Shake Hands with the Devil

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Shake Hands with the Devil ★★★ 1959

It's the Irish Republican Army against the British Black and Tans as Ireland fights for independence in 1921. Cagney is a teaching surgeon who is secretly a militant, obsessed with the idea of gaining Irish freedom. He urges his students to join with him, which Irish-American Murray does. When Murray learns that Cagney is out to sabotage a peace treaty, he must decide whether to betray Cagney in order to stop further violence. Cagney is excellent as the hardbitten revolutionary who can't see beyond his own ideals. Filmed on location in Dublin, which further heightens the film's tension. 110m/B VHS . James Cagney, Don Murray, Dana Wynter, Glynis Johns, Michael Redgrave, Sybil Thorndike, Harry Brogan, Robert Brown; D: Michael Anderson Sr.; W: Ivan Goff.