''O.S.S.'' is a 1946 American

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

spy film The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a film genre, genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many Jame ...

directed by

Irving Pichel Irving Pichel (June 24, 1891 – July 13, 1954) was an American actor and film director, who won acclaim both as an actor and director in his Hollywood career. Career Pichel was born to a American Jews, Jewish family in Pittsburgh. He attended ...

and starring

Alan Ladd Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in ...

Geraldine Fitzgerald Geraldine Mary Fitzgerald (November 24, 1913 – July 17, 2005) was an Irish actress. She received the Daytime Emmy Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. She was a member of the American T ...

and

Patric Knowles Patric Knowles (born Reginald Lawrence Knowles; 11 November 1911 – 23 December 1995) was an English film actor. Born in Horsforth, West Riding of Yorkshire, he later changed his name to reflect his Irish heritage. He made his film debut ...

. Produced and distributed by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

, it portrays the activities of the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The screenplay was written by

Richard Maibaum Richard Maibaum (May 26, 1909 – January 4, 1991) was an American screenwriter, film producer, and playwright, best known for his work on the James Bond films. He wrote 13 of the 16 Eon Productions Bond films produced between 1962 and 1989, be ...

, a World War II veteran who would later write twelve of the first fifteen

James Bond films James Bond is a fictional character created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. A British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007, Bond has been portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors Sean Connery, David ...

. Maibaum, a former

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

actor, also narrates the film.

Plot

John Martin (Ladd) attempts to steal plans for an electric circuit from a plant in Baltimore, Maryland. Caught and arrested for espionage, he is turned over to the Office of Strategic Services, which is training a group of new recruits by sending them on test missions. Along with three other men, Gates, Parker and Bernay, and one woman, Elaine Dupree (Fitzgerald), Martin (an assumed name like the others) is sent to France to blow up a railroad tunnel in order to paralyze Axis troops during the Allied invasion. Martin doubts Elaine can work under pressure because she is a woman, but she insists he treat her as any male agent. During the group's first assignment, at a rural French inn, German agents kill Gates. A meeting of the French '' maquis'' is interrupted by German Colonel Paul Meister, who becomes immediately infatuated with Elaine. Elaine sculpts a bust of Meister's head, and when he announces his departure for Normandy on a troop train, she begs him to take her with him. With Martin's help, Elaine makes a duplicate bust and fills it with plastic explosives. She and Martin then blow up the tunnel. After Martin comes back for her under fire, Elaine makes him promise never to jeopardize a mission in order to rescue her. On foot, they meet Bernay, who is their radio contact with the O.S.S. As the Allies break through at Normandy, Elaine and Martin make a deal with Amadeus Brink, an officer of the Gestapo, who hopes to secure his safety and a small fortune. Brink removes Martin and Elaine's "wanted" file from the Gestapo sector headquarters and arranges for his cousin, a courier, to hand over a diplomatic pouch to Bernay for photocopying. Bernay places the negative in the lining of Martin's hat. Against Brink's advice, Bernay radios a final message that the Nazis have broken one of the O.S.S. secret codes. Bernay is gunned down, and Martin and Elaine are questioned by the Gestapo, but are released before Meister catches Brink with their file papers. Martin and Elaine are about to board a plane to safety when they are asked to complete one last mission. They must contact Parker, another agent who is on assignment near the Rhine, and Martin being the only agent he'll recognize. At a farmhouse, Elaine is accosted by a group of drunken German soldiers. Parker, hiding among them, gives Elaine the Germans' troop dispositions. Martin leaves the farmhouse to radio in the positions. While he is gone, Meister arrests Elaine. As the American troops advance through France, Brady tells Martin that Elaine's real name was Ellen Rogers, and he imagines that she might have been the girl next door in his hometown.

Cast

as Philip Masson / John Martin *

as Ellen Rogers / Elaine Dupree *

as Cmdr Brady *

John Hoyt John Hoyt (born John McArthur Hoysradt; October 5, 1905 – September 15, 1991) was an American actor. He began his acting career on Broadway, later appearing in numerous films and television series. He is perhaps best known for his roles in th ...

as Col. Paul Meister *

Gloria Saunders Gloria Ella Saunders (September 29, 1927 – June 4, 1980 ) was an American actress of film and television, primarily from the late 1940s to 1960. Career Saunders acting career began on stage. She was discovered when she performed in a produ ...

as WAC Operator Sparky * Richard Webb as Parker *

Richard Benedict Richard "Pepe" Benedict (born Riccardo Benedetto, January 8, 1920 – April 29, 1984) was an Italian-American television and film actor and director. He was born in Palermo, Italy. Career He appeared in dozens of television programs and movies ...

as Bernay * Harold Vermilyea as Amadeus Brink *

Don Beddoe Donald Theophilus Beddoe (July 1, 1903 – January 19, 1991) was an American character actor. Early years Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Beddoe was the son of Dan Beddoe, a Welsh classical singer, and his wife Mary. He graduated from the ...

as Gates *

Onslow Stevens Onslow Stevens (born Onslow Ford Stevenson; March 29, 1902 – January 5, 1977) was an American stage, television and film actor. Early years Born in Los Angeles, California, Stevens was the son of British-born character actor Houseley St ...

as Field * Gavin Muir as Col. Crawson *

Egon Brecher Egon Brecher (18 February 1880 – 12 August 1946) was an Austrian-born American actor and director. He also served as the chief director of Vienna's Stadttheater, before entering the motion picture industry. Early years Brecher was born on 1 ...

as Marcel Aubert *

Joseph Crehan Joseph A. Creaghan (July 15, 1883 – April 15, 1966) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 300 films between 1916 and 1965, and notably played Ulysses S. Grant nine times between 1939 and 1958, most memorably in ''Union Paci ...

as Gen. Donovan *

Bobby Driscoll Robert Cletus Driscoll (March 3, 1937 – March 30, 1968) was an American actor who performed on film and television from 1943 to 1960. He starred in some of the The Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios' best-known live-action pict ...

as Gerard * Julia Dean as Madame Prideaux * Crane Whitley as Arnheim *

Dorothy Adams Dorothy I. Adams (January 8, 1900 – March 16, 1988) was an American character actress of stage, film, and television. Early years Born in Hannah, North Dakota, Adams was the daughter of Rachel Jamison and hardware salesman W. E. Adams. They ...

as Claudette * John Maxwell as LaFevre *

James Westerfield James A. Westerfield (March 22, 1913 – September 20, 1971) was an American character actor of stage, film, and television. Early life Westerfield was born in Nashville, Tennessee, to candy-maker Brasher Omier Westerfield and his wife Do ...

as Det. Roberts * Edward Harvey as Williams *

Catherine Craig Catherine Craig (born Catherine Jewel Feltus; January 18, 1915 – January 14, 2004), sometimes credited as Kay Craig, was an American actress. Early years Catherine Jewel Feltus was born in Bloomington, Indiana, where she was a member of Phi ...

as Williams' Secretary * Suzanne Ridgway as Cafe Patron

Production

had just served four years in the army. He returned to Paramount, where he had been a screenwriter, and became a producer. He was assigned the job of writing and producing ''O.S.S.'' "Every studio in Hollywood was racing to come out with the first OSS film," says Maibaum. "When I was in Washington I knew some of the OSS people so I had a head start on the subject." The studio had hoped to cast

Sterling Hayden Sterling Walter Hayden (born Sterling Relyea Walter; March 26, 1916 – May 23, 1986) was an American actor, author, sailor, and Marine. A leading man for most of his career, he specialized in Westerns and film noir throughout the 1950s, in film ...

who had served in the OSS in real life. However he was still in uniform in early 1946 so the film was assigned to Alan Ladd, whose casting was announced in January 1946. It was one of three movies being made about the OSS in Hollywood around this time, the others being ''

13 Rue Madeleine ''13 Rue Madeleine'' is a 1947 American World War II spy film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring James Cagney, Annabella, Richard Conte and Frank Latimore. Allied volunteers are trained as spies in the leadup to the invasion of Europe, but ...

'' and ''

Cloak and Dagger "Cloak and dagger" was a fighting style common by the time of the Renaissance involving a knife hidden beneath a cloak. The term later came into use as a metaphor, referring to situations involving intrigue, secrecy, espionage, or mystery. Over ...

''. This resulted in filming taking place in extreme secrecy. Shooting ended in March and the film was rushed into release. ''O.S.S.'' was the first of the three films to reach cinemas. "People had warned me about Alan and his wife Sue saying they were tough to work with but we got along marvellously," said Maibaum. Director Pichel would later be blacklisted by the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...

Reception

According to Maibaum the film "reaped substantial profits".'Great Gatsby' Employs Two Generations of Farrows: 'Gatsby' Employs Farrow Family Maibaum, Richard. Los Angeles Times, 15 July 1973: p.14. Maibaum and Ladd later collaborated on another OSS-related film, ''

Captain Carey, U.S.A. ''Captain Carey, U.S.A.'' is a 1950 American crime film, crime thriller film, thriller film noir directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Alan Ladd and Wanda Hendrix. An American returns to post–World War II Italy to bring a traitor to justice. ...

''.

Radio adaptation

''O.S.S.'' was presented on ''

Lux Radio Theatre ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a old-time radio, classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of A ...

'' November 18, 1946. The adaptation starred Ladd and

Veronica Lake Constance Frances Marie Ockelman (November 14, 1922 – July 7, 1973), known professionally as Veronica Lake, was an American film, stage, and television actress. Lake was best known for her femme fatale roles in films noir with Alan Ladd durin ...

References

*Maibaum, Richard, ''Backstory: Interviews with Screenwriters of Hollywood's Golden Age'', 1986

External links

* *
Review of film
at

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Review of film
at ''Variety''
Complete film
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:O.S.S. (Film) 1946 films 1940s spy films 1940s war films American spy films American war films American black-and-white films Films about Nazi Germany World War II films based on actual events World War II spy films Films directed by Irving Pichel Films with screenplays by Richard Maibaum Films scored by Heinz Roemheld Films scored by Daniele Amfitheatrof Office of Strategic Services in fiction Paramount Pictures films 1940s American films 1940s English-language films English-language spy films English-language war films Films set in France