Both Barry Fitzgerald and John Qualen are funny as hell in this film, but as Fitzgerald is better known I tend to point to Qualen's contribution. I especially like him in the scene covering the accusation and exculpation of Ian Hunter as a German spy. Qualen is rabid in his suspicion, then upon realizing he and the other accusers got it all wrong he turns to the men standing on the periphery and scorns them as though they were the ones in error with his usual "Py davil!"
sharei agree, i always saw Qualen in Ford's movies, but never knew who the heck he was until recently. ive found Qualen to be an asset to any movie that ive seen him in
shareJa, Suure. Qualen was a prize. I recall him in "The Searchers" putting on his glasses while his daughter read the letter from her beau. A great touch.
shareHe was a good actor, but I can't stand the accent. I didn't know until recently that he was Norwegian. I thought he was faking the accents.
shareWell he was faking the dialect, although I'm sure it was easy because that's probably the way his father spoke. He was born in Canada and grew up in Illinois. His natural voice can be heard in THE GRAPES OF WRATH and HIS GIRL FRIDAY.
shareI think it is criminal that both Mr. Qualen and John Carradine were overlooked for Oscars for their work in Ford's "Grapes of Wrath".
"It's as red as The Daily Worker and just as sore."