Beloved Enemy
Beloved Enemy | |
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Directed by | H. C. Potter |
Written by | John Balderston Rose Franken William Brown Meloney |
Produced by | George Haight |
Starring | Merle Oberon Brian Aherne David Niven |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Country | USA |
Language | English |
Beloved Enemy is a 1936 American drama film directed by H.C. Potter and starring Merle Oberon, Brian Aherne, and David Niven. It was loosely based on the life of Michael Collins.
During the Irish War of Independence an Irish rebel leader Dennis Reardon (Aherne) and an English aristocrat Helen Drummond (Oberon) meet and fall in love. Reardon is pursued, however, by a British army officer Captain Preston (Niven) in a cameo role.
The original movie ended with Dennis Reardon getting shot and killed, but did not do well at the box office. They also filmed a happier ending which all subsequent version have. The original cut has since been lost.
The movie has several comic relief scenes: after a raid on a IRA "safe house" British Officers grumble about being not being able to find Reardon-who is in fact standing just behind them; when the Irish Delegation goes to a formal ball and is asked by the footman for their names to be anounced, the delegation relies in Irish!