User reviews

Let's understand one thing before talking about Operator 13. It is a Cosmopolitan Picture meaning it is a Marion Davies film first and foremost. And it's the kind of film that William Randolph Hearst wanted her to be seen it, as he saw her, the brave little heroine, in this case during the Civil War.

Operator 13 is the kind of story that would have been popular on stage at the turn of the last century. It's also the kind of story that Cecil B. DeMille would have found appealing to do. I'm guessing that Hearst and DeMille would never have worked in tandem on any project given their egos.

Marion is an actress and in the beginning of the story as the north is badly defeated at the second battle of Bull Run, Davies is appearing on stage in a play with one John Wilkes Booth. She's recruited by Union spy-master Allan Pinkerton played by Sidney Toler to accompany Katherine Alexander playing Union Spy Pauline Cushman as her octoroon maid. The term 'octoroon' was used back in the day to describe a person who was 1/8 black and has deservedly fallen out of fashion.

Of course the various black stereotypes are present in force in Operator 13, however in Marion's case it can be forgiven somewhat as she is a spy on a mission and disguising herself. You might remember that in Going Hollywood she did the same thing to avoid the attention of Fifi D'Orsay.

One person she does attract the attention of is Confederate Major Gary Cooper who is intrigued by her. Later on not in disguise, Davies is sent on another mission and she meets up again with Cooper. Once again he's suspicious, but by that time they're in love.

If some of this sounds familiar you might recognize certain plot elements from MGM's later success, the musical The Firefly which starred Allan Jones and Jeanette MacDonald. That story is also about two rival espionage agents during the Peninsular War.

In fact Operator 13 almost qualifies for a musical. Between the songs that Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn wrote, and the traditional Civil War era melodies sung by Davies, a campfire chorus and the Mills Brothers a lot of songs are packed into the 85 minute running time of the film.

Operator 13 was old fashioned even in 1934. However the battle scenes are done quite well and director Richard Boleslawski does make the characters somewhat interesting.

And apparently managed to work within the parameters of W.R. Hearst.

"Operator 13" is an early Civil War film with a fine cast. It's also one of the early Hollywood films in which a white performer plays a role of another race. Marion Davies impersonates a Black woman in disguise to infiltrate the Confederacy and spy for the Union forces.

Davies plays Gail Loveless who soon meets and falls for a Confederate spy, Capt. Jack Gailliard. Gary Cooper plays that part. Of course, she doesn't let on to who she is. It's only after the war that the truth comes out.

A number of other known actors of the day have roles, including Jean Parker, Douglas Dumbrille, and Sidney Toler. The plot is interesting but the screenplay is a little choppy in places. This isn't a movie about the actual battles and destruction, but a behind-the-scenes film about spying during the Civil War.

Many may not find it that great a story, but I give it six stars on the strength of the fine cast.

Marion Davies plays an actress recruited by the Union Army during the Civil War to be a spy. Gary Cooper plays an officer in the Confederate Army who is a spy in the north. Through a series of events they meet, but he doesn't quite know if she is a spy or not.

Davies' initial disguise is as a Black maid (she has fun with the accent and looks great in the black wig), but when her "mistress" (another actress from the north working as a spy) is discovered, she bails the South only to return as a famous northern sympathizer of the Confederate cause. Back in the South, she again meets Cooper.

Implausible story is made interesting by solid performances by the leads and some good cinematography (Oscar nominated). The battle scene montages are OK, but the ending seems choppy and hurried. Still, Davies looks great.

Big supporting cast includes Katherine Alexander (as a spy), Jean Parker and Henry Wadsworth (as young lovers), Sidney Toler, Douglas Dumbrille, Marjorie Gateson, Sterling Holloway, Clarence Wilson, Ted Healy, Robert McWade, and silent film villain Walter Long (as Operator 55).

Davies sings "Once in a Lifetime" and "The Colonel, Major and the Captain." The terrific Mills Brothers show up in a minstrel show and sing a few songs and are especially good with "Sleepy Head" and "Jungle Fever." There's a stunning scene where Davies is sitting on a staircase and crying; the long scene is shot from below looking up at her face. Another nice scene is with Davies on a huge swing, being pushed by Cooper.

After this film, Davies left MGM and moved to Warners, where she made four more films before retiring.

I'll give this move one thing-- it's pungent enough to cease being background noise and have me watch it. Other reviewers have explained the not-at-all intricate plot so I won't rehash it here (I'm a spy for the union, but I've fallen in love with a rebel!) but suffice to say, it's 80 minutes of disposable dialog and wooden acting interspersed with songs about "jungle fever" and "darkies in de Congo." Oh, and Marion Davies' terrible blackface disguise and scenery-chewing acting.

This is a fine example of the time when movies were churned out like stamped sheet metal. It has worth if one considers using it as a part of a larger effort to explore historical depictions of race in American cinema, but otherwise it's a waste of time-- and an offensive one at that.

I came across this movie by accident and found a strong drama about people involved in espionage on different sides of a civil war

dated of course, with assumption no thinking person would accept today, over dramatic? but very much in the style and mood of its age

one well worth watching if you are able to watch movies outside of modern style and ethics

During the United States Civil War, singer Marion Davies (as Gail Loveless) is recruited to become a spy for the North. Darkening her skin and hair, speaking in husky drawl, and codenamed "Operator 13", Ms. Davies becomes the "Negro" maid working for Katharine Alexander (as Pauline "Operator 27" Cushman). While in her African guise, Davies meets handsome young Gary Cooper (as Jack Gailliard), a confederate spy. Believe it or not, romance ensues…

Davies found her niche in a series of fine late 1920s silent comedies. Then, she braved a successful, albeit shaky, transition to talking films. But, by "Operator 13", Davies was back in the inappropriate film rut earlier represented by films like "Janice Meredith". This was the type of film sponsor William Randolph Hearst seemed to want for Davies, and she did not learn how to market herself honestly. It gets better after Davies washes the black paint off her face. George Folsey's photography received an "Academy Award" nomination. And, The Mills Brothers are wonderful.

**** Operator 13 (6/8/34) Richard Boleslawski ~ Marion Davies, Gary Cooper, Jean Parker, Katharine Alexander

Although there are some blinkered reviews here,this is actually an enjoyable Civil War movie.Marion Davies acquits herself well as an Union spy in two guises:Initially as a mixed-race maid(Of French lineage from Martinique!),and latterly as a supposed Northern Sympathiser of the Confederacy.She is appealing in both roles. Gary Cooper also gives a decent performance as the Confederate Captain/ Counter-Spy who seeks to apprehend her and becomes her Paramour.Even though this is not exactly his strongest career role! Add to this a stalwart supporting cast(including Jean Parker as a Southern Belle),and some fine atmospheric cinematography:Note the early morning "fishing" scene,and also the Romantic interlude with Gary Cooper pushing Marion Davies on a sizeable swing as she sings the nice "Once In A Lifetime".This is one of several songs sung by her or the Mills Brothers. Approach this Film with an open mind and you may well find it entertaining!

Marion Davies is unbelievable as a spy behind Confederate lines who falls for Confederate spy Gary Cooper.

The black stereotypes are normal for the time, but now hard to take. The main interest to me are the women's costumes by Andre, especially those in the ball scene.

Operator 13 (1934)

** (out of 4)

Extremely bizarre and rather choppy Civil War drama about actress Gail Loveless (Marion Davies) who goes to work as a spy for the Union. Once undercover, as a black maid, she begins to have feelings for a Confederate soldier (Gary Cooper). Once again Davies lover William Randolph Hearst put the money up for this production and half way through the making he had director Raoul Walsh fired even though he had made GOING Hollywood with Davies a year earlier. A new script was written and the rest is history but in the end this turned out to be one of the strangest dramas from this era. I might go even further and call the film a complete and utter embarrassment and a horrid excuse for entertainment but the thing is just so strange that you can't help but be entertained by it. The first thirty-minutes has Davies in some very bad blackface make up as she's undercover as a maid. Davies wasn't a newbie to blackface but the make up job here is so light skinned that you can't help but laugh at the thought that this make up job would be able to fool anyone in discussion with her and that includes Cooper's character. This is a drama yet Davies plays this maid role as some sort of comedy with the bad accent, which again doesn't sit well with what the film was going for. Not to mention that whoever was doing the make up forgot to paint her palms so they're constantly white. The second half of the film really doesn't get any better even though we do get a few battle scenes but none of them are all that interesting. Even worse are various musical sequences which come out of no where and will have you wondering if the Civil War was an actual war or just one big concert. Add in the bad direction and rather bland performances and you've got a movie that really needs to be rediscovered and held up as a cult classic. Even Cooper can't save this mess but he does add some charm to an otherwise crazy movie.

This is a very, very rare film. While my family is generally very patient, they began screaming at me to "turn off that garbage" as I was watching OPERATOR 13. Part of this was because they had just suffered through another Marion Davies film, GOING Hollywood--a truly dumb film from start to finish. The other reason was when Marion appeared in OPERATOR 13 in Black-face ( a "clever" disguise so blonde Marion could go behind enemy lines and spy during the Civil War), my wife and oldest daughter were so offended and irritated with the insensitivity and stupidity of the film that they demanded I turn it off! Well, I watched a bit more but found the film so utterly dumb as well that I eventually agreed. So, I must admit that I never finished this bad film.

So why, then, would I bother to review this film even though I didn't complete it? Well there are two reasons. First, it being so offensive and dumb is something I think others should know so that they are forewarned. Second, because there is currently some sort of cult out there that worships Marion Davies.

It's true...it's like a cult in many ways! In the last couple years, some group of people who worship at the alter of Miss Davies have gone onto IMDb to give every film she ever made ratings of 10. While I will agree that she made some lovely films (such as SHOW PEOPLE) she also made a lot of turkeys--particularly later in her career. Yet, inexplicably, all of her films are rated HIGHER than most of the films in the IMDb top 250. The only reason they don't dominate this list is because there aren't enough votes for her movies (yet) to make it to the list--you need a certain minimum number of votes. This is true even for her films that lost tons of money and critics hated (such as CAIN AND MABEL).

As for this phenomenon and OPERATOR 13, almost 55% of the scores it has received are 10s--even with this disgusting and inexcusable Black-face segment. In contrast, GONE WITH THE WIND (39%) and BEN HUR (1959--29%) have a much lower percentage of 10s What is wrong with these people?! Do they LIKE seeing racist films with stupid plots?! Uggh. You have been forewarned! By the way, shortly after the film begins, there is a crowd scene as President Lincoln looks down on the crowd. Oddly, the men in the crowd are all wearing Fedora-style hats (circa 1930s) and one has a straw hat! A bit sloppy, huh? Sure sounds like it merits a 10!

"Operator 13" might have the fixings of a cult classic if it was a better movie -- even cult classics have to meet a certain standard.

This film finds Marion Davies playing a female Union spy during the American Civil War, who disguises herself as a black maid in order to infiltrate Confederate camps. She spends much of her time donning black face and a grotesque, exaggerated accent that I guess was Davies' own best guess at what a black slave during the Civil War would sound like. It's all utterly cringey and uncomfortable, and at times damn near unwatchable.

Gary Cooper is a Confederate soldier who meets Davies when she's in disguise, then falls for her when she's not in disguise, and has that feeling that he's met her somewhere before. Even granting the film some leeway given its time period and the fact that white actors were frequently cast as people of color, Davies is so implausible as a black woman that the idiocy of anyone believing her ruse mostly ruins the film.

Aside from that, the whole film is weirdly disjointed, full of abrupt and disorienting scene transitions and ragged editing. It's like the film was edited by multiple people who each took a section of the movie and didn't communicate with one another. Hell, maybe that is what happened.

"Operator 13" has some entertainment value as one of those "you have to see it to believe it" curios, but it's not good enough to enjoy as a legitimate film nor quite outrageous enough to maintain your interest for other reasons.

The supremely unlucky George Folsey received an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography for this film. It was his second of fourteen unsuccessful attempts to win an Academy Award.

Grade: C.

If you take the US History SAT, you're likely to encounter a question like this: "The main reason the North won the Civil War was...?' The answer is along the lines of "the War lasted too long." That is, the North had an advantage in numbers and industrial base, and wore down the South. However, this wonderful movie shows the real reasons the South lost:

1. Their officers were stupid. Marion Davies plays a slave in blackface. Anyone looking at her should be able to tell she's about as black as Jeff Davis. But Confederates must have believed no white would want to pose as a black.

2. Their officers were naive. We see them trusting blacks and minstrels implicitly, never believing any would be a Northern sympathizer.

3. They spent most of their time dancing. In half the scenes, Reb officers are at balls.

A fantastic film. Davies is wonderful as usual, and the film implies an anti-war message;both sides are brutal, with summary executions. It has an impossible happy ending.

Civil war story with Marion Davis as a Confederate spy disguised as a slave. Not politically correct by today's standards ("Negroes always gossip" is one of the more controversial lines from the script), but it does prove that Marion Davies was a competent actress when given the chance.

I just saw this on TCM.?I am a huge Gary Cooper.( Captain. Jack Gaillard) fan and he is the primary reason to watch Operator 13. I am quite aware that his is a Cosmopolitan Picture and that means. Marion Davies ( Gale. Loveless) and her lover William Randolph Hearst made sure that she dominated her movies, but not here ( I wonder if that is why Davies left MGM after this film?). One other thing I liked were about he action scenes. Watch a scene where Confederate soldiers.are getting killed in a river trying to escape. I wonder if Sam Peckinpah saw this movie because it reminded me of Major Dundee with Charlton Heston and Richard Harris ( except there it was Mexicans doing the killing instead of Union soldiers). I will warn this movie is not for the sensitive ( PC types) because Davies is in blackface with an obvious mistake of her hands being white. I give this movie 9/10 primarily for Cooper and the war scenes.

This movie is guaranteed to offend people of Color, Southerners, Women, and people with a conscience.

It has what has to be one of the most preposterous plots ever inflicted on the American Movie Audiences. Marion Davies, was a woman noted for her ultra light colored gray blue eyes. In this plot she is a Civil War era spy who put on a dark wig, darkens her skin slightly and passed for a black laundry maid. As the maid, she giver her alter ego all of the very worst stereotypes of a 1930s "Black Servant". It is shamefully bad. White Southerners are treated only marginally better. And don't get me started on the liberties it takes with American History.

There is really only one reason to see this movie -- Gary Cooper. This is one of his early movies and he is amazingly handsome here. Fast forward through the Marion Davies bits and linger on the scenes with Gary Cooper.

Always liked Marion Davies in most of her films. She always played good-natured, cheerful parts in which you can root for her character. But I guess everyone's entitled to a clinker once in a while, and I thought "Operator 13" is hers. She is hard to believe as a Northern spy in blackface - she doesn't look like a black person at all, and in real life would fool no one. Her makeup as a white spy looks laid on with a trowel, and in addition she doesn't sing well when called upon.

The plot itself is a good one and is handled well by underrated director Boleslawski, who died too soon. The scenes of intrigue and espionage are very good, as are the few fight and battle scenes, but the picture goes downhill in the love scenes between Davies and Gary Cooper. The dialogue here seems forced and Davies tries too hard to play an ardent lover. Rest of the cast is excellent with several recognizable character actors, including Ted Healy (minus the 3 Stooges) as a Union Captain.

I can't believe that Gary Cooper made this movie even in those days. It showed the wonderful lives of blacks in the Confederacy. I betcha' some of Duh-bya friends were brought to yearning for the good ol' days. It showed William Randolph Hearst wife in blackface. Unbelievable!!! Henry Long was seen by me for the 1st time in a straight part. Interesting. The Mills brothers were OK, but not nearly as good as in "Twenty Million Sweethearts".

Both are trying to do well in a movie that does not measure up. As for "Stereotypes"? The Mills Brothers were a great group and were together for over a half century. Propfessionals? Yes. They performed in a professional manner. It was also quite obvious on the screen? That NONE of them were happy peforming a racist number called "Jungle Fever",

Very unusual picture that offends many.

This movie is so wrong on so many levels. Even for the era it's hard to believe it was made. I gave it 1 star for 2 reasons. One it's important to watch it for historic reasons. To see just how bad African Americans were treated in this era, culturally as well as humanely. The only other reason to watch it is if you are a fan of the 3Stooges( I am). Ted Healy, who discovered the stooges is in the movie and Curly Howard makes a brief (uncredited) appearance. I won't spoil it, I'll leave it as a challenge for all Stooges fans to find him. I did and found him. Another reason to watch is if you are a Stooges fan and have watched them in "Uncivil Warriors" which came out the year after this movie. The Stooges short makes so much more sense now having watched this movie. "Operator 13" has a whole new meaning now and is even funnier than before having seen this movie. Nyuk Nyuk !!!