A drama involving political intrigue, smuggling, and general malfeasance in the Eastern and Western Zones of Berlin. James Mason is the smooth operator who smuggles such commodities as meat from the West into the needy Stalinist East. Claire Bloom is the innocent who is visiting her brother Geoffrey Toone, a British army officer, and his wife, Hildegarde Knef, who was once married to Mason.
In order to trap a Western operative, the villains extraordinarily extradite Claire Bloom and hole her up in an East Berlin dump. She is rescued by Mason for selfish reasons. He's trying to flee to the West himself, with a good deed on his record, so that when he surrenders to the police they'll go easier on him. Mason and Bloom are pursued in a suspenseful chase through the Eastern Zone. By this time Bloom has fallen for Mason, despite his warnings about his own character and deeds, and they wind up spending the night together. The next day they make a break for the border. Bloom makes it. In an act of self sacrifice, Mason does not.
The first thing I thought of, after missing the credits, was that the writers and director had surely seen "The Third Man" and learned from it. The plot is similar. And the director tilts his camera at the same angles and at the same times as in the original, and there are close ups of suspicious faces observing events out of the sides of their eyes. It was therefore no surprise to find that Carol Reed had directed both films.
The location shooting is just fine, as is the photography by Desmond Dickenson. Mid-winter in a starving and rubble-strewn East Berlin. Everything burdened with a heavy snow blanket except the streets that are glazed with ice. Brrr.
It's a good movie. The characters are well written. We're on one side, rather than the other, but the principal character is properly ambiguous. A plot for grown ups. Mason looks the part but he's simply not very good at a German accent. He was an embarrassment in another film as Irwin Rommel. And his death struck me as melodramatic. Claire Bloom, in only her fourth movie, does splendidly as the naive but righteous English girl. She's beautiful too, in a classic way. Her smile lights up the screen and makes her piercing black eyes almost disappear for a moment. Hildegarde Knef is equally attractive and just as good an actress but in a very different way. Her appearance, as well as her performance, suggests a good deal of experience and knowingness.
It's not "The Third Man" though. (So few films can clear THAT bar.) And Carol Reed entered a slow decline after this, for some reason, winding up with the abysmal "The Public Eye" in the early 1970s. Yet his talent shows through all the murky shadows on the screen and we find ourselves enjoying a taut and exciting story, well worth seeing.
In order to trap a Western operative, the villains extraordinarily extradite Claire Bloom and hole her up in an East Berlin dump. She is rescued by Mason for selfish reasons. He's trying to flee to the West himself, with a good deed on his record, so that when he surrenders to the police they'll go easier on him. Mason and Bloom are pursued in a suspenseful chase through the Eastern Zone. By this time Bloom has fallen for Mason, despite his warnings about his own character and deeds, and they wind up spending the night together. The next day they make a break for the border. Bloom makes it. In an act of self sacrifice, Mason does not.
The first thing I thought of, after missing the credits, was that the writers and director had surely seen "The Third Man" and learned from it. The plot is similar. And the director tilts his camera at the same angles and at the same times as in the original, and there are close ups of suspicious faces observing events out of the sides of their eyes. It was therefore no surprise to find that Carol Reed had directed both films.
The location shooting is just fine, as is the photography by Desmond Dickenson. Mid-winter in a starving and rubble-strewn East Berlin. Everything burdened with a heavy snow blanket except the streets that are glazed with ice. Brrr.
It's a good movie. The characters are well written. We're on one side, rather than the other, but the principal character is properly ambiguous. A plot for grown ups. Mason looks the part but he's simply not very good at a German accent. He was an embarrassment in another film as Irwin Rommel. And his death struck me as melodramatic. Claire Bloom, in only her fourth movie, does splendidly as the naive but righteous English girl. She's beautiful too, in a classic way. Her smile lights up the screen and makes her piercing black eyes almost disappear for a moment. Hildegarde Knef is equally attractive and just as good an actress but in a very different way. Her appearance, as well as her performance, suggests a good deal of experience and knowingness.
It's not "The Third Man" though. (So few films can clear THAT bar.) And Carol Reed entered a slow decline after this, for some reason, winding up with the abysmal "The Public Eye" in the early 1970s. Yet his talent shows through all the murky shadows on the screen and we find ourselves enjoying a taut and exciting story, well worth seeing.