The Informer

Literally and figuratively, John Ford’s The Informer exists in a fog. At its nub, the film is the story of a man who makes an impossible choice. He knows that in making it, he is destroying the life he knows, but in that time and in that place, he feels that there is no other option. That’s the “fog” – How do you go on with your life after you have done something that is abominable to you?

Gypo Nolan (Victor McLaglen) is a guy at a crossroads in his life. A former IRA agent, he was booted out because he wouldn’t kill a man, and now it’s a struggle just to live. He exists in a limbo between his former colleagues and the occupying British police. His days involve trying to live and eat without being visible to either side.

What Gypo really wants is to get away with his girl Katie (Margot Grahame), who has been forced into prostitution to pay the bills. There’s an early scene where Gypo attacks a john who is putting the moves on Katie. The point here is the rage he feels at the way of life that he and the woman he loves have come to. The movie has already established that the two of them can sail to America for 20 pounds, and that dream is what fuels the events that follow.

Early in the film, Gypo crosses paths with an old buddy, Frankie (Wallace Ford). Frankie is on the run from the Black and Tans, and has a price on his head. At one point he mentions that he is going to pop in and visit his family and then he will have to go underground again. Frankie has no problem divulging this: Gypo is an old mate of his, and he trusts him. For his part, Gypo has no notion of making anything of this information.

Then, he sees the poster. Walking down a dark alley, he spies a poster for the reward of Frankie for 20 pounds. Now, Ford lets the film start edge away from realism, and into a psychological study. The poster is illuminated by a single light, and the photo of the fugitive dissolves to a flashback of Gypo with Frankie – His friend and comrade. The film has subtly switched to Gypos point-of-view, and it will essentially remain there for the duration. Ford has masterfully taken us through the thought process of the anguish of betraying a friend and confidante for money.

When you watch the scene of Gypo going to the police station with his info, what`s striking is how Ford uses McLaglen. The actor was a big, burly man over 6 feet tall, but as he goes to inform, he seems diminished. He slouches and holds his cap in both hands in shame. The commander makes him stand there in silence while he finishes what he`s working on. When he tells why he`s there, he speaks so softly that they make him repeat himself – Which of course adds to his shame. There`s a brilliant little scene where Gypo is paid his blood money, and the British officer pushes it across a table to Gypo with a walking stick instead of handing it to him. They are paying the reward, all right, but they still look at this Judas with scorn.

John Ford looked at The Informer as a golden opportunity to make an art film. His vision was that the film tell its story visually, and not rely on dialogue to move things along. He also wanted the visuals to reflect the inner turmoil of a man dealing with soul-crushing guilt, and thus be less realistic, and more dream-like. Consider a sequence immediately after Gypo informs. As he leaves the police station he is confronted by a tall, wraith-like blind man, who Gypo attacks before he realizes that the man is not staring at him. This man serves as a conscience for Gypo , because he appears multiple times. The crumpled reward poster even makes multiple appearances, blowing along the sidewalk and wrapping around Gypos leg as he walks. These elements are not realistic and aren`t meant to be – They are emblems of a guilt that sticks to you.

It`s also instructive to see the way Ford films the raid and killing of Frankie. The police raid the house of Frankies mother and she and Frankies sister are present when they break in. He tries to escape up the stairs while the women frantically try to stop them, and Frankie is killed in a hail of bullets trying to go out a back window. Frankie dies horribly in front of his family, and although Gypo doesn`t see it, we do, and it brings home the real cost of Gypos betrayal.

The events of The Informer occur over the course of one night, as Gypo decides to get drunk. The film follows him at several stops, where he gets more and more inebriated, and buys drinks for everyone he sees. Make no mistake; Gypo is not the brightest fellow in the world. He doesn`t seem to make the connection that as he drinks, his escape to America is disappearing. The drunken binge has two purposes – First it assuages his guilt, but secondly, it is Gypos way of recovering his self-worth. By becoming the generous life-of-the-party, he is convincing himself that he is worthwhile, and not a loathsome Judas.

In the meantime, The IRA has pretty much established who the informer is, mainly by following Gypo around and watching him spend money. That brings up another layer to the story. Is Gypo subconsciously surrendering himself in an act of contrition? When we see him in his debauchery, he is the loudest person in the room. He’s always the biggest, most conspicuous person in the room, as well. Why does he let a slimy hanger-on (J. M. Kerrigan) attach himself to him? This can be read as Gypo inviting death by drawing attention to the blood money.

The film can really only have one conclusion, but this is where I think The Informer falls off the rails a bit. After being shot by the IRA, he makes his way to a church, where he meets Frankies mother. Dying, he confesses, and she absolves him, saying “You didn’t know what you were doing”. To me, that is weak – If that were true, what have we been watching for an hour and a half? I don’t think the whole film should be explained away with an “Oh, well!” I would have been happier if Gypo had fallen just short. What if the old woman isn’t in the church, and he dies on the floor?

If you go over the filmography of John Ford, The Informer stands out as being a bit out of his comfort zone. As an atmospheric study of guilt, it is more in line with a film like Fritz Langs M or Film Noir from the 40’s than with Ford standards like The Searchers or Fort Apache. It is heavily informed by Fords Irish Catholic upbringing, with its themes of guilt and penance. Indeed, the first words we see on screen are from the Bible, and they concern a character that Gypo will ultimately become.

“"Then Judas presented himself and cast down the thirty pieces of silver and departed."

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