Ordre d'execution – 1958 There has been a leak in a French Underground network ran by the U.S. Army intelligence service. Several agents have been killed after meeting with a member of the network. The U.S. decides that the man, Leslie French, must be a double agent working for the Germans. They decide that the leak needs to be sealed and Mr. French eliminated. It is only a month till D-Day and the Allies cannot take any chances.
They draft in a French speaking pilot from the Air Force. The man, Paul Massie, just happens to have lived in the same area of Paris where French lives. They give Massie a crash course on how to act etc once he is dropped in country. They also teach him various ways of killing quietly.
One of training officers, Eddie Albert, is not quite sure that Massie is the right man. While dropping bombs on a more or less unseen enemy is OK, will Massie be able to do the deed, face to face? Albert's boss, Johnny Crawford sees no problem and orders the training to carry on. "Lives are at risk!" Crawford says.
Massie is soon ready and dropped outside Paris. He is to meet with an Underground contact, Irene Worth, who will put him up etc. He as papers as an electrical engineer which allows him more or less free movement through the streets.
He then spends several days casing the run down building where French has his lawyer offices. While having a drink in the downstairs café, Massie bumps right into French. French seems like a nice sort, and warns him not to order the rabbit stew as it is really cat. French then warns him that the Police and the Germans will be raiding the area in an hour. Massie best hideout, or he will be grabbed up and shipped to Germany as forced labour. French offers the man a room in his office upstairs to hide in.
Sure enough, the raid happens and several men are grabbed up and hauled away. Massie spends the night in French's office looking for evidence he is a turncoat. He finds none. French returns the next morning and invites Massie to dine with his wife and daughter that evening. Massie accepts the invite. Massie is finding that the more time he spends with his target, the more convinced he is that French is innocent.
Massie contact's Worth and asks what he should do?. ''Do your job!'' Is her response. The next morning Massie returns to French's office. When French turns his back to brew up some tea, Massie, belts him with a handy blunt object on the back of the head. The blow was not hard enough and Massie is forced to make a mess of the job with a knife. He cleans up as best he can and takes off into the streets.
Several days after the Allies have liberated Paris. A MP patrol brings in a drunken man who says he is a U.S. pilot. The name is run through the records and Eddie Albert gets the call. He visits Massie in the hospital and finds that the man is being eaten up by guilt over killing French. He has been drunk ever since the hit.
Now Col. Crawford shows up, he tells Massie that he is a hero and his actions saved hundreds of lives. Once Crawford has left, Massie asks Albert for the truth. He can't go the rest of his life wondering about it. Albert tells him that French turned out to be innocent. Also in the cast, are James Robertson Justice, Sandra Dorne, Lionel Jefferies and Lillian Gish.
Canadian Paul Massie won a BAFTA Award for his role in this film. Though the film builds slowly, it is worth staying till the pay off. The film was nominated for the Palme dÒr at the Cannes Film Festival.
The director was Anthony Asquith. His work includes, THE BROWNING VERSION, COTTAGE TO LET, FANNY BY GASLIGHT, THE WOMAN IN QUESTION, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, CARRINGTON V.C. and LIBEL.
