''Captain Carey, U.S.A.'' is a 1950 American

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

thriller

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

directed by

Mitchell Leisen James Mitchell Leisen (October 6, 1898 – October 28, 1972) was an American film director, director, art director, and costume designer. Film career He entered the film industry in the 1920s, beginning in the art and costume departments. He d ...

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 ...

and Wanda Hendrix. An American returns to post–

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 ...

Italy to bring a traitor to justice. It was 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 ...

. The film was based on the 1948 novel '' After Midnight'' by Martha Albrand. It was filmed under the title ''O.S.S.'' and then the title ''After Midnight''. The theme song, "

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...

", was first performed in the film by Sergio de Karlo and was a recurrent motif throughout.

Jay Livingston Jay Livingston (born Jacob Harold Levison; March 28, 1915 – October 17, 2001) was an American composer best known as half of a composing-songwriting duo with Ray Evans, with whom he specialized in composing film scores and original soundtrack ...

and

Ray Evans Raymond Bernard Evans (February 4, 1915 – February 15, 2007) was an American songwriter best known for being a half of a composing-songwriting duo with Jay Livingston, specializing himself in writing lyrics for film songs. On music Livingston ...

won the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...

. It was a #1 hit for

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...

in 1950.

Plot

A group of agents of the U.S.

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 ...

(a forerunner of the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

) is sent to German-occupied

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

during

to knock out the German-held Italian railroad system. In accomplishing this mission, most of them are killed because of an inside betrayal. After the war, one of the survivors, Captain Webster Carey (

), resolves to find the traitor. Captain Carey returns to Orta, near

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, to find out who betrayed his World War II O.S.S. team and caused the deaths of several villagers. Much to his surprise, his old love Giulia ( Wanda Hendrix), whom he thought dead at the hands of the Nazis, is alive and married to a powerful Italian nobleman, Barone Rocco de Greffi ( Francis Lederer). The villagers are unfriendly, but Carey persists in his clandestine efforts to flush out the traitor, who turns out to be de Greffi.

Cast

as Captain Webster Carey * Wanda Hendrix as Baronessa Giulia de Greffi * Francis Lederer as Barone Rocco de Greffi *

Joseph Calleia Joseph Calleia ( ; born Joseph Alexander Caesar Herstall Vincent Calleja, August 4, 1897 – October 31, 1975) was a Maltese-born American actor and singer on the stage and in films, radio and television. After serving in the Merchant Navy (Un ...

as Dr. Lunati *

Celia Lovsky Celia Lovsky (born Cäcilia Josefina Lvovsky, February 21, 1897 – October 12, 1979) was an Austrian-American actress. On the original ''Star Trek'' she played the Vulcan matriarch T'Pau, and on ''The Twilight Zone'' she played the aged d ...

as Countess Francesca de Cresci * Richard Avonde as Count Carlo de Cresci * Frank Puglia as Luigi *

Luis Alberni Luis Alberni (October 4, 1886 – December 23, 1962) was a Spanish-born American character actor of stage and films. Early years Alberni was born in Barcelona, Spain, on October 4, 1886. He acted in stock theater for four years in Marseille ...

as Sandro * Angela Clarke as Serafina * Roland Winters as Manfredo Acuto *Paul Lees as Frank * Jane Nigh as Nancy *

Russ Tamblyn Russell Irving Tamblyn (born December 30, 1934), also known as Rusty Tamblyn, is an American film and television actor and dancer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Tamblyn trained as a gymnast in his youth. He began his career as a child actor ...

as Pietro (as Rusty Tamblyn) *Virginia Farmer as Angelina *David Leonard as Blind Musician *

Ernő Verebes Ernő Verebes (born Ernst Weiss, December 6, 1902 – June 13, 1971) was a Hungarian-American actor who began his career in Hungarian silent films in 1915. During his film career he worked and lived in Hungary, Germany and in the United States. ...

as Detective * Ray Walker as Mr. Simmons *

Argentina Brunetti Argentina Brunetti (born Argentina Josefina Ángela Ferraù; August 31, 1907 – December 20, 2005) was an Argentine stage and film actress and writer. Biography Brunetti was born Argentina Ferraù in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Italian p ...

as Villager (uncredited) * Gino Corrado as Villager (uncredited)

Production

The film was based on the serial ''Dishonored''. Jonathan Latimer was originally announced as screenwriter and the stars were to be

Ray Milland Ray Milland (born Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh-American actor and film director. He is often remembered for his portrayal of an alcoholic writer in Billy Wilder's ''The Lost Weekend'' (1945), which wo ...

and

Alida Valli Baroness Alida Maria Laura Altenburger von Marckenstein-Frauenberg (31 May 1921 – 22 April 2006), better known by her stage name Alida Valli, or simply Valli, was an Italian actress who appeared in more than 100 films in a 70-year career, span ...

, with the title to be ''After Midnight''. Then

was given the lead role, and Lewis Allen meant to direct. Eventually

was given the job of directing. Filming started 3 January 1949. It was released in England in late 1949, but not shown in the U.S. until 1950, thus making it eligible for the 1950 Academy Awards.

Accolades

The film is recognized by

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

in these lists: * 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs: ** "

" – Nominated

Notes

The fictional film seems to recall real places and real events: the setting in Orta San Giulio, Lake Orta, Villa Castelnuovo and the Major of the United States of America Army William H. Holohan who on the night of the 6th December 1944, Commander of a secret mission behind enemy lines in charge of coordinating allied supplies to the partisan formations, with a secret refuge in a difficult to reach Villa and with a suitcase with a lot of money destined for the partisan formations, mysteriously disappeared in San Maurizio d ' Opaglio on Lake Orta during a Nazi attack; his brother who in the following years investigates, listens to witnesses, writes letters and one of these arrives in the hands of a Carabiniere who in turn investigates, collects elements until the confession of a murder by poisoning and with gunshots from fire, and the discovery of the body 5 years later, by order of the Partisan Chief Vincenzo "Cino" Moscatelli, as admitted by himself to Edward Bennett Williams and FBI later when he was Senator of the Italian Communist Party.

References

External links

* *
''Captain Carey, U.S.A.''
at the Movie Review Query Engine {{Mitchell Leisen 1950 films 1950 crime drama films Film noir Films that won the Best Original Song Academy Award American black-and-white films Films based on American novels Films based on German novels Films scored by Hugo Friedhofer Paramount Pictures films Films directed by Mitchell Leisen Films set in Italy American World War II films American crime drama films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language crime drama films