Beloved Enemy

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.

Plot
During the Irish War of Independence in 1921, Irish rebel leader Dennis Riordan (Aherne) and English aristocrat Helen Drummond (Oberon) meet and fall in love. Riordan is pursued, however, by British army officer Captain Preston (Niven).

The original film ended with Riordan getting shot and killed, but did not do well at the box office. A happier ending was also filmed which has Riordan being shot but surviving; all subsequent versions have. The original cut has since been lost.

The movie has several comic relief scenes: after a raid on an IRA "safe house", British officers grumble about being not being able to find Riordan, 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 announced, the delegation replies in Irish.

Cast

 * Merle Oberon as Helen Drummond
 * Brian Aherne as Dennis Riordan
 * Karen Morley as Cathleen O'Brien
 * Henry Stephenson as Lord Athleigh
 * David Niven as Capt. Gerald Preston
 * Jerome Cowan as Tim O'Rourke
 * Donald Crisp as Liam Burke
 * Ronald Sinclair as Jerry O'Brien
 * Granville Bates as Ryan
 * P.J. Kelly as Rooney
 * Leo McCabe as Connor
 * Pat O'Malley as Patrick Callahan
 * Jack Mulhall as Casey
 * Claude King as Colonel Loder
 * Wyndham Standing as Thornton
 * Robert Strange as Perrins
 * Lionel Pape as Crump
 * John Burton as Hall
 * Leyland Hodgson as Hawkins
 * Frank Roan as Murphy
 * Wally Maher as Humphries
 * Theodore von Eltz as Sean O'Brien
 * David Torrence as Alroyd
 * Denis O'Dea as Sean