09 Mar Secret Command
(1944) An FBI agent goes to work at a large California shipyard in order to uncover Nazi sabotage. Just to make things more interesting, the FBI agent (played by Pat O’Brien) also has a pretend family. His wife is played by the beautiful Carole Landis, and they even have two children, borrowed from a refugee camp.
The folks back home were being warned to be vigilant against enemy saboteurs in their factories, in this case, a shipyard.
I was interesting in watching this movie primarily because of the two leads. Pat O’Brien was the perfect Irishman who often played cops or priests, but his most famous role was as a football coach from Notre Dame, Knute Rockne.
The beautiful Carole Landis played the FBI agent’s pretend wife. Carole was one of World War II’s pinup girls. In 1942 she toured England and North Africa with 3 other actresses and even visited Thurleigh, the base where my Dad was stationed. When she got back to the U.S. she wrote a book about her travels, then starred in a movie based on the book: Four Jills in a Jeep.
This talented actress had a tough love life. She even married an officer in the Air Corps that she met while on her tour, her 3rd marriage. In 1948, at the age of 29, Carole Landis reportedly committed suicide. She was romantically involved with the English actor Rex Harrison, but he refused to break up with his wife.
Sometimes the back stories are more interesting than the movie itself, definitely the case with this one.
No Comments