IMDb RATING
6.1/10
407
YOUR RATING
A retired U.S. Army Colonel living in England stumbles upon a spy ring when he shoots buckshot at a poacher during a hunt.A retired U.S. Army Colonel living in England stumbles upon a spy ring when he shoots buckshot at a poacher during a hunt.A retired U.S. Army Colonel living in England stumbles upon a spy ring when he shoots buckshot at a poacher during a hunt.
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Colin McGuigan gets this film exactly right: it's very Hitchcockian, and that is a compliment, but a throwback to Hitch in the 1930s, 10-20 years befoer this one was made in 1953. It's a very well made film, with a good story line and good actors, plus nice on-location shooting, but it looks and feels like it was made in the mid-late 1930s. If you just accept that, you will enjoy this tale of international intrigue. Joel McCrea gives a good, solid and believable performance to anchor the entire film; the villains are also believeably villainous, but not cartoonish; and Herbert Lom brightens up the proceedings whenever he is on screen.
"SHOOT FIRST" (1953) Joel Macrae - I like Joel Macrae but this one just left me quite bored. The cable guide gives it 3 stars, I'd give it one star.
Herbert Lom plays pivotal character, Sandorski.
How can such an exciting storyline be treated so shabbily? Even as I was watching it I thought it was as if they purposely toned-down the dynamic impact (typically British under-statement) in order to convey stark distance and a sort of clinical detachment.
Macrae plays an American Army officer in England who gets involved with some local Nazi spies. But that sounds way more exciting than the movie actually is.
Herbert Lom plays pivotal character, Sandorski.
How can such an exciting storyline be treated so shabbily? Even as I was watching it I thought it was as if they purposely toned-down the dynamic impact (typically British under-statement) in order to convey stark distance and a sort of clinical detachment.
Macrae plays an American Army officer in England who gets involved with some local Nazi spies. But that sounds way more exciting than the movie actually is.
A Hitchcock like espionage movie shot by the American director Robert Parrish in England, in the early 50's. We had already seen this kind of try with Jacques Tourneur's CIRCLE OF DANGER, except that this latest film was not an espionage one.
It's surprising to see Joel Mc Crea in a non western feature. And it's a pretty good success. As far as I remember, and perhaps I am wrong because I did not see it since twenty years, the Tourneur's movie included a hunting party too, but perhaps not at the beginning, like this one.
We easily feel the British influence in this programmer, and not only through the actors. But the general atmosphere sounds nevertheless mainly from the USA.
A fairly good caper film.
It's surprising to see Joel Mc Crea in a non western feature. And it's a pretty good success. As far as I remember, and perhaps I am wrong because I did not see it since twenty years, the Tourneur's movie included a hunting party too, but perhaps not at the beginning, like this one.
We easily feel the British influence in this programmer, and not only through the actors. But the general atmosphere sounds nevertheless mainly from the USA.
A fairly good caper film.
This spy film has all the ingredients that I require: A likable male lead (Joel McCrea), a gorgeous female lead (Diana Decker) and a great supporting cast, including Marius Goring, Herbert Lom and Roland Culver. It has suspense, humour and a good script.
The end of the film takes place at Madame Tussaud's wax cabinet. Hitchcock used several famous landmarks in his thrillers, but I am uncertain if he could turn the script into a so entertaining film like director Robert Parrish did.
Although this film is shot in black and white and contains neither bikini-clad women nor funny gadgets, I think this film is better than most James Bond films.
The end of the film takes place at Madame Tussaud's wax cabinet. Hitchcock used several famous landmarks in his thrillers, but I am uncertain if he could turn the script into a so entertaining film like director Robert Parrish did.
Although this film is shot in black and white and contains neither bikini-clad women nor funny gadgets, I think this film is better than most James Bond films.
"Shoot First" is a Cold War suspense film that kept having ask "why did he do that?" as much of the behavior of the leading character, Lt. Colonel Taine (Joel McCrea) made little sense.
The story is set in England. American Lt. Colonel Taine and his wife live there and rent some land where the Colonel likes to hunt. One day, he sees someone on the land and he thinks it's a poacher...so he decides to put some birdshot into the guy and teach him a lesson. However, just as Taine fires, so does a hidden enemy agent...but this shot is from a rifle and it kills the supposed poacher. But Taine thinks he did it and hides the body. Now don't you think in doing this he would have seen a rifle shot?? And, that the shot was on the OTHER side of the man's body?? Well, apparently this Colonel knows little about guns and he just hopes no one finds him.
In the meantime, enemy agents are lurking everywhere around the property. So what do the forces of NATO do? They send one man (Herbert Lom) to look into it. And, when they find spies, instead of calling in troops, he and Taine get caught up in trying to capture them!! Considering the future of the free world hangs in the balance, this does seem like a stupid plan!
As you might have guessed, I did not love this film. In addition to not making much sense, the film also was awfully dull...which is odd for an espionage film.
The story is set in England. American Lt. Colonel Taine and his wife live there and rent some land where the Colonel likes to hunt. One day, he sees someone on the land and he thinks it's a poacher...so he decides to put some birdshot into the guy and teach him a lesson. However, just as Taine fires, so does a hidden enemy agent...but this shot is from a rifle and it kills the supposed poacher. But Taine thinks he did it and hides the body. Now don't you think in doing this he would have seen a rifle shot?? And, that the shot was on the OTHER side of the man's body?? Well, apparently this Colonel knows little about guns and he just hopes no one finds him.
In the meantime, enemy agents are lurking everywhere around the property. So what do the forces of NATO do? They send one man (Herbert Lom) to look into it. And, when they find spies, instead of calling in troops, he and Taine get caught up in trying to capture them!! Considering the future of the free world hangs in the balance, this does seem like a stupid plan!
As you might have guessed, I did not love this film. In addition to not making much sense, the film also was awfully dull...which is odd for an espionage film.
Did you know
- TriviaCoup de feu au matin (1953) (Rough Shoot) stars Joel McCrea in his only postwar non-Western role. The scenario is set in Cold War England when tensions ran high regarding spying.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Shoot First
- Filming locations
- England, UK(location filming)
- Production company
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- Runtime
- 1h 28m(88 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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