- Richard Wallace's The Fallen Sparrow presents an interesting early interpretation of a common film noir archetype, the soldier who came back home damaged by a war. In this case, "Kit" McKittrick (John Garfield) is newly returned from the Spanish Civil War, where he was tortured for years by a mysterious Nazi with a limp. Could it be the same German Dr. Skaas (Walter Slezak), who sits idly in a wheelchair expounding upon the virtues of torture? Absolutely! He is an obvious suspect and indeed turns out to be the very man who tormented McKittrick. That's not the film's big surprise.
- The real surprise has to do with the identity of the person or persons who conspired to kill Kit's cherished friend Louie Lepetino. Naturally, Kit suspects a dame (like any good film noir, the film is a fountain of "dames" and "sweethearts"), which leads him to consider three different suspects. One is his ex-girlfriend Barby (Patricia Morison), who hosted a party the night Louie took a dive off the roof. Another is Whitney Parker (Martha O'Driscoll), who grew up to be a flashy lounge singer with a sketchy accompanist (John Banner). The final suspect is Toni Donne (Maureen O'Hara), whose relationship to French royalty may not be enough to ensure her innocence. As another of Kit's friends, Whitney's cousin Ab (Bruce Edwards), meets his own grim fate, Kit starts to piece together what all of this has to do with his time in Spain.
- The film's oddest detail is what Kit views as a personal spat with Hitler (referred to only as "the little man in Berlin") over a flag that Kit's unit once flew. It turns out that Kit's imprisonment had entirely to do with this hidden flag, which in turn became the only thing that kept Kit alive. Even the film seems to realize that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but you have to give John Garfield credit for selling the sweating panic attacks and overheard thumps, both real and imagined. O'Hara and Slezak also contribute strong performances, with the latter memorably outsmarting Kit's "Borgia custom" of exchanging drinks with suspicious characters. Although the story is based on a novel by the esteemed Dorothy B. Hughes, The Fallen Sparrow's acting ends up being considerably better than its plot.
- Also featuring John Miljan and Hugh Beaumont.
- Edited by Robert Wise.
