Achtung! Atomspione!

Interesting docunoir about atomic/nuclear formulas being syphoned out of the Lakeview facility in the USA and finding their way into the iron curtain via the UK.

This is a very early example of FBI-Scotland Yard cooperation, showing the sophistication that already existed immediately after WWII, in spite of much more rudimentary spying technology than we have today. Amazing how sound was recorded on LPs, and 16 or 8mm cameras were used at stakeouts.

With Reed Haley as the narrator, the viewer gets the low-down on an intricate international operation to detect why fomulas are spirited out of the USA in art form -- paintings which, as agent O'Hara (O'Keefe) memorably points out, only suffer from having "too much red" in them.

As ever, O'Keefe is very convincing as an FBI agent, Hayward likewise as his Scotland Yard counterpart, and you can see that it is not the beginning of a beautiful friendship, but one that is already firmly in place.

Massey would have deserved a better part, and I found Onslow Stevens and Charles Evans very effective and chilling top villains. Allbritton is a beautiful woman, pity we see so little of her

Photography and action sequences top notch. Recommended.

Well-made political thriller. 1948 is the year Hollywood joined the anti-communist crusade, and there's no mistaking the bad guys-- Raymond Burr in a Lenin-like goatee, a sinister gathering of "comrades", and Hollywood's version of commie rhetoric about how the individual doesn't matter in the global scheme of things. Up to that point, the studios had been turning out generally pro-Soviet films in behalf of our WWII allies. But now, turning on a dime, we find out what perfidious characters we had been supporting. Oh well, as they say, in politics there are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests.

Square-jawed Dennis O'Keefe makes for a dogged and intrepid FBI agent aided by Scotland Yard loan-out Louis Hayward. Together, they show what sterling fellows the English-speaking world turns out. They're on the trail of a covert Soviet spy sneaking out secrets from what is likely a bomb designing laboratory, though it's never specified. The plot rather prophetically anticipates the Klaus Fuchs affair of 1949, when the German-born spy was exposed as smuggling A-bomb secrets to the Soviets as early as 1945.

The suspense revolves around who the lab spy is and how he's getting the secrets out. It makes for entertaining, if workman-like, viewing. The familiar narrator Reed Hadley lends stentorian authority, along with some fine location photography. Together they impart a sense of reality to what are otherwise standard stereotypes and a melodramatic plot. Sure it's Hollywood's manipulative brand of political cinema, this time turned on our former friends. But at least it's watchable, minus the kind of cold-war hysteria that came to characterize other efforts of the period. All in all, an interesting and revealing reflection of its time.

Walk a Crooked Mile was filmed almost entirely on location. FBI agent Dan O'Hara (Dennis O'Keefe) and Scotland Yard operative Philip Grayson (Louis Hayward) team up to investigate a security leak at a Southern California atomic plant. The investigation takes place in San Francisco, where a communist spy ring flourishes. Actors as Raymond Burr and Philip Van Zandt play the communist agents.

The documentary technique gives a factual gloss to the melodramatic format. Action moves back and forth between San Francisco and the atomic plant in southern California. Gordon Douglas' knowledgeable directing keeps the film moving forward. He manages to build suspense through misdirection. The method used to take information out of the atomic plant is well protected thus keeping you guessing.

The movie is typical 40s and early 50s film noir.

A communist spy ring infiltrates the top secret Lakeview Laboratory of Nuclear Physics. Dedicated FBI agent Daniel F. O'Hara works late into the night. He receives a call from fellow agent Jimmy Colton who is murdered before he could reveal his info about Lakeview. He is joined by Philip 'Scotty' Grayson from Scotland Yard in the investigation.

It's a G-man noir, standard police procedural. They're all in spiffy suit and tie and wearing their hats. They talk in that hardened police tone. It has the police narration. The plot is a straight investigation with the standard twists and turns. The story is ripped from the headlines. It's a well-made police noir.

Two things particularly drew me into seeing 'Walk a Crooked Mile'. One was the suitably foreboding title. The other was a nice concept in a genre that has always been a favourite, with many great films in it. Very interesting seeing Louis Hayward in a role never seen in this way before, or at least from my experience. The advertising is not much different from the advertising of other films in the genre or similar, but that didn't matter too much to me.

'Walk a Crooked Mile' is worth a viewing, even if in my view it isn't a must or a genre classic. For me, it was slightly above mixed feelings level. Really appreciated its pull no punches approach and was really surprised by how well Hayward came off, but also really wished that the ending was so much stronger than it turned out. There is a lot to like about 'Walk a Crooked Mile', but it is also a film that is fairly easy to criticise even when taking it for what it is (so not to expect high art).

It does have moments of stylish and moody photography and eerie lighting. The music is suitably ominous without over emphasising the mood. The direction is suitably assured and shows a command and understanding of the genre. Much of the script is fine, really liked its tautness and grit.

A tautness and grit that is present in the uncompromising and sometimes brutal storytelling, which has some nice tension and entertainment value. Its documentary noir style structure is fascinating and is handled very well, not gimmicky or too heavily used. Hayward is hard boiled yet also understated, nothing melodramatic. Dennis O'Keefe is even better and the two work very well together.

However, 'Walk a Crooked Mile' could have been more. The low budget does show at times in the sparse settings and some rushed looking transitions. Some of the dialogue over-explains a little too much, especially the overused narration.

Did wish too that the ending was less anaemic when it came to the suspense and that it was less predictable, that final decision is so cliched and tacked on to the point it jars and doesn't make sense.

Overall, decent. 6/10.