The Informer

Six years before John Ford adapted Liam O’Flaherty’s 1925 Irish novel The Informer into an Oscar-winning 1935 drama starring Victor McLaglen, Arthur Robison directed this fine silent adaptation in Britain that features an international pedigree. Swedish-born actor Lars Hanson plays Gypo, an IRA soldier in Ireland who betrays his best friend (Carl Harbord) to the police in a fit of jealousy over the woman they both love (Hungarian actress Lya De Putti), and then flees his gang and his guilt. American-born director Robison made his career in Germany and brings an evocative expressionist approach to the film with strong imagery, evocative camerawork, dynamic lighting, and striking sets that recreate 1920s Dublin as an almost dreamlike city of crowded cobblestone streets and dark rooms enveloped in a constant night. Hanson, who came to England from a brief but successful career as a Hollywood leading man, cuts a handsome figure as the streetwise Gypo, whose jealousy overcomes his loyalty in an act that even he ultimately cannot forgive. Released in 1929 on the cusp of sound cinema, the film was produced in both silent and sound versions and the superior silent version was unavailable until the appearance of the excellent BFI National Archive restoration in 2017. An example of silent movie storytelling at the height of its artistry, The Informer features a superb score from musician and composer Garth Knox, along with extras including the sound version of the film, and a featurette on the restoration. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)