Orders to Kill (1958) User Reviews (27)

A soldier is sent to France to kill a Nazi sympathizer

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 19 August 2012]

Paul Massie, Eddie Albert, Leslie French, and Irene Worth star in "Orders to Kill," a 1958 film produced and directed by Anthony Asquith.

Done in a low-key, realistic way, the story concerns a young American soldier, Gene Summers (Massie) who is chosen to go to France to kill an attorney who was a Resistance member, Lafitte (French) but has become a traitor. For Summers, it's an exciting assignment, and he relishes learning his new identity and being taught to kill either with his bare hands or by knife. One of the men in charge of his training, Major MacMahon (Albert) is afraid the ramifications of the job aren't real enough for him, but off he goes. His contact in France is Leonie (Irene Worth).

All goes well until Summers actually meets LaFitte, who saves him from a Nazi roundup by hiding him in his office. When he sees that Lafitte seems like a gentle soul, he can't kill him. Then he meets LaFitte's daughter and wife. He appeals to Leonie -- maybe this man is innocent, maybe a further investigation is warranted. Leonie is a hard-nose and insists that he carry out his orders.

Talky and slow-moving through a good deal of the film, it changes suddenly and becomes very suspenseful and exciting. Everyone underplays, making them somehow more realistic in their war-torn surroundings.

Everyone is very good, but Irene Worth, a fantastic actress, Leslie French, and Eddie Albert are standouts. The workhorse role is Massie's, and he is very good in a role that required him to be extremely natural and even throughout.

Very good.

French Leave

[writers_reign · 8/10 · 27 April 2017]

Every Sunday in the UK Talking Pictures, a fairly new channel that screens only movies, publishes its schedule for the next seven days and I go through it checking titles I want to see; when I saw Orders To Kill I thought it would be well worth missing but then I noticed that it was directed by Puffin Asquith which made it almost obligatory. Asquith was responsible for some of the cream of British movies and forged an excellent writer-director partnership with Terence Rattigan, making him arguably THE English director of the 20th century despite Carol Reed and David Lean enjoying higher profiles. I wasn't disappointed; Orders To Kill is a fine movie with a moral question at its core. In brief; a man is recruited to kill a resistance worker suspected of treachery in World War II. The assassin undergoes training, is given a new identity and parachuted into France. Having met the target by chance he bonds with him and decides he is innocent, says as much to his 'contact' who reminds him he is under orders. He kills the target who, it turns out, is innocent. Irene Worth runs away with the picture as the 'contact' whilst newcomer Paul Massie succeeds in conveying the moral dilemma in which he finds himself. One of Puffin's finest.

Stirring

[luciferjohnson · 7/10 · 2 March 2004]

I've searched in vain for this very fine movie, which I saw many years ago and has clung firmly to my memory. It's about a cocky young soldier who is sent to kill a French collaborator. He later develops serious moral qualms about the mission.

This film has a fine cast and has some very interesting touches. I am sure, for example, that those of us who have seen it still remember the collaborator's cat, who adds tremendously to the humanity of that character. At times, the tension and psychological pressure of this movie is almost unbearable. Filmed on location in Paris, I believe. The score, which also stands out in my memory, is melodramatic but appropriate.

A memorable film about wartime morality.

[triviah · 5 December 2000]

This is a quietly gripping movie about a man ordered to kill a traitor in wartime France. The protagonist bonds with his quarry and his family and agonizes over following his orders to kill. To find out whether he kills the man and whether he is guilty or innocent you'll need to see this.

Anthony Asquith's existentialist morality tale

[robert-temple-1 · 7/10 · 6 January 2014]

This wartime tale directed by Anthony Asquith confronts full-on the essential moral dilemma of the necessity to commit murder in the cause of war. It does not take place on a battlefield, but in the starker situation of a covert assassination of a man believed to be compromising the Resistance Movement in occupied Paris. The man chosen to kill the suspected person is played by the young actor Paul Massie, aged 26. It was his first credited screen role, and he does an excellent job. For some reason, this highly talented and promising young actor never achieved the prominence in his career which he would seem to have deserved. After 1973, he only worked four times (the last time in 1996), and he died in 2011. The other film for which he will be remembered is SAPPHIRE (1959, see my review). The most powerful performance in this film was delivered by Irene Worth, as the character Léonie. Massie is sent to Paris to kill the suspect man, and Worth is his contact, with whom some very tense scenes indeed transpire. Worth's embittered intensity is very convincing and deeply disturbing. Lillian Gish appears briefly early on in the film as Massie's mother, but it is not a significant part. Eddie Albert is very good as a commanding officer, and James Robertson Justice has immense gravitas and a suitably ominous quality as the man who trains Massie how to kill an individual quietly and quickly by taking off a pair of long socks and turning them into a murder weapon. Leslie French is superb as the unfortunate Marcel Lafitte, who is wrongly suspected of having betrayed the Resistance, whereas he is not only innocent but a gentle, caring soul who loves his family and his cat and would not hurt a fly. The film is based on a novel by the American author Donald Downes, another of whose novels was filmed as THE PIGEON THAT TOOK ROME (1962). This film starts very slowly because Asquith and his writers are so keen to make their moral point that they dwell on the minutiae of Massie's recruitment and training to carry out his assignment. Today that would be sketched in a couple of minutes, but in this film it takes a long time. Once the action gets going, the film becomes very tense indeed, and finally it becomes very grim, as we face the moral dilemma. Asquith was clearly determined to make this film in this way because he was trying to examine the dilemma and drive home its insolubility. In a sense, we could call this fifties film a true existentialist film, in keeping with the prevailing philosophy of that Heidiggerian decade. It explores 'what a man must do' and the 'nausea' following his actions. It bears some resemblance to the concerns of André Malraux, who in the novel MAN'S FATE contemptuously says that anyone who has not killed someone face to face is 'a virgin'. One wonders if Jean-Paul Sartre visited the set, steeped in nausea, and whispered existential doubts into the ear of the director. Much of it is filmed on location in Paris, and there are some very fine and atmospheric location shots. This film evidently meant a great deal to Anthony Asquith, who had a social conscience which he wore somewhat on his sleeve, and we owe him the consideration of listening to his message, which after all is a very worrying one, even if we find it deeply disquieting.

Gripping 'moral dilemma' thriller

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 9 September 2016]

ORDERS TO KILL looks and feels like a straightforward wartime thriller at the outset. It features Paul Massie (the Canadian actor best known for playing the lead in THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL, a role he no doubt got on the strength of his fine conflicted performance here) as an American agent who is parachuted into occupied France to take down a French traitor whose association with various resistance fighters has seen many of them die.

During his early training scenes with the delightfully gruff James Robertson Justice, Massie seems like the ideal man for the job. Things are a little different in the field: he soon finds himself questioning the man's guilt, and ORDERS TO KILL becomes a very different type of film all of a sudden: an intense 'moral dilemma' movie which puts the protagonist and the viewers through the ringer.

The only fault I can find with this film is that it's slightly overlong and some of the early scenes drag a little. Otherwise, it's a delight, and a surprisingly mature and brutal effort for the era. Some of the scenes are so suspenseful and disturbing that they're almost unwatchable. An exemplary supporting cast really add to the authenticity of the piece, but the whole thing hangs on Massie's shoulders and he doesn't disappoint; I think it's fair to say that he peaked early in his career and was never better than here. ORDERS TO KILL is a fine thriller without a single action scene in it to distract from the storyline.

Pomp and Circumstance

[wes-connors · 7/10 · 19 August 2012]

During World War II, American-born bomber pilot Paul Massie (as Gene Summers) is sent from Boston to England, then German-occupied Paris. His mission is to assassinate a man secretly spying for the Nazis. In the event he is captured, Mr. Massie is trained in the art of interrogation and undercover work, by Eddie Albert (as Major "Mac" McMahon) and James Robertson Justice. His training complete, Massie is given the French identity "Jean Doumier" and arrives in Paris via parachute...

When Massie meets his target, small-time lawyer Leslie French (as Marcel Lafitte), he has second thoughts. The suspected Nazi informant turns out to be a friendly family guy who loves cats. Massie thinks Mr. French may be innocent and shares his reservations with French resistance fighter Irene Worth (as Leonie). She reminds Massie of his "Orders to Kill"...

Some of the build-up is tedious, but this turns out to be an intelligent drama about the morality of war...

Note that the American stars' billing is exaggerated; top-billed Eddie Albert is a supporting actor to Massie, who is the star of the film. Moreover, Lillian Gish (as Mrs. Summers) appears in only two scenes. It would have been nice to see Ms. Gish become involved during the latter portions, inquiring about and/or visiting her son; this could have tied in with the parts of the opening which appear to signal flashbacks. The adaptation by Paul Dehn, direction by Anthony Asquith, and cast are excellent.

******* Orders to Kill (7/25/58) Anthony Asquith ~ Paul Massie, Eddie Albert, Irene Worth, Lillian Gish

Excellent film with some notable performances.

[dhughpitman · 10/10 · 1 June 2005]

This remarkable little film contains some excellent performances, the best of all coming from Irene Worth (Leonie, Paul's contact in occupied Paris), and from Leslie French as the suspected informer Lafitte. The musical score too is noteworthy, particularly when it picks up a nursery tune used by Paul to commit details of his mission to memory and amplifies it to emphasise the horrible consequences. The script and handling of Paul's doubts (brushed aside by Worth) and finally the completion of his mission are unforgettable. It should be noted that this is one of the best scripts from the film critic Paul Dehn - he also made a notable contribution to Jack Clayton's fine film "The Innocents".

SAS Armoury

[info-14474 · 6/10 · 8 October 2007]

I saw this film as a fifteen year old when it was first released. I thought it was a powerful film. It then disappeared from view. I have looked for it on DVD or tape but to no avail. I have never seen it on the TV. I wanted to check a scene in it that I think inadvertently reveals the whereabouts of a secret SAS armoury in Euston. I wonder if this is the reason it is not shown or is unavailable or is this my imagination. I would be interested in any comments. One of the comments mentions that it was shown on TV and I wondered if the scene was deleted. I was working as an apprentice in Euston at the time and recognised the area and found out about the armoury a lot later.

An interesting & emotionally powerful war film.

[H Lime-2 · 9/10 · 28 December 1998]

I saw this film on the late show about 25 years ago & haven't seen it since but I still remember much of it vividly. A soldier is parachuted into occupied France during World War II & is "ordered to kill" a resistance leader who is believed to have been collaborating with the Nazis. However, as he works his way into the trust of his target, he begins to believe that he is a loyal Frenchman & not a Nazi sympathizer. He expresses his doubts to his superiors, but they order him to continue his mission. His decision & its consequences form the climax of the movie. Despite its obscurity, the film packs quite an emotional punch & I dearly wish I could see it again. Perhaps time has burnished its image in my mind, but I would rate this as a superior war movie.

Thou shalt kill.............

[ianlouisiana · 10/10 · 13 October 2008]

Anthony Asquith,son of the Earl of Oxford,public school and University - educated,was a charming,intelligent and sophisticated man who made films that tended to reflect his personality."Pygmalion","The Winslow Boy","The Browning Version" were all popular with the moviegoers of Middle England who comprised his core audience.But in the late 1950s he suddenly changed tack and produced two extraordinary works debating the nature of courage,moral and physical."Carrington VC" starred David Niven,and "Orders to kill" featured Associated British contract actor Paul Massie. Canadian - born Mr Massie - slim,aesthetic - looking and sensitive - had a somewhat irregular movie career but won a richly - deserved BAFTA for "Most promising newcomer" for his performance as a French - speaking American flyer sent over to Occupied France to assassinate a Resistance member turned traitor. He is willing if not happy to kill from 20,000 feet up,but mano a mano is quite a different matter,particularly as the more research he does on his putative victim the more doubts he has about the man's guilt. He expresses his misgivings to his superiors but they are implacable,he must carry out his mission. "Orders to kill" brings into question the ethics of war just as "Carrington VC" does its effects on the individual. Is it ever "right" to take a human life even if such an act is sanctioned by Church and State?This is an argument familiar from the days of Capital Punishment,and a pillar of the stance of the Conscientious Objector. Will Massie's moral scruples be interpreted as cowardice by London in just the same fashion as would his refusal to fly any more bombing missions on similar grounds? Asquith reveals no easy answers. Not a War Film per se,"Orders to Kill" remains the British Cinema's finest examination of the minutiae of man's conduct in time of conflict. Generally ignored when Puffin Asquith's movies are discussed,it is criminally neglected and the work of a man of conscience who understood such insubstantial words as "Duty" and "Courage" and wasn't afraid to put a debate about their meaning to the cinema audience.

A great sleeper that you can't find

[afrederi-2 · 11 May 1999]

This movie used to be on television all the time. It disappeared several years ago and hasn't reappeared on the tube or in video. It's interesting for a lot of reasons. Two great actresses, Lillian Gish and Irene Worth, are in it. Some fine British character actors including James Robertson Justice are outstanding in it. It's a suspenseful film about World War II and the scenes in Paris are particularly gripping. I too would give a lot to see it and own

Excellent

[gordonl56 · 8/10 · 1 December 2014]

Ordre d'execution – 1958 There has been a leak in a French Underground network ran by the U.S. Army intelligence service. Several agents have been killed after meeting with a member of the network. The U.S. decides that the man, Leslie French, must be a double agent working for the Germans. They decide that the leak needs to be sealed and Mr. French eliminated. It is only a month till D-Day and the Allies cannot take any chances.

They draft in a French speaking pilot from the Air Force. The man, Paul Massie, just happens to have lived in the same area of Paris where French lives. They give Massie a crash course on how to act etc once he is dropped in country. They also teach him various ways of killing quietly.

One of training officers, Eddie Albert, is not quite sure that Massie is the right man. While dropping bombs on a more or less unseen enemy is OK, will Massie be able to do the deed, face to face? Albert's boss, Johnny Crawford sees no problem and orders the training to carry on. "Lives are at risk!" Crawford says.

Massie is soon ready and dropped outside Paris. He is to meet with an Underground contact, Irene Worth, who will put him up etc. He as papers as an electrical engineer which allows him more or less free movement through the streets.

He then spends several days casing the run down building where French has his lawyer offices. While having a drink in the downstairs café, Massie bumps right into French. French seems like a nice sort, and warns him not to order the rabbit stew as it is really cat. French then warns him that the Police and the Germans will be raiding the area in an hour. Massie best hideout, or he will be grabbed up and shipped to Germany as forced labour. French offers the man a room in his office upstairs to hide in.

Sure enough, the raid happens and several men are grabbed up and hauled away. Massie spends the night in French's office looking for evidence he is a turncoat. He finds none. French returns the next morning and invites Massie to dine with his wife and daughter that evening. Massie accepts the invite. Massie is finding that the more time he spends with his target, the more convinced he is that French is innocent.

Massie contact's Worth and asks what he should do?. ''Do your job!'' Is her response. The next morning Massie returns to French's office. When French turns his back to brew up some tea, Massie, belts him with a handy blunt object on the back of the head. The blow was not hard enough and Massie is forced to make a mess of the job with a knife. He cleans up as best he can and takes off into the streets.

Several days after the Allies have liberated Paris. A MP patrol brings in a drunken man who says he is a U.S. pilot. The name is run through the records and Eddie Albert gets the call. He visits Massie in the hospital and finds that the man is being eaten up by guilt over killing French. He has been drunk ever since the hit.

Now Col. Crawford shows up, he tells Massie that he is a hero and his actions saved hundreds of lives. Once Crawford has left, Massie asks Albert for the truth. He can't go the rest of his life wondering about it. Albert tells him that French turned out to be innocent. Also in the cast, are James Robertson Justice, Sandra Dorne, Lionel Jefferies and Lillian Gish.

Canadian Paul Massie won a BAFTA Award for his role in this film. Though the film builds slowly, it is worth staying till the pay off. The film was nominated for the Palme dÒr at the Cannes Film Festival.

The director was Anthony Asquith. His work includes, THE BROWNING VERSION, COTTAGE TO LET, FANNY BY GASLIGHT, THE WOMAN IN QUESTION, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, CARRINGTON V.C. and LIBEL.

Careless Orders to Kill

[mandrake62 · 8/10 · 14 May 2007]

Spoiler alert

What I remember most about this film is the way the idealistic young soldier in manipulated by a wheeler-dealer senior officer who is essentially a self serving bureaucrat. It rings so true of what can when the patriotism and of an innocent young man can be manipulated. The mission is based on flawed intelligence. The mission is poorly planned and puts the young operative at greater than necessary risk. In a way it is a microcosm of larger events with which we are all too familiar. As it turns out in the film, an innocent man is killed, a young man must live with having killed an innocent harmless man in cold blood. As for the senior officer who issued the orders, it is just a bureaucratic error. Not really anyone's fault he assures the guilt ridden young man. Besides he is very preoccupied with getting his fat butt over to Paris as soon as it is liberated to enjoy its I think it would be very This is a beneficial for young people to see to help them recognize one of the more subtle forms of evil so well represented. Maybe that is one of the true benefits of film art, it broadens our experience without the negative consequences that can result. As for the young man in the film, he had to learn the hard way. It is available on Amazon in new and used copies mostly shipped from UK but also new copies fulfilled by AmazonPrime at a higher price. All copies are Region 2 format.

"Killing is no game."

[clanciai · 10/10 · 5 November 2021]

There is an air of Dostyevsky over this grim account off a premeditated murder that goes wrong - the demonstration of the innocents, the murderer's agonies, the case of the casualties, the atmosphere of the very simple almost shabby quarters next to the cemetery - the realism is expressive, utterly sincere, totally convincing and shattering in its complexity of human dilemmas. It starts almost like a comedy with cheerful music, and the initiation of the agent selected for the job is very good-humored with James Robertson Justice actually adding some thick comedy to it, while it gradually almost stealthily becomes more and more sinister. Paul Massie makes the performance of his life as the reluctant murderer, flanked by Irene Worth who matches him perfectly, and even Lilian Gish as his mother, while Eddie Albert makes the most important male supporting part, spotting the weakness of the human factor in the enterprise from the beginning but without anticipating any possible consequences. There is great sensitivity and psychology in this film, and the problems it poses are timeless and will ever remain actual. Compared to this, all the 007 agent films appear as nurseries of childishness.

A powerful movie with tremendous moral dilemmas & lessons to be contemplated

[Atty1337 · 11 November 2003]

This World War II movie has a realistic well written script, good acting and presents the viewer with a powerful moral dilemma to contemplate about war. Do you follow orders regardless of what your own observations suggest you do? I saw this movie 40 years ago and have never forgotten it. The tragedy is that it apparently did not have big promotional dollars behind it so has never reappeared. Nine stars out of ten.

A Different Slant on WWII Movies

[vogun-17563 · 8/10 · 12 April 2018]

Worth a look at, as it is interesting all the way through with the plot and the acting. Not the usual war film, and raises some questions for those who are unappreciative (me) of the dilemmas of going to war. The protagonist starts off all confident in this assignment, and when confronted with the realities of war, he has serious misgivings.

The film begins with a terrific opening scene, which gripped me from the start (would have been better in colour), and then moves along to develop the plot. Mention must be made that Irene Worth, is very good in this movie, and the look of horror on her face when disclosed information she does not want to know is well delivered. I must also mention that she also cuts a very fine shape, and shows that a woman can be sexy with her clothes on.

The other main actors are also very good, although I did wonder about James Robertson Justice being included, and there are one or two questionable scenes, which reminded me a little of John Cleese and Monty Python's - "Attack me with a banana sketch", but he does have one particular scene which I am prepared to forgive any others for.

If you like the sound of this and wondering if to view or not, then I would say yes, it's worth it. If 1950's black and white movies about war are not for you, then skip it, although it's not the usual type of war film.

Why?

[ulicknormanowen · 8/10 · 9 October 2021]

"Cadet Rousselle" is an old French folk song from the eighteenth century ; it laughs at a bailiff ,which is very appropriate in Asquith's movie; it became a marching song for the Armée Du Nord in the French Revolution;in the film , not only the nurse ,serving quiche lorraine ,sings the first verse ,but the hero himself also invents new words for the tune ....

Based (reportedly) on true facts,it's an excellent thriller happening towards the last days of the Occupation in France .It's a gripping movie,from start to finish ,very well written and very well acted, mainly the supporting cast .A quarter of the time is given over to the training ,with a documentary side often botched in this kind of movie,,in which the excellent James Robertson Justice talks about the guilty feeling which ,according to him,did not exist formerly,but is characteristic of the civilized country :it leads the hero to soul-searching (did his former bombings spare the innocents?) ,which would continue when he met Leonie , who remains straight-faced in front of her sewing -machine when he tells her that this informer he has to do away with might be innocent ;the brave resistant fighter 's answer is cynical but true: at war ,both innocents and culprits are killed .Like the psychiatrist before ,she soon realizes that the killer is too jejune ,too sentimental (she's not : her own tragedy is represented by a photograph of her dead son killed in action,and that's it ).

Irene Worth is remarkable as the apparently cold-hearted adamant resistant .

Another good support comes from Leslie French , as the traitor: a family man, who takes care of a cute cat ,Minou (= Pussy);cats and dogs were not eaten , this occured during the siege of Paris in 1870,but in the occupation,if it happened ,it must have been very rare .Till his last moment, he makes us think that perhaps it was a mistake ;brilliant performance from a brilliant actor.

One of the best cliffhanger I know : after the scene in the cemetery (Le Père Lachaise) ,the action abruptly takes us to the Liberation ,complete with Marseillaise,forgetting the young soldier and his contact (in jeopardy) ; the very last scene is deeply moving and proves that the cocky boy has finally understood his elders' words.

"Why?"

[brogmiller · 8/10 · 21 June 2020]

This film concerns the training of an ex-Air Corps pilot to execute a Frenchman in occupied Paris who has allegedly betrayed members of the Resistance to the Gestapo. It is based upon a story by Donald Downes with a screenplay by Paul Dehn. Both these men were eminently qualified for this material as Downes had been an officer in the OSS and Dehn an instructor at the SOE Camp X in Canada! During his training Gene Summers, soon to become Jean Doumier, regards the whole thing as an adventure but all that changes when he meets Lafitte, his intended victim........ After a slow start this film develops into a gripping and spellbinding piece with immaculate direction by Anthony Asquith and some outstanding performances. Playing Gene is Paul Massie who depicts extremely well the moral dilemma of having to kill a man that he believes to be innocent. This was Massie's first major role and he deservedly won a BAFTA. Another BAFTA went to Irene Worth who is simply superlative in a comparatively small but telling role as Leonie, his contact in Paris. Eddie Albert turns in another of his great performances an an instructor and Leslie French as Lafitte has his finest hour. Paul Dehn also picked up a BAFTA and went on to utilise his specialised knowledge in screenplays for Le Carre's 'Spy who came in from the Cold' and 'Deadly Affair'. Some critics at the time referred rather derogatively to the films 'sentimentality'. They were no doubt referring to the final scene involving Gene and Lafitte's widow and daughter. In the context of both the film and Gene's character this ending is extremely effective and I, for one, would not have it any other way.

A realistic espionage film about a wartime assassin's dilemma

[cmwatson · 19 October 2003]

I saw this move perhaps 40 years ago, during the height of my interest in espionage and spy tradecraft. I remember being mesmerized by the gritty reality of this movie and the fine portrayal of the agent/assassin as played by Eddie Albert. It remains what is perhaps one of his most serious roles, and the film reveals a side of his talent rarely revealed in his other movies. Every detail of the film, from mission preparation through to the conclusion, was exceptionally well done. I would love to find a copy of this somewhere; it remains a personal favorite.

Effective and genuine film

[verna-a · 8/10 · 23 May 2015]

I can recommend this little war thriller which has brains and heart behind it. Within the broad theatre of war it focuses on the moral impact of "orders" on a sensitive personality. Production values are good within the scope of the film and there are plenty of clues about the developing issue. We start to have reservations about the main character, who is clearly immature and not suited to the mission he is sent on. His behaviour is inept, but it is not hard to relate to his dilemma. The denouement winds up the story gracefully without weakening the horror of what has occurred, and in a way that the viewer does not expect, dignity is restored to the hero. I had not previously encountered the lead actor who is a little-known Canadian actor. I dislike the way he looks in this, with a neatly combed 1950s blonde quiff on which a ridiculously small beret is perched. He looks about as "French" as a bacon burger. But in a way that fits in with his feeble performance in the role of assassin. The film never goes into an examination of who was responsible for the false intelligence behind the mission. That is where the blame for the fiasco rests. But no doubt this sort of thing occurred and the people in the field never got to find out who was the author of the blunder.

drama in occupied France

[RanchoTuVu · 9/10 · 23 August 2012]

As the Allies are preparing the D-Day invasion, an American bomber pilot (Paul Massie) is recruited to be sent to occupied France to kill a member of the Resistance (Leslie French) who is suspected of supplying the names of fighters to the Germans. Each part of the film, the recruiting, training and the mission itself, is expertly done. There is expert drama in both his recruitment and training under James Robertson Justice, whose expertise in these matters is brilliantly portrayed. The film shows the excellent acting of Eddie Albert who plays an American officer who monitors Massie's training and then his deployment on a night flight to be parachuted into occupied France, where he is to be on his own except for his one contact played by Irene Worth, whose part turns out to be the best one in the film. The title pretty much sums up the dilemma that faces Massie as he's the one ordered to carry out the execution.

I would like to obtain this film on video or DVD

[apcbeba · 10/10 · 27 August 2006]

I saw this film years ago and was struck by the difference in killing by pressing a button and dropping bombs or by one-to-one combat. I would dearly love to see it again. A brilliant message. Thank you ever so much. I am a musician and would love to compose a musical of this film. There is so much passion and so many different passions and emotions. Music would only enhance an already great story. Come on film producers, let's have a go. Although I am not really a pacifist, I do believe that this film makes you think very hard about the futility of war and about how one's actions can desecrate the lives of others. If anyone knows of this film being on DVD or video, please let me know.

Quiet yet impressive

[gjcannon-73149 · 3 June 2019]

I was actually pottering about doing housework when this came on the television. I was kind of half paying attention when it became apparent that this is a very interesting and serious film, handled very well, about the moral dilemmas into which ordinary, humane people are put by the demands of warfare. The protagonist, a much-decorated fighter-bomber pilot us chosen to assassinate a suspected traitor in Paris, but on becoming acquainted with the 'target's struggles with the concept of carrying out the killing, in cold-blood, of a man he finds harmless and likable. This film is the antithesis of so many modern films where assassins, 'hit-men', are presented as some kind of cool hero.

Orders To Kill - Strong Character Study

[krocheav · 8/10 · 20 August 2021]

High-profile British director Anthony Asquith (The Winslow Boy) tackles a serious, based on fact subject - written by real-life OSS officer Donald Downes. It tells the story of a decorated pilot and war hero (Paul Massey) selected for the top secret removal of a suspected double agent in Paris. His training commander (Eddie Albert) expresses fears to his commanders that the fellow may be too sensitive to carry out a face-to-face operation of this nature. With little time to act and no immediate replacement, he's assigned the task.

In times of war, information can be unreliable and as our assassin becomes acquainted with his subject, he seriously questions the man's guilt - bringing about several difficult and suspenseful situations. The film was praised on several levels but little known by the public. Performances are excellent and it features good-looking b/w cinematography by veteran Desmond Dickinson (The Importance Of Being Earnest '52) with an effective music score by Benjamin Frankel.

The Studio Canal remastered DVD looks and sounds sharp, and apart from a couple of mild shakes is excellent. Look for the longer British version - as against the shorter, edited USA disc.

Recommended as a detailed character study, & strong example of the blundering stupidity of war - along with the unreliability of intelligence information passed to the top.