The Informer (1935)

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BACKGROUND

 

When The Informer was first screened for RKO executives they were unimpressed and stormed out after deciding that the studio had wasted its money. Ford was so upset he threw up in the parking lot. The head of RKO was so disappointed that he declared: “We never should have made it.” In the days that followed the executives removed their names from the credits until The Informer won the New York Film Critics award for best film of the year and the low-budget wonder began gaining traction in theaters. From that moment forward the same executives who shunned the film rushed to have their names restored to the credits. 

 

The film was adapted from a novel by Ford’s good friend, the Irish writer Liam O’Flaherty. There had also been a 1929 adaptation to the screen by German director Arthur Robison made in England which has several similarities to Ford’s version though it lacks the human touch that Ford was so skilled at bringing to life in his films. 

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PLOT SUMMARY

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A former member of the IRA informs on his best friend when he becomes desperate for money, and is tried by an underground court which sentences him to death. 

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