Shake Hands with the Devil

6.5

111 minutes

6/24/1959

Overview

In 1921 Dublin, the IRA battles the "Black & Tans," special British forces given to harsh measures. Irish-American medical student Kerry O'Shea hopes to stay aloof, but saving a wounded friend gets him outlawed, and inexorably drawn into the rebel organization...under his former professor Sean Lenihan, who has "shaken hands with the devil" and begun to think of fighting as an end in itself. Complications arise when Kerry falls for a beautiful English hostage, and the British offer a peace treaty that is not enough to satisfy Lenihan.

Cast List

James Cagney
as Sean Lenihan
Don Murray
as Kerry O'Shea
Dana Wynter
as Jennifer Curtis
Glynis Johns
as Kitty Brady
Michael Redgrave
as The General
Sybil Thorndike
as Lady Fitzhugh
Cyril Cusack
as Chris Noonan
Marianne Benet
as Mary Madigan
John Breslin
as Timmy McGrath
Harry Brogan
as Tom Cassidy
Richard Harris
as Terence O'Brien
William Hartnell
as Sergeant Jenkins
John Le Mesurier
as British General
Niall MacGinnis
as Michael O'Leary
Ray McAnally
as Paddy Nolan
Patrick McAlinney
as Donovan
Clive Morton
as Sir Arnold Fielding
Noel Purcell
as Liam O'Sullivan
Peter Reynolds
as 'Black & Tans' Captain
Walter Gotell
as 'Black & Tans' Sergeant
Robert Brown
as First Sergeant 'Black & Tans'
Lewis Casson
as Judge
Christopher Casson
as Brigadier
John Cairney
as Mike O'Callaghan
Harry H. Corbett
as Clancy
Eileen Crowe
as Mrs. Madigan
Allan Cuthbertson
as Captain
Donal Donnelly
as Willie Lafferty
Wilfred Downing
as Tommy Connor
Eithne Dunne
as Eileen O'Leary
Paul Farrell
as Doyle
Christopher Rhodes
as Colonel Smithson
Ronnie Walsh
as Sergeant 'Black & Tans'
Alan White
as Captain Fleming
Eamonn Andrews
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Norman Rodway
as Sergeant at HQ (uncredited)
Godfrey Quigley
as Soldier (uncredited)