- Actors: John Garfield, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak, Patricia Morison, Martha O'Driscoll
- Directors: Richard Wallace
- Writers: Dorothy B. Hughes, Warren Duff
- Producers: Robert Fellows
- Language English, German, Italian
- Classification: PG
- Studio: 4 Front
- VHS Release Date: 18 Jan 1999
- Run Time: 94 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00004R75W
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 27,952 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Fallen Sparrow is not an especially well-known or well remembered movie but it is of major interest to those who love black and white crime films from the 1940s. Firmly rooted within the mainstream of film noir - the hero is suffering from psychological trauma as a result of having been tortured and is on the verge of paranoia - The Fallen Sparrow uses high contrast images to tell its story of a man seeking an explanation for his friend's mysterious death. He comes across several glamorous women, seemingly uninterested cops and a collection of European refugees, one of whom is studying torture as an academic subject.
The Fallen Sparrow is also of particular interest to fans of old movies because of its unusual deployment of Maureen O'Hara. Here, far more glamorous and sexy than in her other movies, Maureen plays a character whom neither the hero nor the audience can be sure of. It is to be regretted that Maureen O'Hara was not given more roles like this.
This new DVD from Odeon comes from a well used print which has innumerable speckles and scratches. On the other hand the transfer is quite good and the images are stable. The audio quality is clean and clear. Watching this DVD is rather like watching an old movie in a repertory cinema forty years ago.
The Fallen Sparrow is also of particular interest to fans of old movies because of its unusual deployment of Maureen O'Hara. Here, far more glamorous and sexy than in her other movies, Maureen plays a character whom neither the hero nor the audience can be sure of. It is to be regretted that Maureen O'Hara was not given more roles like this.
This new DVD from Odeon comes from a well used print which has innumerable speckles and scratches. On the other hand the transfer is quite good and the images are stable. The audio quality is clean and clear. Watching this DVD is rather like watching an old movie in a repertory cinema forty years ago.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a film noir which has not worn terribly well - it is set in the early years of the war and Garfield is a Spanish civil war veteran suffering from post traumatic stress who returns to New York convinced a friend has been murdered and sets about investigating the crime. The wartime gung ho patriotic stuff doesn't really work any longer, and the plot is convoluted and not very convincing - sinister Nazis led by Walter Slezak hamming like crazy -are looking for a Spanish relic Garfield apparently has somewhere. But he is undeniably charismatic and Maureen O'Hara has a woman who is no better than she should be - he falls for her - looks gorgeous. She has been given the full Hollywood studio gloss. O'Hara wasn't always sexy, but here she certainly is. The film led the way to some fine Hollywood films noir and seen in that context is worth acquiring.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
A surprisingly dull spy noir that not even the strong screen presence of John Garfield can do much to save. Garfield plays a former prisoner of the Spanish Civil War who, after being hospitalized for a nervous breakdown, returns to New York to solve the murder of his best friend. He begins to suspect that the fascists who tortured him have followed him to New York but have they? Or is it just his paranoia, the residue of his previous mental condition? The villains are so obvious right from the start so there's no suspense regarding who the bad guys are, just how will they be found out. Maureen O'Hara looks beautiful but she has nothing to do (though there's a pay off at the end). Handsome B&W cinematography courtesy of Nicholas Musuraca. Co-starring Walter Slezak, Patricia Morison, Martha O'Driscoll and Hugh Beaumont.
The Odeon Entetainment Ltd. DVD has a decent transfer.
The Odeon Entetainment Ltd. DVD has a decent transfer.
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