Journey Into Fear (1943)

7/10

bkoganbing20 March 2007

While returning from a conference munitions expert Joseph Cotten and his wife Ruth Warrick are taken to a nightclub in Istanbul by the mysterious Edward Sloane where Cotten is almost killed. Magician Hans Conreid is a victim of his own slight of hand, but it's Cotten who's the target as Orson Welles as the Turkish police inspector deduces.

Welles's solution get Cotten out of the country so if he's killed at least it won't be on his watch. Welles books passage on a tramp freighter for Cotten and the freighter is loaded with highly interesting characters, one of whom at least is a Nazi assassin.

This was another Mercury Theater production with most of the regulars from Citizen Kane/The Magnificent Ambersons back again. Welles's police inspector is a small, but crucial part of the story.

Welles, for whatever reason is being unduly modest. Journey Into Fear is undoubtedly the greatest film that Orson Welles never took credit for directing. I can find certain touches here from Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, and The Stranger. If he didn't officially direct you can take it to the bank that Norman Foster knew exactly what Welles was trying to get out of each and every scene.

Look also here for a good performance by Mexican cinema great Dolores Del Rio as a most mysterious femme fatale on the freighter.

Journey Into Fear is a short film, slightly less than 70 minutes running time. I'm sure that RKO had it playing at the bottom end of double features. Maybe we'll see a 'director's cut' of this one day and know what Welles's own perspective was.

30 out of 32 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

7/10

"Some business competitors don't want me to get back to America"

ackstasis23 January 2009

Orson Welles graciously denied having any directing role in Norman Foster's 'Journey into Fear (1943),' though his influence appears to be all over it. 'Citizen Kane (1941)' first showcased Welles' fondness for filming people via low and high-angled cameras, a stylistic technique that distorts statures, placing the audience in a position either of power or helplessness. Here, the talented Karl Struss who also worked on such films as 'Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)' and 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)' employs similar techniques, capturing human faces with a threatening immediacy that distorts their features and suggests imminent danger. You won't, of course, fail to notice that the film's cast also boasts more than a few Welles regulars, mostly members of his Mercury Theatre team Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Everett Sloane, Ruth Warrick and Welles himself. The film's screenplay was written by Cotten, his sole attempt at writing {outside some uncredited work on 'The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)'}, a pity since the dialogue is frequently crisp, intelligent and memorable.

'Journey into Fear' is one of those rare WWII-themed films of the early 1940s that you wouldn't automatically class as propaganda. Indeed, the Nazis are only mentioned in passing, and the sinister agents who attempt to assassinate Cotten could just as easily be motivated by reasons other than war. Much of the story takes place on a small passenger ship, on which American engineer Howard Graham (Cotten) seeks refuge from German assassins, who are hell-bent on delaying his return home with important Allied intelligence. Silent enemy Peter Banat (played by Welles' agent, Jack Moss) watches ominously from across the ship's cabin, never saying a word, but suggesting sadistic menace through every dryly-amused smirk. Cotten is strong in the lead role, playing Graham as a frightened and confused amateur, a role reminiscent of Holly Martins from 'The Third Man (1949),' rather than the experienced and resourceful American spy we would otherwise expect in such a film. Welles lends his mighty presence to the role of the Turkish Colonel Haki, though he is noticeably more subdued than usual.

In one final manner, 'Journey into Evil' is very much like an Orson Welles film: it was re-edited at the studio's request. According to some sources, Welles did some of the trimming himself, recutting the final reel and adding Joseph Cotten's rather awkward narration. At just 68 minutes in length, the film certainly feels as though it has been tampered with. The relationship between Graham and Rosette (Dolores del Rio) is brief and poorly explored, and certainly not worthy of the repeated reassurances that the former frequently bestows upon his anxious wife (Ruth Warrick); there's little indication that the their affiliation extended beyond exchanging a few harmless pleasantries. Though the film doesn't exactly feel incomplete as did a noir like Renoir's 'The Woman on the Beach (1947)' the bare-bones narrative gives the sense of a minor and inconsequential work. Even so, 'Journey into Evil' is well worth seeking out for its terrific photography including a superb climax on the slippery ledges of a hotel exterior and the talents of a very talented cast.

15 out of 15 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

7/10

Did He or Didn't He?

theowinthrop15 February 2007

Warning: Spoilers

JOURNEY INTO FEAR was one of the original five mystery - spy - thrillers of Eric Ambler, and while not as strong as A COFFIN FOR DEMETRIOS is a better then average story. He introduces his head of the Turkish Secret Police, Col. Haki, who would reappear in DEMETRIOS. He also continued looking (as Ambler did) on the precarious but desperate attempt to keep Turkey neutral in World War II.

The story is simple. Turkey in 1940 has hired an American engineer, Howard Graham, to help do some rearmament work on their ships and fortifications in the Black Sea and the Dardenelles. Graham can get away with this (supposedly) because in 1940 the United States (like Turkey) was still neutral. But Nazi agents are interested in these changes. Graham (who is traveling with his wife) finds that both are endangered, especially after there is an attack on his life at a nightclub. He sends Mrs. Graham ahead to Baku from Ankara, and he takes a boat to hopefully trap the German agents. The only person who knows what he is up to is Col. Haki, who has an agent on the same tramp steamer as Graham is on. But the agent is murdered, and Graham (in the close confines of the steamer) is constantly facing the two Germans who are involved, and there are no apparent people he can turn to. Or are there?

He reaches Baku, and just manages to evade the Germans. But how long can he do so, without endangering his wife or himself? Will Col. Haki show up to help?

The film has gotten into the Welles' legend as an example of how KANE's after effects led to Welles losing control over films and being branded a second-rater. He was to produce and direct JOURNEY INTO FEAR but he was also producing and directing THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSOMS and then sent by the government to Latin America to do IT'S ALL TRUE. AMBERSONS was cut to ribbons by Robert Wise and a new ending tacked on. IT'S ALL TRUE was abandoned when pressure from the Brazilian dictator, Getulio Vargas was applied in Washington (Welles had taken a dim view of Vargas and his so-called populism regarding fisherman in poor communities on the northern coast of Brazil - the third section of the film dealt with a visible protest by the fisherman).

JOURNEY was filmed in 1942. Welles later was gracious, and said the film was directed by Norman Foster, but there seems evidence that Welles did more than produce the film. Certainly he had an affect - scenes are shot showing ceilings, and special camera angles appear. Also his agent Jack Moss was used to play the part of a Nazi assassin (a silent, but effective part). So were Mercury players from Broadway, Radio, and CITIZEN KANE: Joseph Cotton (as Graham), Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warwick, and Everett Sloan, and one Mercury player from AMBERSOMS (Richard Bennett). A dancer - adventuress was played by Dolores Del Rio, who at the time was having a love affair with Welles. While a producer could arrange for his girlfriend to pop up in a bit part in a film (or if she is a good actress in a better part), it's rare for producers to put most of their friends into a film unless they size up the roles fit the friends. It is obvious that Welles had more to his role as producer than just watching the balance sheet.

The acting is good, Welles being his usual commanding "man of mystery" here, with twisted nose and astrakhan hat. Cotton is sufficiently increasingly nervous (especially for wife Ruth Warwick)to make the claustrophobia of the ship scenes more realistic. There are great set pieces, such as the introduction of the film where Moss is shown preparing for his assassination mission in his hotel room, carefully grooming his untidy self, to a broken record, and then leaving his rooms. In it's length to the conclusion it resembles how Welles planned to originally open TOUCH OF EVIL with the assassination of Rudy Linnaker. The shooting at the nightclub (involving Hans Conried in an early good performance) was pretty good too. It is not the greatest thriller, but it is more than ordinary in it's production and result and worth watching.

26 out of 28 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

6/10

Visually arresting...but quirky and bizarre tale of murky espionage...

Doylenf25 May 2005

Somewhere along the way, someone took scissors to this film and left it with plot holes that don't connect. Despite the obvious flaws in continuity and plotting, Eric Ambler's novel has been so changed in transferring it to the screen that he didn't even recognize it as his own story, according to Robert Osborne of TCM.

The marquee value of Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles is likely to lure viewers into thinking they will see another classic along the lines of THE THIRD MAN. Not so. This is a visually interesting espionage yarn, very little of which is coherent and much of which leaves the viewer in as much confusion as Joseph Cotten's character is. Whom should he trust and who is really trying to kill him?

Cotten plays a U.S. Naval engineer aboard a dilapidated freighter who learns that Nazi agents are planning to kill him. The usual Welles Mercury Theater players fill the supporting roles, along with the beautiful Dolores Del Rio. Once the film leaves the claustrophobic freighter and shows Cotten running from his captors, it takes on heightened interest. The scenes in the torrential rain are wonderfully staged and the B&W cinematography gives the illusion of menace in every shadow.

But there is virtually no coherent plot and Welles is completely wasted in a small role that he underplays. While the credits say that Norman Foster directed, it is highly probable that Welles himself directed much of it. Perhaps it all made more sense before the running time was cut down to 71 minutes.

Ruth Warrick has a couple of nice moments as Cotten's patient wife but none of the characters are fleshed out enough to really understand or care about. Cotten gives his usual workmanlike performance but it all ends with a rather abrupt finish, much ado about nothing.

Too many weaknesses to call a classic.

42 out of 50 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

6/10

The Emperor's wearing no clothes in this one

blanche-210 February 2006

Joseph Cotten plays an American armaments engineer on the run from the Nazis in "Journey into Fear," a 1943 film with a script by Cotten (from a story by Eric Ambler) and costarring Orson Welles and Delores del Rio. Cotten is working on a deal to supply Turkey with weapons to fight the Axis. The Nazis don't want the deal made and are trying to stop Cotten from getting back to the U.S.

There are some very exciting scenes in this extremely atmospheric film, in particular on the ledge of a building between Cotten and the terrifying assassin. Most of the film takes place on board a dingy ship where Cotten is taken, thus beginning his Kafka-esquire nightmare.

This is an entertaining film for sure, but I've always been troubled by it. First of all, it seems like there are scenes missing. Second, it's on the confusing side since there are irrelevant characters thrown in. Third, you can drive a truck through some of the plot holes. Fourth, the ending to me has always felt abrupt.

Suspenseful? Yes. Intriguing? Yes. Ultimately disappointing? Yes. Cotten is good as a man blundering through something he can't quite figure out - the problem is, the audience can't quite figure it out either. Welles has a small but effective role as Dr. Haki.

Strong on style, weak on substance.

47 out of 61 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Looks Like Welles to Me

dougdoepke21 May 2009

The ingredients are there for first-class international intrigue—Welles, Cotten, an Ambler novel, and the terrific RKO team of D' Agostino and Silvera behind so much of the studio's b&w artistry. So why is the end result short of the classic it should be. IMDb lists 3 uncredited writers in addition to the credited Cotten. Maybe that's why the narrative is so choppy as other reviewers point out. Then too, maybe the studio exercised a heavy hand in the editing room as they were known to do. Whatever the reason, the story never really gels into the suspenser it should be, despite the impressive visuals so clearly Wellsian.

Nonetheless, the nightclub scene especially stays with me. Catch the neatly choreographed staging as the characters dart in and out of the foreground reminiscent of the high-kicking dance scene in Citizen Kane. And who else but a magician (Hans Conreid) would trick himself into a casket with such Wellsian flourish. Note too how visually appropriate non- actor Jack Moss is as the "obese gunman". Apparently, he couldn't be entrusted with any lines, but looking like a mutant garden slug he rivets the eye by sinister presence alone. In fact, this may be the kind of film made more enjoyable by turning down the sound and just reveling in the visuals. Yes indeed, the narrative may disappoint, but the very real Wellsian compensations remain.

7 out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

7/10

A Case Of "Potential Unfulfilled"

seymourblack-18 July 2011

Warning: Spoilers

"Journey Into Fear" is an intriguing wartime thriller which features a frightened protagonist, a Nazi assassin, exotic locations and a variety of rather eccentric and sometimes threatening characters. The story which is based on Eric Ambler's espionage novel of the same name is quite involved and the action takes place in an environment which is often tense and menacing.

Howard Graham (Joseph Cotten) is an American armaments expert who visits Istanbul with his wife during World War 11 and is met almost immediately by a man called Kopeikin (Everett Sloan) who is his company's local representative. Kopeikin is very pushy and quickly persuades Graham to go with him to a local nightclub where a magician is shot and killed in circumstances which convince Graham that he was the intended target.

The nightclub incident is investigated by Colonel Haki (Orson Welles) who's the Head of the Secret Police. Haki is aware that Graham's expertise is vital to the planned re-armament of the Turkish navy and that if anything happened to him, the project would suffer a very damaging setback. Haki tells Graham that the attempt on his life had been made by an assassin called Peter Banat (Jack Moss) who'd been hired by a Nazi agent and then, for his own safety, promptly arranges for him to travel on a cargo boat to Batumi.

During the journey Graham grows more anxious as he finds himself surrounded by a strange group of passengers which includes Peter Banat and when he tells the ship's captain that he's seen an assassin on board, the disbelieving captain openly ridicules him for being paranoid. At the end of his journey, Graham is ushered into a waiting car by Banat but when the car has to be stopped to change a flat tyre, Graham makes his escape. A frantic chase follows before the story reaches its extremely tense and exciting climax.

Expressionistic lighting and some eccentric camera angles are used to good effect to create the disturbing atmosphere which seems to permeate the whole movie and the impressive opening sequence and a shoot-out which takes place on a hotel ledge are both exceptionally well executed. Norman Foster is credited as being the film's director but over the years there's also been a great deal of speculation concerning the extent to which Orson Welles was involved. What is indisputable, however, is that "Journey Into Fear" certainly has a great many of the characteristics which audiences readily recognise as being Wellsian.

It's well documented that Welles was committed to completing this movie for contractual reasons and no doubt, this fact and the studio's subsequent heavy editing resulted in an end product which has a real throwaway quality about it. There's so much that's so good in "Journey Into Fear" that it inevitably leaves the feeling that, with greater commitment, it could have been even better.

6 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

7/10

Good illustration/adaptation of the classic suspense novel

ricardoramos12 September 2000

`Journey Into Fear' certainly has an Orson Welles look. Although he received neither directing nor writing credit (credit went to Norman Foster and Joseph Cotten, respectively), I think that most of what is there is his. The problem is that there is not enough there there. The on-board relationships should have been developed more. All of them seem perfunctory.

Combining the shooting by a good marksman who misses his target and stalking him in the nightclub are combined into an altogether more satisfying single event.The escape from the Nazis is more protracted and less violent than in Eric Ambler's book. It is very noirish and photogenic, and the combination of wet chase and the presence of a murky character played by Orson Welles and an all-American one played by Joseph Cotten prefigure `The Third Man.' Joseph Cotten had some of the same American innocence and ready outrage in both films. He's an important munitions engineer here and a hack western writing there. He doesn't get the dark beauty (Alida Valli or Dolores del Rio) in either, though he has and keeps a wife in `Journey.'

The film probably makes sense to those unfamiliar with the book (and such viewers aren't distracted by thinking about what's been changed). It is suspenseful even for someone like me who recently read the book

13 out of 16 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

8/10

Confusion gloriously reins.

hitchcockthelegend1 January 2010

Well it says Journey Into Fear was directed by Norman Foster, but many sources say it was actually Orson Welles who directed it. Possible of course since this Mercury Theatre production was produced, co- written {with co-star Joseph Cotton} and starred big Orson himself. But wait! Welles is on record as saying he did no directing on the film and it was his friend Foster in the chair. Except for Welles' own scenes which were directed by anyone handy since they were rushing because Welles was due in Brazil to film It's All True! There has also been re-cuts by Welles, added scenes and a narration at the beginning and end that has been and gone over the years. It's all appropriate confusing conjecture tho since the film itself has a strange quirkiness nestling within its arresting visuals.

The story is based on Eric Ambler's highly regarded spy thriller, and sees Howard Graham {Joseph Cotton} as an American engineer, who after a conference in Turkey finds that someone is trying to kill him. We are then thrust into a murky world of espionage where everybody, their motives, and their identities are suspect. Graham is the classic innocent man abroad, we the viewers, as well as everyone in the story but Graham, knows more than he does! I bet Hitchcock loved this film for it be right up his alley. The majority of the film takes place aboard a cramped dilapidated liner, this gives off a wonderfully claustrophobic feel to proceedings. The stifling nature further enhanced by the fact that 99% of the film is set at night time, with Karl Struss' photography utilising shadows and exuding an almost bizarre menacing sheen. There's some nice technical Welles trademarks in here, such as crane shots {the opening scene is moodily awesome} and Welles' well publicised love of magic is given a cute nod during one particularly impacting sequence.

Along side Cotton the cast contains solid performers like Dolores del Rio, Everett Sloane, Ruth Warwick and Agnes Moorehead. But it's Cotton who rightly makes the big impact. Understated and quiet, his Howard Graham infuriates with his inability to grasp what is going on, or to act at times when it clearly calls for the swift clank of brain being put into gear. A real smart bit of casting here from Foster, Welles or whoever! Journey Into Fear, for texture and technical composition belongs in the film-noir genre, certainly as far as the early cycle goes. But really it's a film for the general cinema purists, at times brilliant, at others chaotic, it remains engrossing from start to finish. See it if you can. 8/10

21 out of 21 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

6/10

Deceptive Classic

claudio_carvalho19 November 2013

The American ballistic expert and naval engineer Howard Graham (Joseph Cotton) is traveling with his wife Mrs. Stephanie Graham (Ruth Warrick) to Batumi by train. They stop in Istanbul to meet Kopeikin (Everett Sloane), who is the armaments representative of Graham's company, and he takes Graham to a nightclub to discuss business. Kopeikin introduces the dancer Josette Martel (Dolores Del Rio) to him and during the show, the magician invites Graham to go to the stage. The killer Banat (Jack Moss) tries to kill Graham, but hits the magician instead. Graham is forced to go to the Turkish police and Colonel Haki (Orson Welles) from the secret service shows him photograph of Banat, who has been hired by the Nazi Muller (Eustace Wyatt) to kill him. Haki asks Graham to travel to Batumi by steamship since it would be a safer trip. However, Graham stumbles over Banat and Muller, in the beginning of his journey into fear.

"Journey into Fear" is a deceptive classic with an entertaining spy story. With the names of Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton and Dolores Del Rio, any viewer would expect a great classic but the result is a disappointing plot. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Jornada do Pavor" ("Journey into Fear")

13 out of 17 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

5/10

a huge put-on?

rupie21 April 2003

What a curious movie. Drawn to the presence of Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles I tuned it in on TCM and soon after the start, realized I had seen it before and wondered why I didn't remember it. Watching it again all the way through made me realize why. The movie is all facade and no content. All the conventions, devices, tricks, and images of the espionage thriller are reeled off one after another in pursuit of a plot line that is largely non-existent. We have the sleazy hired assassin, the cheap hotel, the Turkish colonel, the hidden identities, furtive escapes, tramp steamers, balcony chases, etc. etc. etc. to no apparent purpose. I have a suspicion, knowing Orson Welles' sly sense of humor and his presence as both co-director and co-producer, that this may have been exactly his intention, i.e. to erect a glittery (or in this case, gloomy and rain-streaked) film noir edifice with nothing inside, just as a lark. As Gertrude Stein said of the city of Oakland, "There is no there there." At any rate the movie is interesting to watch, at whichever level you choose to watch it.

11 out of 18 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

8/10

Of such strokes is suspense made

Nazi_Fighter_David24 April 2005

The operatic approach of adding a musical dimension to menace with a killer-theme on the soundtrack has been greatly used in Orson Welles' glorious suspense film, "Journey Into Fear," where the little killer obsessively played a scratchy old 78 rpm disc of someone singing "Chagrin d'Amour."

The assassin was short and fat; his belly large, his chin and neck flabby... I do not recall him having a line of dialog to speak But the whole film was spread with heightened menace when he sat, his little round eyes blank behind his little round pebble lenses, listening compulsively to the atrociously scratchy record, confusing the words of the song at the wrong speed, the needle jumping from groove to groove; his nerve-ends, unlike ours, immune to the discordance

This was a spy thriller set in the wartime Near East, about an innocent American engineer (Joseph Cotten), pursued by Nazi agents and blundering from danger to danger without seeming to know too much of what it was all aboutIt was essentially a hunter-and-hunted story, with settings that were often seedy but always exotic

The opening was in Istanbul, the climax in Batum, and all the terrors between were forced claustrophobically between the low ceilings and narrow partitions of a neglected little steamer plowing the Black Sea

"Journey Into Fear" lives for its portrait gallery, its atmosphere, and for Welles' touches and excesses

47 out of 51 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

6/10

Mercury Production Is No "Citizen Kane"

evanston_dad4 December 2008

A rather innocuous collaboration between Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles, the final and weakest of the trio of films released by Welles' Mercury studio (the other two being "Citizen Kane" and "The Magnificent Ambersons").

"Journey Into Fear" plays like second-rate Graham Greene, with Cotten playing an American munitions dealer who finds himself the target of an assassination attempt by a group of Nazis. Much of the picture takes place on a seedy steamer intended to carry Cotten to safety. The film's got some nice touches, and there's a pretty exciting shoot-out finale that's something right out of Hitchcock, but the overall package isn't that memorable.

Welles has a supporting role as a Turkish police chief and Welles regular Agnes Moorehead appears as a grumpy French woman. Cotten, the go-to actor for playing Americans stuck in the middle of foreign intrigues, wrote the screenplay.

Grade: B

6 out of 8 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

4/10

Kinda cheap, but still entertaining

Gloede_The_Saint8 June 2010

A film that may well qualify as a cheap thrill ride. It has a mix of mediocre, but also some pretty good scenes. Orson Welles is listed as an uncredited director, one can assume that he has had some influence here. Although Welles is barely in the film, and with one of his more mediocre performances, he still out acts all the others, even Cotton.

The film's main problem is that it does not bother to go particularly deep into things. It seems like they were in an awful rush just to make something. Characters fly from side to side, and nobody seems to know exactly what to do with them. It tries to build up a little humor, but it usually falls rather flat.

Despite all this, Journey Into Fear is an entertaining movie. The climax scene is phenomenal, and it has many good scenes to back it up. A couple of not too surprising twists makes it exciting enough, but not more than your usual B-crime movie. A not too long running time makes the problems not bother me as much as they otherwise would, albeit some extra scenes and more innovations could have done it some good. But as I said it's entertaining enough. Good enough to relax to after a tiring day when you do not care to think.

6 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Atmospheric and enjoyable thriller but far from the classic that the names involved suggest it will be

bob the moo29 May 2005

Howard Graham is an American engineer returning from Istanbul with his wife Stephanie. A close call in a Turkish nightclub sees a man assassinated by mistake when really Howard was the target and he and his wife are quickly taken to the Turkish secret police. Colonel Haki informs him that he is a target of the Nazis and immediately gets him transit out of the country on the next available boat while he protects his wife. However Howard quickly finds that he is far from being out of danger as his pursuers are on the boat as well.

With keys part of the Third Man cast involved in this thriller, I decided to take a look and had hoped for a film that perhaps would be as enjoyable as that. However it was not quite all that I hoped it would have been as I didn't find myself that gripped by it. The early scenes suggest a real mystery with a good pace but quickly the mistaken assassination of the magician is slowed down and complicated by unnecessary characters and dialogue, some of which seemed to serve very little purpose other than setting up some other scenes later on. With Mrs Howard away somewhere out of vision and therefore out of mind, we focus on the action on other boat and, although quite tense at points, it didn't have the sort of sustained tension that should have been made easier by the confined location of the boat. It does enough to engage though and I did find it quite enjoyable but those claiming this as a classic up there with some of Welles' other films are mistaken because this is only quite good not any more than that.

The cast was the reason I was here but they were not as good as they have been in other films. Cotton is a bit brash and loud and aspects of his character aren't brought out that well; he was still an interesting leading man but mainly because I have always liked him. Welles has a small role and seems to enjoy himself playing a role that has little screen time but is mentioned throughout the film; I'm not sure if he did direct his own scenes but that is the rumour. Del Rio is sexy and a nice presence but I wasn't overly taken by her other than that. Moss tends to steal the film with his big character lurking around early on, meanwhile the rest of the support are OK, with other languages being spoken rather than the usual American actors putting on vague accents as was often the case (and still is!). Assuming that he did direct the majority, if not all, of the film (and I do believe this) Foster does a very good job of working with shadows in early scenes and in the boat some of his angles are effective, although it is easy to see (with some of his shots) why people generally believe that it was Welles calling the shots.

Overall this is an enjoyable thriller with a dark atmosphere brought out by good direction throughout. The cast are OK but none of the famous faces really stood out for me here, meanwhile the plot was not as tight as it needed to be, leaving some holes and using some distracting plot devices along the way. Still worth seeing but not the classic that it is often touted around as being.

18 out of 22 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

7/10

WW2 Thriller with a Turkish Twist

LCShackley19 November 2007

Compared to the number of WW2 films set in Western Europe, those set in Turkey and the Middle East are rare. This is an interesting example; a spy/mystery/noir thriller about an innocent man who becomes the target of a political assassination plot. Joseph Cotten stars in his own screenplay (based on a novel by Eric Ambler, master of the WW2 spy story), with a cast studded with members of the Mercury Theatre troupe (Welles, Moorehead, etc.).

Welles takes a plum part as the head of the Turkish secret police, who forces Cotten to leave town on a "traveling slum" of a boat, filled with interesting characters (at least one of whom is probably his would-be killer). Deft plot twists mingle with moments of humor and a touch of romance. Watch carefully and you'll even recognize Hans Conreid ("Snidely Whiplash") as a hapless magician. A cliff-hanger (or hotel-hanger) ending is a good wrap-up to a brief but interesting war thriller.

2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

7/10

When the famed British author of CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG . . .

oscaralbert19 May 2018

Warning: Spoilers

. . . "Ian F." was interviewed "off-the-record" by that ubiquitous Hollywood gadfly of the late 1900s, "Peter Fogbottom," about his second most famous creation--"James Bond"--Mr. F. confessed that "Secret Agent 007" was based upon JOURNEY INTO FEAR's U.S. traveling salesman character "Howard Graham" more than anything else. As Ian told Pete, "Howie isn't afraid to take on a quartet of heavily-armed Nazi thugs when he himself is equipped merely with an umbrella," referring to the JOURNEY INTO FEAR bit just BEFORE Mr. Graham drives the Gestapo staff car through a store front. "Seeing Howie charging the Third Reich assassin on a high-rise window ledge through a drenching rain bearing nothing more than a pocket comb got me to thinking," continued novelist Ian. "If an American could be so brave and foolhardy, surely an Englishman enjoying a large support bureaucracy backing him up with high tech gadgets might be able to pull off some of Graham's daring do stunts, if they were sufficiently down-sized." Of course, as they say, "the rest is hearsay."

3 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

7/10

Black & White Beauty

skepticskeptical7 June 2020

Six years before Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles teamed up for The Third Man, they appeared in Journey into Fear, an early film noir with a few plot holes but absolutely worth watching because of the fabulous use of light and shadow, rain, wind, and slick, shimmery streets. Just beautiful. Good acting, too.

I am in Austria and discovered this feature through Amazon Prime in Germany, so I got to watch it in dubbed German, which was perfect, given the Turkish setting.

2 out of 3 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

6/10

Solid B

jellopuke12 June 2021

We'll never know what could have been had RKO not messed with it, but what's here is solid enough, if short and heavily chopped up. Some nice camera work and suspense and a great climax sequence, but the narration is awful and everything seems rushed. Can anyone figure out a way to restore more of this?

1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

9/10

Wartime noir thriller with Cotten and Welles

netwallah5 March 2006

Wartime noir crafted from an Eric Ambler thriller, with a screenplay by lead actor Joseph Cotton with Orson Welles, and the influence of Orson Welles is everywhere. He produced and designed the film, and speculation is that he lost control at some point in the production, that RKO brought in another director to take over the project, and that extreme cuts were made. The run time is very short, just 68 minutes. Character development (other than Cotten as protagonist) seems spotty and and events seem to accelerate in the last third of the film, an acceleration not explained by the escalating excitement of the story-line. Nonetheless, the film works as a splendid admixture of wartime intrigue and film noir, and bears the mark of Welles's vision, the strong camera angles, the shadowy sets, the large and small spaces, the cutting. Cotten is fine as Howard Graham, a naval engineer whose assistance to the Turkish navy the Nazis would like to cut short. The plot has a many intricacies and concealed identities, but the strongest character by far is the Turkish head of intelligence, Col. Haki, played by Welles as a powerful, shrewd, smart man with a trace of self-mocking humour. The propaganda function of the filmincluding its indirect persuasion directed to the U.S. about joining the effort to defeat the Nazisis very well handled.

38 out of 45 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

7/10

Nicely Done WW 2 Intrigue - Journey Into Fear

arthurtafero11 June 2022

Orson Welles was good at several things. He made a few brilliant films, and he also made a few clunkers. This is one of his better efforts. Both as a director and actor, he is at the height of his considerable talent. The offbeat plot concerns Turkey (a relatively unknown ally of the US in WW 2) and its waterways. The protagonist in this film is Joseph Cotton (a charter member of Welles' crew) as an American weapon's salesman. The antagonist is almost as good without saying a word (Jack Moss). Welles plays a believable Turk official, and the game is afoot. Be sure to catch this one late at night.

1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

2/10

What was THAT?!

X-pat9 October 2013

This movie has plot holes you could fly a jumbo jet through. And it has absurdities that will drive you crazy. To say that this movie is totally incoherent would be an understatement. I was just lucky that I'd read the book before so I kind of knew what was supposed to be going on. I also didn't understand the reason for most of the changes from the book: Why would an American in Istanbul travel to the Georgian port of Batumi in Eastern Black Sea, part of the USSR, to get back to the US?! Why is his wife with him in Istanbul? She disappears in the beginning and reappears in the end. Why he's not delivered his coat and suitcase from the hotel before the boat leaves? Etc. etc. These changes don't make any sense, either plot-wise (tighter) or production-wise (cheaper). Silly.

Cotten plays like a robot. Except for him, there is some promising casting but the actors have neither the time nor the lines to do anything with their characters.

Maybe somebody shot a proper full-length version of this movie and then a mad joker cut out the crucial 1/3. Then somebody edited it while trying to land a plane in a hurricane. I don't know. It certainly has not aged well at all. If you're looking for another "The Mask of Dimitrios," this isn't it. This accident of a movie reminds me of some shorts from the 1920s. Pity.

PS: I saw the version with the horrible voice-over and the terrible ending..

7 out of 12 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

8/10

Journey Into Fear was a mostly fine thriller from Orson Welles and company

tavm5 September 2009

Having watched The Magnificent Ambersons last night, I decided to watch the next movie that involved Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, and Agnes Moorehead: Journey Into Fear. Let me first address the credits-I'm willing to believe the quote from Welles that he did not direct nor write this movie but simply produced with Norman Foster helming and Cotten himself adapting the screenplay from an Eric Ambler novel. But the beginning pre-credit sequence and some dialogue exchanges certainly have a Wellesian flavor. Overall, while there are indeed some talky sequences that don't always move the story along, there's nothing boring about any of them especially considering the short running time (for a major studio A-picture, anyway). I especially liked Frank Readick's performance as Mathews-a cockney socialist-especially near the end when he says some radical things in front of his wife (Moorehead) to hide something he's planning with Cotten's Howard Graham. Also good is Jack Moss as silent heavyset gunman Peter Banat who's trying to kill Howard because of his occupation. This was Readick and Moss's only film appearance and they were both excellent with what they did with it. I also liked Dolores del Rio and Jack Durant as Josette and Gogo Martel. And Hans Conried-who I'll always fondly remember as the voice of Captain Hook in Walt Disney's Peter Pan-is compelling in his brief role as a swami magician. Cotten himself is fine as Howard constantly tries to avoid getting killed as he goes on ship before the showdown at the hotel parapet. And Welles deliciously chews the scenery as Colonel Haki with whatever foreign accent he chose for his role. If there were some disappointments, well, Ms. Moorehead didn't do much in her role and neither did Ruth Warrick as Howard's wife Stephanie. And, yes, there could have been some cut scenes that could have explained some sequences clearer. Still, I loved the atmosphere that was conveyed throughout and the finale chase was very exciting. So on that note, I highly recommend Journey Into Fear.

6 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

6/10

A crazy man just shot at me!

sol121813 September 2008

Warning: Spoilers

***SPOILERS*** American US Navy ballistic engineer Howard Graham, Joseph Cotton,is in Istanbul Turkey trying to get the Turkish Navy the latest state of the art coastal defenses. This is in the event of a possible German invasion, in order to outflank the Soviet Red Army, of that natural country.

It isn't that long that Graham is targeted by this bumbling and enormously overweight assassin Peter Banat, played by Jack Moss in his only acting role, who's being paid by the Nazis to murder him. Banat, the best hit-man the Nazis can get, is so clumsy and incompetent that he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from as close as a distance of less then ten feet! This makes Banet not only one of the most bizarre hit-man in movie history but at the same time one of the most comical.

Put on a boat traveling to the Black Sea port of Batumi by Turkist police Col. Haki, Orson Wells, it's thought that this would keep Graham safe and out of arms way until he can safely return to the USA. As you would expect the over-sized Banat ends up a passenger on the boat together with his intended target Howard Graham. Also on the boat is Banat's boss a Germen Agent called Muller who's disguised as an old man, that's about as far as I can go without revealing his identify, intent on living out his last days at sea.

After a number of near misses by the butterfingered hit-man Banat it's decided by his boss, who now reviles himself to Graham, Muller to get the job done himself! This "Master Plan" by Muller is to be done in such a mind boggling and incomprehensible way that it makes even the totally incompetent hit-man Banat look like a genius in comparison! By then Graham, who's anything but a hero, makes his escape from both Muller Banat and a group of Nazi agents in a hotel in Batumi where his wife Stephanie, Ruth Warrwick, has been staying, courtesy of Col. Haki, since the start of the movie.

The big final has Graham chased along the ledges of the hotel, some eight stories up, during a driving rainstorm by the almost blind, with his glasses all wet and fogged up, Banat. Col. Haki who joins the chase in order to keep Banat from killing Graham ends up falling through a hotel window as he tries to come to Graham's aid. Like we've seen all throughout the movie Banat proved to be a total dud in not only using up all his ammunition but foolishly trying to murder Graham bare handedly which proves to be, with his massive weight unable to support him, his own undoing.

The whole story is told to us in a long and boring flashback by Howard Graham himself as he writes his wife, who seemed to have walked out on him, Steph explaining his unexplainable actions in the film. In Graham's letter to Steph, which he later tears up, he's trying to prove to her that his relationship with dancer and singer Josette Mantel (Delores Del Rio),another passenger on the boat he was on, was of purely innocent nature and nothing ever came of it.

P.S It seemed that both the movie's star and director Orson Wells as well as its screenwriter Ben Hecht had their names removed from the credits. This must show how much they liked, or disliked, the film that they were so much involved in making.

1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

5/10

There is one thing to look forward in this film...

teca-arantes24 October 2010

...which is the excellent performance by Orson Wells! While the whole cast seems to simply deliver their lines (as was the style of acting in the 40's), Orson Wells truly lives his (small) role, delivering a real performance among crudely exaggerated parts by other actors! The script is frustrating, the story ends without a very much needed development - the promised plot offered some good possibilities but none were taken. The opening scene, for example, is really exciting and one could even expect a movie with the suspense levels of a Hitchcock's but the expectation soon dies out. Physically the roles were well cast but one would expect much more in terms of acting...and I've seen great acting in films from the 40's so age is no excuse.

4 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

User Reviews

See also

Opinion

Details

Storyline

Did You Know?

Photo & Video

Related Items

User Lists

Recently Viewed