| Operator 13 | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Richard Boleslawski |
| Written by | Robert W Chambers Harvey F Thew Eve Greene |
| Starring | Marion Davies Gary Cooper Jean Parker |
| Release date(s) | 1934 |
| Running time | 85 min |
| Language | United States |
Operator 13 is a romantic spy film set in the American Civil War
The Civil War, shortly after the Battle of Bull Run, the Union forces are in retreat. In a US Military Hospital, the Pauline Cushman Players are performing for wounded soldiers. Pauline the spy who works for Allen Pinkerton persuades Gail to become a spy for the Union cause, Operator 13.
Gail accompanies Pauline as her African American maid (so-called "octaroon" the out-of-date term for a person of 1/8th African ancestry) and while washing General Stuart’s clothes, hears he will attend a ball that night. At the ball, Captain Gaillard suspects that Pauline is a spy and finds evidence in her room. Pauline, trying to flee is arrested and is to be a witness against Pauline who is later sentenced to death. Both women manage to escape to the Union lines.
Pinkerton decides to use Pauline to trap Gaillard, and part of the plan, she jeers at a parade of Union soldiers and is thought to be a heroine in the southern newspapers. Gail, as Anne Claibourne is pardoned by Lincoln and heads south where Captain Gaillard is attracted to her. However later Gail is told by Stuart’s groom, a fellow spy, that she is known to be a spy and she flees in a Confederate uniform. Galliard cannot believe she is a spy and finds her but she strikes him with a gun and rides off. Others start in pursuit.
She and the groom hide in a farm house where Galliard finds her and she pours out her love for him. A group of Union soldiers pass by and groom rushes out to them, forgetting his Confederate clothes and is shot down. The two hide in a well as the farm house is searched. They later part and she watches as he heads southwards back to his own lines.
Notable:
Actress Marion Davies, the famed extramarital paramour of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst is a blonde, blue eyed Caucasian actress who appears in race changing "blackface" for the scenes when she appears as the maid. The use of such makeup is problematic for modern moviegoers because "blackface" has a long history in America for degrading African Americans for comic effect. Hollywood often traded in many of these offensive stereotypes too.
[1] imdb Operator 13