1952 film
The Gentle Gunman is a 1952 British drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring John Mills, Dirk Bogarde and Elizabeth Sellars. The film is based on a 1950 play of the same title by Roger MacDougall[1] that was televised by the BBC in September 1950.[2] It was produced by Ealing Studios. The film's sets were designed by the art director Jim Morahan.
Plot
Terence (John Mills) and Matthew (Dirk Bogarde) Sullivan are two IRA men in London during World War II. Terry starts questioning the worth of the IRA's war against the United Kingdom that involves planting bombs in a crowded London Underground station and becomes marked for death by the IRA. In addition to Terry's questioning of the IRA's methods, Matt is affected by a mother whose husband and son had joined the IRA with fatal results. Though Matthew escapes capture in London, his comrades-in-arms Connolly (Liam Redmond) and Patsy (Jack MacGowran) are captured by the British police. Both Terry and the IRA leader Shinto (Robert Beatty) vow to free the men and take them from their trial in Belfast to safety in the Irish Free State, but Shinto favours more violent methods than Terry.
Critical reception
The British magazine Time Out thought the film was "stiff" and "overplotted",[3] while the British Film Institute thought the film struggled to "find the right tone" and culminated with a "car-crash of an ending".[4] The New York Times thought that the film had "failed to search beneath the surface" of the screen-play and described much of the content as "superficial".[5]
Quotes
Englishman: "The situation in England is serious, but it's never hopeless"
Irishman: "The situation in Ireland is hopeless but it's never serious"
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