The 1935 John Ford film that became the first New York Film Critics Circle Best Film winner was The Informer. The award recognized the best film of 1935 at the inaugural New York Film Critics Circle Awards, announced in January 1936.
The film adapts Liam O’Flaherty’s 1925 novel and is set in Dublin during the Irish War of Independence. Victor McLaglen plays Gypo Nolan, an impoverished former Irish Republican Army member who betrays his friend Frankie McPhillip for money. The betrayal drives the film’s tragic story of guilt, punishment, and attempted redemption.
John Ford’s direction earned the inaugural critics’ award for Best Director as well. McLaglen won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the role, giving the film an additional place in 1930s film history. The Informer is sometimes confused with Ford’s later Irish-themed films, including The Quiet Man, but it is a much darker expressionist drama. The New York critics’ prize was originally labeled Best Picture in many accounts, making “Best Film” a reasonable equivalent for this quiz question.