Shake Hands with the Devil - The Treaty

A scene from the film Shake Hands With the Devil (1959), in which two of the characters disscuss a treaty.

James Cagney plays an IRA leader, he fantastically portrays the thin line between being a dedicated freedom fighter against being a fanatic, the General played by Michael Redgrave is of course ment to portray Michael Collins. Many have claimed Cagney's character is ment to portray Cathal Brugha while you can tell Redgrave is ment to be Collins, i doubt if Brugha was as crazy as Cagney is in this film.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Shake
• Hands
• with
• the
• Devil
• 1959
• James
• Cagney
• Michael
• Anderson
• Redgrave
• Anglo-Irish
• Treaty
• IRA
• Free
• State
• Independencenc

[dan1919breen]

is cagney ment 2 be dev or boland

[godbrother10]

Many have claimed Cagney's character is ment to portray Cathal Brugha although i doubt if Brugha was as crazy as Cagney is in this film.

[spacepatrolman]

In an earlier scene some one rides up on a bicycle and throws a hand grenade at an armored car didnt collins have a bicycle and have a floating column.

[godbrother10]

bicycles were used more than just by Michael Collins

[LAHFaust]

@spacepatrolman I don't think Collins had a personal Flying Coloumn like say, Tom Barry. Collins was in overall charge of the Irish Republican Army, which would explain his title of Commander-in-Chief.

Cathal Brugha was certainly one of the more militant of the IRA/IRB leaders, what with his proposing that they take the war to English soil, instead of letting it carry on on Ireland's. Brugha certainly wasn't "crazy" but he was a fanatic, which made him one of the most dangerous men in the war.

[godbrother10]

@LAHFaust Cathal brugha had no rank in the IRB, he was Minister of Defence in the Dail and thus Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army. Collins wasn't commander-in-chief of the IRA he was its minster of intelligence and President of the IRB.

Although Brugha outranked Collins in the IRA, most men took their orders from Collins because of his realistic methods and his rank in the IRB.

[spacepatrolman]

@malachy1847 yea that sounds like it there is always 3 things happening what really happened whats in the book or books and whats in the movie they have the michael collins movie in here now there are some discrepencies in that .

[malachy1847]

@spacepatrolman Collins used a push= bike to cycle around Dublin and blended in with the citizens of that city, as for a 'Floating Column' Commandant Tom Barry from Cork came up the idea of 'FLYING Columns' which could mobilised and then go to ground when necessary....he used of same at the likes of Killmichael Ambush case in point...Another take on same which were adapted by Collins to an Urban setting,Ccollins called his guys.'The Squad' but it wasmore like the modern 'Cell' structure..

[SuperRl91]

Brugha was as "fanatical" as cagney portrays he swore to uphold the republic with his life and died fighting rather than go back on his oath and settle for what the coniving english scum offered

[TINY2ACTIVE]

This film is classic James Cagney, an outstanding portrait of the Irish Republican struggle against Britain in 1921 and its strong-arm police the Black and Tans.It was and is worthy of Academy Award.

[moxy1916]

this film was on TCM 2 days ago but i only seen it from when the black and tans try to arrest cagney when hes performing an oporation in hospital. he was a doctor in the movie

[mvies77]

James Cagney was a great actor. He is sorely missed.

[tommyd007]

Accents are a bit thin.

[SiMags]

James Cagney was a true actor.