Captain Carey, U.S.A. is a 1950 American crime thriller film noir directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Alan Ladd and Wanda Hendrix. An American returns to post–World War II Italy to bring a traitor to justice. It was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was based on the 1948 novel After Midnight by Martha Albrand. It was filmed under the title O.S.S. and then the title After Midnight. The theme song, "Mona Lisa", was first performed in the film by Sergio de Karlo and was a recurrent motif throughout. Jay Livingston and Ray Evans won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was a #1 hit for Nat King Cole in 1950.

Plot

A group of agents of the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (a forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency) is sent to German-occupied Italy during World War II to knock out the German-held Italian railroad system. In accomplishing this mission, most of them are killed because of an inside betrayal. After the war, one of the survivors, Captain Webster Carey (Alan Ladd), resolves to find the traitor. Captain Carey returns to Orta, near Milan, to find out who betrayed his World War II O.S.S. team and caused the deaths of several villagers. Much to his surprise, his old love Giulia (Wanda Hendrix), whom he thought dead at the hands of the Nazis, is alive and married to a powerful Italian nobleman, Barone Rocco de Greffi (Francis Lederer). The villagers are unfriendly, but Carey persists in his clandestine efforts to flush out the traitor, who turns out to be de Greffi.

Cast

Production

The film was based on the serial Dishonored. Jonathan Latimer was originally announced as screenwriter and the stars were to be Ray Milland and Alida Valli, with the title to be After Midnight. Then Alan Ladd was given the lead role, and Lewis Allen meant to direct. Eventually Mitchell Leisen was given the job of directing. Filming started 3 January 1949. It was released in England in late 1949, but not shown in the U.S. until 1950, thus making it eligible for the 1950 Academy Awards.

Accolades

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: