1h 41min | Drama, Romance, Thriller | 24 October 1944
Director: Jean Negulesco
Stars: Hedy Lamarr, Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre
Watched online; ok print
I knew I shouldn't watch 2 non-musical war movies in a row. But I was intrigued that Warner released 2 so close together (although the Bogart film had a subsequent release date in Jan.)
I stuck through to the end only so I could credibly post the warning rating not to attempt this again.
I did get one thing from it: a deeper sense of "how do you know which of your co-conspirators you can trust?" Being a resistance fighter means trusting with your life, and especially when you enlist a double agent, that must be tough. Is/was the culture so dense in honor and dying for your cause was so noble, that risking your life was glorious? I know Honor and Glory were part of the motivations for the Germans; I suspect that Europe had spent so many generations warring that it was a continental ideal.
There is little suspense or thrill here. Hedy Lamarr doesn't get to do enough (at one point she'd been absent for so long that I asked myself where she was; and then she appeared.) She does convey distress/grief/loss very well. Paul Henreid is not appealing to me; I don't know why he was used as a leading man. It was good to see Greenstreet and Lorre at all, but especially as good guys; they are barely there at all.
Warner, dir. Negulesco; 5
