Dublin, 1922 . Gypo Nolan (Victor McLagen) , a slow-witted Irish pug has been ousted from the rebel organization . He is hungry and attempts to impress his ladylove . When he finds that his equally destitute girlfriend Katie Madden (Margot Grahame) has been reduced to prostitution , he succumbs to temptation and turns his friend Frankie McPhillip (Wallace Ford) in for money to the British authorities for a 20 pound reward . Nolan then feels doom closing in . He also gets his comeuppance from the IRA (whose leader is Preston Foster) . Later on , Gypo gets home Mrs. McPhillip (Una O'Connor) and Mary McPhillip (Heather Angel) .
Intense film about loneliness , suspicion , frightening , treason , information ; and including a descriptive, evocative black-and-white cinematography . This is a dramatic film dealing with thought-provoking themes about betrayal , guilt and retribution . John Ford re-made "The Informer" (1929) by Arthur Robinson ; and , obviously, he was influenced by this version . Good acting by Victor Mclagen as a strong but none too bright man who betrays his former comrade , though overacting and bears excessive gesticulation . The day before shooting McLagen's trial scene , he proceeded to go out drinking - which Ford knew he would do - and the next day was forced to film the scene with a terrible hangover, which was just the effect Ford wanted . John Ford had been highly impressed by F.W. Murnau's ¨Sunrise¨ and wanted to bring an element of German Expressionism to this film . As it displays an expressionist cinematography by Joseph M August , plenty if lights and dark , being well showed in the course of one gloomy , foggy night . Interesting screenplay by Dudley Nichols who wrote the script in six days , being based from the story by Liam O'Flaherty .
This was the first of RKO's three-picture deal with director John Ford and despite its deserved reputation and multiple Oscars, it was a low budget production . Another reason why RKO was reluctant to make the film was because a version of the story had already been filmed in the UK in 1929 .Initially a box office failure, the film made millions when it was re-released after its multiple wins at the Academy Awards .Shot in 17 days and its production costs came to a mere $243,000 . The picture belongs the Ford's second period -subsequently his silent time-when John Ford (1895-1973) made a rich variety of stories and his reputation rightly rests on his work in the 30s and 1940s, as ¨Grapes of wrath¨ , ¨How green was my valley¨ , ¨Fugitive¨ , ¨They were expendable¨, ¨My darling Clementine¨ and the Cavalry trilogy
