Shake Hands with the Devil

Shake Hands with the Devil

1959 · 111 min · EN · NR · 6.7 (18 votes)
Dir. Michael Anderson · Starring James Cagney, Don Murray, Dana Wynter, Glynis Johns, Michael Redgrave, Sybil Thorndike · Music William Alwyn

A story of love and hate...and the sudden sound of guns!

ActionDrama

In 1921 Dublin, the IRA battles the "Black & Tans," special British forces given to harsh measures. Irish-American medical student Kerry O'Shea hopes to stay aloof, but saving a wounded friend gets him outlawed, and inexorably drawn into the rebel organization...under his former professor Sean Lenihan, who has "shaken hands with the devil" and begun to think of fighting as an end in itself. Complications arise when Kerry falls for a beautiful English hostage, and the British offer a peace treaty that is not enough to satisfy Lenihan.

VIBE

A grim, morally complex look at the Irish struggle for independence. It feels like a historical document, unflinching in its depiction of brutal conflict and the compromises it demands. The tension simmers, leading to a heavy, inevitable conclusion.

grittytensesomberintensesteadyhistorical dramapolitical thrillerperiod piecewarrebellionmoralitynationalism
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