Sublime Renúncia

Based on a true story U.S. citizen Dvorak poses as a cabaret singer in Manila during WW2 to help combat a Japanese attack. Code name "High Pockets" she endures many dangers and severe punishment for the sake of her country in this tense spy story. Also impressive in the cast are Gene Evans, Douglas Kennedy and both Richard Loo and Philip Ahn performing their nasty Japanese soldier bits. However it's Dvorak who makes it all worth while. The veteran actress who excelled in such films as "Scarface" (1932), "Three on a Match" (1932), "G Men" (1935), "Our Very Own" (1950) etc. is outstanding as the American spy. Also featured in the film is the song "Because of You" which was a big hit for crooner Tony Bennett.

Does anyone have biographical information on Claire? Her birth name was Claire Snyder. Anything you have will help, such as birth date/place, parents, siblings, etc., as well as what happened to her after her book "I Was an American Spy" was published? In the 1950s, she was remarried, with the surname Clavier.

I've found a speech by Senator Wayne Morse (he was an Oregon Republican who became an independent in 1952, then switched to the Democratic Party in 1955) about Claire Phillips Clavier (at a rough guess about 80% of the people with that surname are from Louisiana).

I also found a studio synopsis of the movie. Based on that, Boone is John Peyton Boone (then a corporal).

Claire's book "Manila Espionage" is out of print, and very difficult to find.

It's 1941 Manila. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Claire (Ann Dvorak) is an American nightclub singer desperately following her soldier boyfriend Sgt. John Phillips. They get married on the run from the Japanese. After Corregidor falls, she joins up with a ragtag group of soldiers led by Cpl. John Boone. As secret agent High Pockets, she returns to her club life and befriends Japanese Col. Masamato.

This is based on a true story. Of course, there are some liberties taken and quite frankly, the true story is questionable in the first place. Ann Dvorak is too blonde. It is hard to believe that such a white lady could operate behind the lines. Her acting is also too melodramatic. It is rather an old style of acting. She is pretending to be Italian although it may be asking too much for her to speak Italian or even speak English with an Italian accent or a Spanish accent or a Philipino accent. On the other hand, it does feel more dangerous if she has no language skills. At the end of the day, this feels like halfway in terms of realism and story telling.

That's the film from westerns chain made specialist Lesley Selander that amazed me the most. If this movie had been shown to me without any credits, I would have never - I mean NEVER - bet one dime it was from the B western film maker Lesley Selander. It nearly looks like a Raoul Walsh, John Farrow, or even Michael Curtiz' film. I insist on the "nearly" of course. Ann Dvorak here is not a surprise for such a war drama inspired from real life story. Yes, a damn good movie from Lesley Selander whose filmography, I repeat, was mainly focused on westerns. However, this story saves no surprise, a propaganda biopic among others. But, because it is from Lesley Selander, it is worth the watch.

During WWII, Claire Phillips was stuck in Manila after the Philippines fell to the Japanese. Following her husband's death, she apparently became an important member of the underground...though she did it in wide open as a hostess of a night club. The story is interesting and should have been made...but there is one serious problem. It seems that Claire was a liar. Yes, some of this DID happen but later when folks began investigating her claims, they found many exaggerations and outright lies. It's a shame...but the film still is entertaining and worth your time.

In the lead is Ann Dvorak. It's one of her last films and she was good in the role..particularly because she was older and less glamorous...and looked a lot like Phillips. The direction and production were all good...and the only reason I don't give the film a higher score is due to the dubious nature of the details of her exploits.