Michael_Elliott How to Operate Behind Enemy Lines (1943) *** (out of 4)When WWII broke out Hollywood stood up and did what they could to help. Many famous actors enlisted while others made movies to help various departments of the military. Directors like John Huston, Frank Capra and John Ford made a very good number of these types of films and this one here belongs to Ford who not only directs but plays a couple different roles.The story is pretty simple as the film is meant to teach new recruits the dangers of operating behind enemy lines and the various things they need to think about. The story of the film has two new recruits going behind enemy lines with one of them being careful and the other one not so much. As you can tell, the story itself is pretty simple as the main goal was just to show people what could happen if they weren't paying attention. The film opens and closes as a lecture and there's a nice little bit in the final seconds about a cigarette and how important it was to what we just watched.For the most part this is an entertaining film that fans of the director should enjoy. Those who have watched a lot of these WWII films know that the quality usually isn't as high as what you'd expect in a Hollywood film but it's still quite good. The most fascinating factor here is the fact that Ford plays a couple different parts here and it's more of a distraction than anything else.

GeoPierpont WOW!! I had no conception of how difficult it is to be a spy. If I only smoked half of my cigarette, why would I not be conserving a precious commodity?? Hmmm, some suggestions to blend in seem counter- intuitive. These guys look like zombies with their shoulders hunched up, walking irregular, and that stare would cause much suspicion imho.I found it fascinating that this would even be shown on TV and first thought it was a tongue-in-cheek fictionalized training program. But the OSS was the pre-cursor to the CIA I believe and figured this espionage deal was new?? HUH? Didn't our dear General Washington use spies consistently to get a heads up on the British positions and spread disinformation like no tomorrow?? High recommend for anyone who has an interest or ever read Spy stories, magazines, TV shows or films. Hilarity ensues round every corner, these guys are terrible and prove no example that would prevent capture, torture, and well, demise. Thanks TCM for fascinating entertainment!

MartinHafer This film was made for the US government to show agents and soldiers going on missions behind enemy lines. Because it was never intended to be shown to the public, it really isn't fair to give this one a numerical score....so I'll forgo it in this case.The film is a rather dry* but comprehensive film teaching potential agents what to do and what not to do during their undercover missions. You get lots of advice and numerous examples. How good or bad this is actually is hard to tell. What I do know is that today it makes for fascinating viewing--probably more to me than most as I am a retired history teacher and film nut! The only thing that didn't make much sense is that most everyone in the film LOOKS and SOUNDS just like typical Americans. Odd...*Like the Private Snafu cartoons, since it was NOT intended to be seen by children and women, the short is peppered with cursing.

Robert J. Maxwell I wouldn't have believed it but John Ford plays an important role as an actor in this production. In the part of an interviewer dealing with an applicant for the OSS, Ford isn't bad actually. But he needed a director. Seated behind his desk, grilling the recruit, he keeps waving his hand, the one with the pipe in it, as if trying to hide his face -- the features not already hidden behind his dark glasses. Maybe it's meant as a joke because his judgment about the new recruit turns out to be mistaken.Some of this will already be familiar to viewers, from watching James Bond movies or "The Odessa File" or "The Jackal." But some of it is rather new, and ALL of it was new in 1943, which is why I assume it was classified until the post-war years.Basically the story of two new recruits, Al (the good one) and Charlie (the careless one). Charlie goes to "Enemyland" in La Porta, drinks, flirts with the waitresses, goofs off, and poses as a fisherman.Al becomes a mechanic in a "Falcon" factory in Enemyland and he's cautious, leads an unassuming life -- "the kind of man who always kept to himself". It probably helps that Al has a face full of meaningless mansuetude with all the interest of a Nutrisystem Lunch.Some of the details are interesting. A British agent reveals himself when he uses a British "hair grease". Even Al, the summum bonum of spydom, makes an error when he nervously stubs out a half-used cigarette in a country where cigarettes are a precious commodity.It's still hard to believe we're watching Ford play such a role. The only performance he ever mentioned was that of a KKK rider in "Birth of a Nation" -- the one wearing glasses. A reporter once asked him if he'd ever considered playing the lead in one of his Westerns. "What? With MY face?"But, really, I for one learned a great deal from this movie. I learned that after one day trying to pose as a native in Enemyland, I'd be a dead OSS agent. I hope they'd bury me in the Alter Friedhof Weimar, near Goethe.