Sam Gallagher (<a href=">Pat O'Brien), a former foreign correspondent and now a United States Government agent, gets a job through his brother Jeff (<a href=">Chester Morris), whom he has not seen in seven years, in the Seaboard Shipyards as a "pileback" in order to track down a gang of Nazi spies who are plotting to sabotage the shipyards. Jill McCann (<a href=">Carole Landis),an FBI agent, poses as Sam's wife, and two children, 6-year-old Paul (<a href=">Richard Lyon), and 4-year-old-Joan (<a href=">Carol Nugent),complete his "cover family." THe set-up looks fishy to Jeff, and he imparts his suspicions to Lea Damoran (<a href=">Ruth Warrick, the girl both brothers had courted in the old days. Meanwhile, Sam works hard and makes friends with most of the men in his crew. He gets a line on the saboteurs and one by one, their identities are revealed to him. The Nazis, led by Brownell (<a href=">Tom Tully)who, in reality, is Colonel Von Braun of the German Gestapo, plan to blow up the yard while an aircraft carrier is docked there. Jeff's noisy investigations bid to intentionally hamper Sam's plans to abort the Nazi plan. TCM gave this four stars. It's a 2-1/2 stars film, in my opinion.<br/><br/>Pat O'Brien is Sam Gallagher, a U.S. government agent, a step up from his old job as a foreign correspondent. His brother Jeff (Chester Morris) offers him a job working in a shipyard as a pileback. Piles are poles, driven into the soil by a mechanical device to give a foundation to a structure Sam's purpose is to ferret out a group of Nazi spies trying to sabotage the shipyards. To give him a background, Jill McCann (Carole Landis), who is an FBI agent, poses as his wife, and two small war orphans are brought in as his children.<br/><br/>Jeff is surprised by all this - okay, he hasn't seen his brother in seven years, but something isn't right. He tells Lea Damoran (Ruth Warrick, his girlfriend who used to be Sam's girlfriend) his thoughts.<br/><br/>Sam is able to find out that the yard is going to be blown up the yard while an aircraft carrier is docked. And he begins to learn who the Nazis are in the yard. One problem: His brother's suspicions are drawing too much attention to Sam.<br/><br/>Pat O'Brien for me has never made it as a leading man, yet for some reason, every once in a while he was given a lead role. This is a role for Joel McCrea, John Wayne, that ilk: masculine, solid, and, frankly, kind of a chick magnet. I mean, on one side there's gorgeous Carole Landis, and on the other, his old girlfriend who still has feelings for him.<br/><br/>The story is only so-so, but the final scenes are quite good. The subplot concerning the war orphans is sweet and probably unnecessary.<br/><br/>Carole Landis would be dead only four years later, at the age of 29. I suspect the affair with Harrison was probably the last straw. She was done in Hollywood: she was nearing 30, the cutoff age for actresses back then, there were no more big films thanks to her relationship with Darryl Zanuck ending, she couldn't have children, and at the age of 29, she had already had four husbands. A sad end for a beautiful woman who learned that in Hollywood, you're disposable. Enjoyed viewing Carole Landis in the 1941 picture,"I Wake Up Screaming" and greatly enjoyed her performance in this film where she was so young, pretty and happy as a wife, (Jill McGann) to her husband Sam Gallagher, (Pat O'Brien) and a sweet funny little girl and boy to complete their lovely family. Sam Gallagher had a brother played by Chester Morris, (Jeff Gallagher) who did not see each other for years and wound up meeting each other in a ship yard which was building an aircraft carrier during WW II. Jeff Gallagher becomes suspicious of his brother Sam and for some reason does not believe he is married to Jill McGann and wonders just what his brother is up to. Jeff does not trust his brother and they both have a good fight in which both of the brothers get all beaten up. This is a great spy picture, but I still think Pat O'Brien was too old to act with Carole Landis or even marry her. Good Spy Film in 1944.
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