his training, Major MacMahon (Albert) is afraid the ramifications of the job aren't real enough for him, but off he goes. His contact in France is Leonie (Irene Worth).

All goes well until Summers actually meets LaFitte, who saves him from a Nazi roundup by hiding him in his office. When he sees that Lafitte seems like a gentle soul, he can't kill him. Then he meets LaFitte's daughter and wife. He appeals to Leonie -- maybe this man is innocent, maybe a further investigation is warranted. Leonie is a hard-nose and insists that he carry out his orders.

Talky and slow-moving through a good deal of the film, it changes suddenly and becomes very suspenseful and exciting. Everyone underplays, making them somehow more realistic in their war-torn surroundings.

Everyone is very good, but Irene Worth, a fantastic actress, Leslie French, and Eddie Albert are standouts. The workhorse role is Massie's, and he is very good in a role that required him to be extremely natural and even throughout.

Very good.

I saw this film on the late show about 25 years ago & haven't seen it since but I still remember much of it vividly. A soldier is parachuted into occupied France during World War II & is "ordered to kill" a resistance leader who is believed to have been collaborating with the Nazis. However, as he works his way into the trust of his target, he begins to believe that he is a loyal Frenchman & not a Nazi sympathizer. He expresses his doubts to his superiors, but they order him to continue his mission. His decision & its consequences form the climax of the movie. Despite its obscurity, the film packs quite an emotional punch & I dearly wish I could see it again. Perhaps time has burnished its image in my mind, but I would rate this as a superior war movie.