This is a gripping, meticulously detailed wartime thriller – all the more exciting for being true. Being a Fox picture made in Britain, the film provides the requisite American star in Clifton Webb (in what turned out to be one of his last roles in a brief and erratic career) – he’s effectively cast, however, infusing the character with his trademark coldness and dry wit.
Robert Flemyng is fine as Webb’s sidekick – in retrospect, it’s amusing to see him dealing with corpses given his most famous role of a necrophiliac in THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK (1962)!; Gloria Grahame’s role mainly serves as a plot contrivance, though she manages a few emotional scenes; Stephen Boyd turns in an impressive star-making performance as an impudent but wily Irishman working for the Nazis! The supporting cast is brimming with old reliables such as Laurence Naismith, Geoffrey Keen, Cyril Cusack, Andre' Morell, Michael Hordern, Allan Cuthbertson, etc.
The film provides a rare instance where the lead actors hardly interact: Webb only shares one brief scene with Grahame; Boyd (whose character is belatedly introduced) meets up with Grahame towards the end, but not at all with Webb or Flemyng; still, both parties – British and German – strive to stay ahead in the subtle game of cat-and-mouse being waged throughout.
Attractively shot in widescreen by Oswald Morris, this is easily one of Ronald Neame’s best efforts: throughout his directorial career, he demonstrated an affinity for (and versatility within) the thriller genre – from his debut TAKE MY LIFE (1947) to latter-day efforts such as the comedy caper GAMBIT (1966), the glum Holocaust expose' THE ODESSA FILE (1974), and the spy comedy HOPSCOTCH (1980).
Robert Flemyng is fine as Webb’s sidekick – in retrospect, it’s amusing to see him dealing with corpses given his most famous role of a necrophiliac in THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK (1962)!; Gloria Grahame’s role mainly serves as a plot contrivance, though she manages a few emotional scenes; Stephen Boyd turns in an impressive star-making performance as an impudent but wily Irishman working for the Nazis! The supporting cast is brimming with old reliables such as Laurence Naismith, Geoffrey Keen, Cyril Cusack, Andre' Morell, Michael Hordern, Allan Cuthbertson, etc.
The film provides a rare instance where the lead actors hardly interact: Webb only shares one brief scene with Grahame; Boyd (whose character is belatedly introduced) meets up with Grahame towards the end, but not at all with Webb or Flemyng; still, both parties – British and German – strive to stay ahead in the subtle game of cat-and-mouse being waged throughout.
Attractively shot in widescreen by Oswald Morris, this is easily one of Ronald Neame’s best efforts: throughout his directorial career, he demonstrated an affinity for (and versatility within) the thriller genre – from his debut TAKE MY LIFE (1947) to latter-day efforts such as the comedy caper GAMBIT (1966), the glum Holocaust expose' THE ODESSA FILE (1974), and the spy comedy HOPSCOTCH (1980).