L'agent N° 13

Operator 13 (1934)

** (out of 4)

Extremely bizarre and rather choppy Civil War drama about actress Gail Loveless (Marion Davies) who goes to work as a spy for the Union. Once undercover, as a black maid, she begins to have feelings for a Confederate soldier (Gary Cooper). Once again Davies lover William Randolph Hearst put the money up for this production and half way through the making he had director Raoul Walsh fired even though he had made GOING Hollywood with Davies a year earlier. A new script was written and the rest is history but in the end this turned out to be one of the strangest dramas from this era. I might go even further and call the film a complete and utter embarrassment and a horrid excuse for entertainment but the thing is just so strange that you can't help but be entertained by it. The first thirty-minutes has Davies in some very bad blackface make up as she's undercover as a maid. Davies wasn't a newbie to blackface but the make up job here is so light skinned that you can't help but laugh at the thought that this make up job would be able to fool anyone in discussion with her and that includes Cooper's character. This is a drama yet Davies plays this maid role as some sort of comedy with the bad accent, which again doesn't sit well with what the film was going for. Not to mention that whoever was doing the make up forgot to paint her palms so they're constantly white. The second half of the film really doesn't get any better even though we do get a few battle scenes but none of them are all that interesting. Even worse are various musical sequences which come out of no where and will have you wondering if the Civil War was an actual war or just one big concert. Add in the bad direction and rather bland performances and you've got a movie that really needs to be rediscovered and held up as a cult classic. Even Cooper can't save this mess but he does add some charm to an otherwise crazy movie.

Let's understand one thing before talking about Operator 13. It is a Cosmopolitan Picture meaning it is a Marion Davies film first and foremost. And it's the kind of film that William Randolph Hearst wanted her to be seen it, as he saw her, the brave little heroine, in this case during the Civil War.

Operator 13 is the kind of story that would have been popular on stage at the turn of the last century. It's also the kind of story that Cecil B. DeMille would have found appealing to do. I'm guessing that Hearst and DeMille would never have worked in tandem on any project given their egos.

Marion is an actress and in the beginning of the story as the north is badly defeated at the second battle of Bull Run, Davies is appearing on stage in a play with one John Wilkes Booth. She's recruited by Union spy-master Allan Pinkerton played by Sidney Toler to accompany Katherine Alexander playing Union Spy Pauline Cushman as her octoroon maid. The term 'octoroon' was used back in the day to describe a person who was 1/8 black and has deservedly fallen out of fashion.

Of course the various black stereotypes are present in force in Operator 13, however in Marion's case it can be forgiven somewhat as she is a spy on a mission and disguising herself. You might remember that in Going Hollywood she did the same thing to avoid the attention of Fifi D'Orsay.

One person she does attract the attention of is Confederate Major Gary Cooper who is intrigued by her. Later on not in disguise, Davies is sent on another mission and she meets up again with Cooper. Once again he's suspicious, but by that time they're in love.

If some of this sounds familiar you might recognize certain plot elements from MGM's later success, the musical The Firefly which starred Allan Jones and Jeanette MacDonald. That story is also about two rival espionage agents during the Peninsular War.

In fact Operator 13 almost qualifies for a musical. Between the songs that Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn wrote, and the traditional Civil War era melodies sung by Davies, a campfire chorus and the Mills Brothers a lot of songs are packed into the 85 minute running time of the film.

Operator 13 was old fashioned even in 1934. However the battle scenes are done quite well and director Richard Boleslawski does make the characters somewhat interesting.

And apparently managed to work within the parameters of W.R. Hearst.

Civil war story with Marion Davis as a Confederate spy disguised as a slave. Not politically correct by today's standards ("Negroes always gossip" is one of the more controversial lines from the script), but it does prove that Marion Davies was a competent actress when given the chance.

Always liked Marion Davies in most of her films. She always played good-natured, cheerful parts in which you can root for her character. But I guess everyone's entitled to a clinker once in a while, and I thought "Operator 13" is hers. She is hard to believe as a Northern spy in blackface - she doesn't look like a black person at all, and in real life would fool no one. Her makeup as a white spy looks laid on with a trowel, and in addition she doesn't sing well when called upon.

The plot itself is a good one and is handled well by underrated director Boleslawski, who died too soon. The scenes of intrigue and espionage are very good, as are the few fight and battle scenes, but the picture goes downhill in the love scenes between Davies and Gary Cooper. The dialogue here seems forced and Davies tries too hard to play an ardent lover. Rest of the cast is excellent with several recognizable character actors, including Ted Healy (minus the 3 Stooges) as a Union Captain.

Marion Davies is unbelievable as a spy behind Confederate lines who falls for Confederate spy Gary Cooper.

The black stereotypes are normal for the time, but now hard to take. The main interest to me are the women's costumes by Andre, especially those in the ball scene.