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.

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.

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