Insuspeitos

If the viewer can keep up with all the directions given in this nifty little spy vs. spy thriller, he is a better man than I Gunga Din. It's amazing that Richard Myles (Fred MacMurray) can remember all the details. The viewer may also be amazed that Fred MacMurray speaks such good German. MacMurray is one of those great Hollywood actors who never received his due, even though he almost matched the performances of Edward G. Robinson and Barbara Stanwyck in the film noir classic "Double Indemnity." He certainly keeps up with Joan Crawford in "Above Suspicion," although the two simply don't jell as a team. Barbara Stanwyck would have made a much better partner for MacMurray in this film.

All that aside, this is still a topnotch suspense movie from World War II. The flick is fast-paced and has worn well with the passage of time, since all the goings on are now just history to most viewers. Since director Richard Thorpe was an old hand at directing action pictures he lets the show get on the road and move along rapidly. He throws humor in from time to time to ease the tension the way Hitchcock would do in a more masterful way. Viewers used to seeing Basil Rathbone play Sherlock Holmes will enjoy seeing him play a dastardly Nazi stooge who receives his just desserts. In the opposite direction viewers may also enjoy seeing Conrad Veidt playing a good guy who assists the newlyweds Frances and Richard Myles (Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray)in their dangerous mission inside Nazi Germany. Those who enjoy World War II espionage films, should find this one a winner.

I, more or less, agree with practically all the reviewers. I, too, have seen better spy thrillers and anti-Nazi movies, however, this movie, was, nevertheless, a good movie! Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray were very good in the lead roles, although I thought the chemistry between them was not that good, whereas the chemistry between Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray in their movies together, especially "Double Indemnity", was fantastic! Bruce Lester, Reginald Owen, Richard Ainley, and, especially, Basil Rathbone all contributed very good supporting performances! Now we come to the actor for whom, like Mark.Waltz, this movie has a special place in my heart: Conrad Veidt! Conrad Veidt was not only an excellent actor, but he had a way about him that made him stand out in any movie, and this movie was no exception! Near the end of the movie, he danced a tango-smiling, and looking so happy, and that made me feel so good, and then I realized that this was his final movie before his early death at the age of 50! I felt so sad that he would no longer be giving his excellent performances!

If you like the kind of spy-romance yarns spun out by Hollywood in the 1940s--the kind with tongue-in-cheek dialogue that lets you know you're not supposed to take any of it too seriously--you'll enjoy this amusing, yet suspenseful film in which Conrad Veidt plays a "nice guy" for a change. Honeymooners Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray are asked by British intelligence to do some spying while on their European jaunt. The agreeable pair go along with a plan that has them on the trail of an agent and in and out of dangerous situations as they are pursued by Basil Rathbone, chilling as usual as a Nazi.

Good entertainment with some amusing dialogue and light-hearted performances by Joan and Fred that indicate they should have been teamed more than once. As it is, this is Joan Crawford's last film at Metro after seventeen years with the studio and comes just two years before "Mildred Pierce" at Warners. Good cast and fine production values make it an absorbing treat.

A lot of people seem to deride this film, but I found it quite enjoyable. It was Joan Crawfords last contract film at MGM, and far from walking through the part I personally think she sails along quite breezily and relaxed, which is just right for the character she plays. Basil Rathbone always makes a great, charming villain, and the much underrated Fred MacMurray comes across quite well as the hero. Casting of all supporting parts is excellent, and the MGM production values are faultless. The first half of the film is considerably better than the second as €"things become a bit chaotic and muddled towards the end -but its great to see a Hollywood film where the Germans actually speak German. There are also one or two quite extraordinary tracking shots, especially one in the concert hall, and in fact this whole sequence has an intensity that one wishes the entire film had. Still, if you can swallow the premise of the film and follow the logic of the "trail" you will perhaps be as entertained as I was by this one.

Those wonderful movies of the past. The film's setting is in the days prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. Although it would have been highly unlikely that British Intelligence would have asked two non-Britishers and non-professionals to do a bit of spying for them which could turn very dangerous for them and give the whole thing away plus creating an international scandal (the World War had not yet started), yet it is always interesting to see how it would have developed. Good slick direction by Mr. Thorpe, excellent acting by Mr. McMurray and specially by Miss Crawford, excellent set design which does not forget the overcoats needed on the Brenner Pass between Austria (in the Film the country is called Southern Germany) and Itally (which did not get into the War until 1940). Good to see two decent people doing the right thing for the right cause endangering their own lives to get away from the Nazi and back to safety. Good work and fun to watch and don't forget the inimitable Mr. Veidt. He should have been in Hollywood a decade earlier.

Barzin Samimi

Tehran, Iran