Ajouter une intrigue dans votre langueDuring the Cold War, a microfilm concealed in the collar of a panther, transported by freight rail, is sought by several spies after the animal escapes its cage following the train's derailm... Tout lireDuring the Cold War, a microfilm concealed in the collar of a panther, transported by freight rail, is sought by several spies after the animal escapes its cage following the train's derailment in Switzerland.During the Cold War, a microfilm concealed in the collar of a panther, transported by freight rail, is sought by several spies after the animal escapes its cage following the train's derailment in Switzerland.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
Märta Torén
- Catherine Ullven
- (as Marta Toren)
Avis en vedette
George Sherman, better known as a second feature or assistant director despite having an A flick like COMANCHEROS in his curriculum, comes up with a visually spectacular spy yarn in SPY HUNT, further enhanced by the entrancingly beautiful Marta Toren, herself a spy trying to conceal a negative with supposedly crucial data.
Although what the negative might contain, who it might belong to, and who the information is intended for is never clarified, it is safe to assume that either the action relates to WWII and Germanic-looking heavies are after it, or this is already the Cold War boiling over in the Italian/Swiss Alps.
Regardless of the conflict, it is a riveting film with credible dialogue, good acting from Duff, Friend, Douglas, Donn and Slezak, here playing against type a non-sleazy medical doctor and inn owner. The show, though, is stolen by the mesmerizing beauty of Toren and the panthers roaming wild over lovingly shot rocky, snowy, or arborous landscape. Great action sequences involving the felines, including a fight with a bloodhound. Truly wonderful cinematography by Irving Glassberg.
Well worth watching: 8/10.
Although what the negative might contain, who it might belong to, and who the information is intended for is never clarified, it is safe to assume that either the action relates to WWII and Germanic-looking heavies are after it, or this is already the Cold War boiling over in the Italian/Swiss Alps.
Regardless of the conflict, it is a riveting film with credible dialogue, good acting from Duff, Friend, Douglas, Donn and Slezak, here playing against type a non-sleazy medical doctor and inn owner. The show, though, is stolen by the mesmerizing beauty of Toren and the panthers roaming wild over lovingly shot rocky, snowy, or arborous landscape. Great action sequences involving the felines, including a fight with a bloodhound. Truly wonderful cinematography by Irving Glassberg.
Well worth watching: 8/10.
Universal-International's grade B suspense film is built around an outre gimmick MacGuffin: incriminating microfilm is smuggled out of Italy on a train in the collar of a male black panther, which Howard Duff has been hired to transport along with its female mate to America. The rest of the show is the hunt for the deadly escaped panthers, with a group of unsavory spies also on their trail.
This movie desperately needed some star power to punch it up. Since Robert Mitchum starred in "The Night of the Hunter" and "Track of the Cat", two classics shot several years later, he would have been perfect as the lead, and throw in his famous co-star of the '40s, Jane Greer, and wow! But instead we have Duff and Marta Toren, plus a colorless supporting cast.
Lousy script gives zero sympathy to the beautiful panthers -instead they're described as symbolizing pure evil. Not for me, I was rooting for them from the git go.
I guess we'll have to wait for Ryan Coogler to direct a big-budget remake! At least he'll know who the true hero and heroine of this story are.
This movie desperately needed some star power to punch it up. Since Robert Mitchum starred in "The Night of the Hunter" and "Track of the Cat", two classics shot several years later, he would have been perfect as the lead, and throw in his famous co-star of the '40s, Jane Greer, and wow! But instead we have Duff and Marta Toren, plus a colorless supporting cast.
Lousy script gives zero sympathy to the beautiful panthers -instead they're described as symbolizing pure evil. Not for me, I was rooting for them from the git go.
I guess we'll have to wait for Ryan Coogler to direct a big-budget remake! At least he'll know who the true hero and heroine of this story are.
This is an Off-Beat "Out There" Story of a Female "Cold-War" Spy, Hiding Microfilm in the Collar of a Circus-Panther and the "Game is Afoot".
Marta Toren is the Spy and Howard Duff is the "Caught in the Web" Bystander.
The "Spy Hunt" of the Title is a bit Misleading...The Spy is Actually the "Hunter" and the "Hunt" is Literally a "Big-Game" Pursuit when the "Cats" (there are 2) Escape After a Thrilling Train-Wreck.
It Takes Place in the Mountains of Switzerland and the Expanding Cast...Adding a Journalist...an Artist...a Doctor/Innkeeper (Walter Slezack)...and More,
All Lodged Shoulder-to-Shoulder as the "Hunt" Takes Place. Everyone is a "Suspect" and May Not be What They Seem.
The Movie Fails in Some Respects with an Over-Use of Back-Screen at Times, at other Times the Scenery and the Hunt are Quite Impressive.
The Set-Up is Ludicrous (with the Cats used as a transporting mechanism in the first place),
but it is Certainly a Different Take and a Unique Back-Drop for the "Spy vs Spy" Game that was just Beginning its Long-Run and Became a Genre All its Own.
Slightly Above Average...
But can seem a bit Ridiculous...
the Tension is Terse, the Suspense Palatable, and the Ending, while somewhat Labored Satisfies.
The Beautiful, Short-Lived Marta Toren and the Off-Kilter Template Make it Definitely...
Worth a Watch
Note...The Cat-Wrangling is superb. The "Black-Panthers" are actually Mountain Lions with a Dye-Job.
Marta Toren is the Spy and Howard Duff is the "Caught in the Web" Bystander.
The "Spy Hunt" of the Title is a bit Misleading...The Spy is Actually the "Hunter" and the "Hunt" is Literally a "Big-Game" Pursuit when the "Cats" (there are 2) Escape After a Thrilling Train-Wreck.
It Takes Place in the Mountains of Switzerland and the Expanding Cast...Adding a Journalist...an Artist...a Doctor/Innkeeper (Walter Slezack)...and More,
All Lodged Shoulder-to-Shoulder as the "Hunt" Takes Place. Everyone is a "Suspect" and May Not be What They Seem.
The Movie Fails in Some Respects with an Over-Use of Back-Screen at Times, at other Times the Scenery and the Hunt are Quite Impressive.
The Set-Up is Ludicrous (with the Cats used as a transporting mechanism in the first place),
but it is Certainly a Different Take and a Unique Back-Drop for the "Spy vs Spy" Game that was just Beginning its Long-Run and Became a Genre All its Own.
Slightly Above Average...
But can seem a bit Ridiculous...
the Tension is Terse, the Suspense Palatable, and the Ending, while somewhat Labored Satisfies.
The Beautiful, Short-Lived Marta Toren and the Off-Kilter Template Make it Definitely...
Worth a Watch
Note...The Cat-Wrangling is superb. The "Black-Panthers" are actually Mountain Lions with a Dye-Job.
This is in almost every aspect a truly amazing film, and there are many odd things contributing to make it unique in its way. The main players and attractions are not Howard Duff and Marta Toren with all their retinue but the two black panthers, that break loose from a train in Switzerland and terrorize the entire landscape, forcing the army to go to war against them and shoot them dead at any cost, while they are invaluable to Howard Duff, their keeper who lost them, and Marta Toren, who used one of them for a spy message. The intrigue is equally masterly contrived, many parts getting involved in this thing, and several of them not hesitating to kill for their business. Walter Slezak, as the inn-keeper, is the one outsider who is totally innocent and provides a charming character for a change and picturesque addition to the stew. It's difficult to follow all the ways and intrigues and turnings of various spies and agents, which it is impossible to discern immediately who is on which side, but some of them come out alive. It's a delicious piece of cake quite out of the ordinary, there is no other spy thriller like it, but its most rewarding qualities are the marvellous shots from the hunting parties in the Swiss Alps, reminding of great natural documentaries, like those of the Swede Arne Sucksdorff, and also of Frank Borzage's "Mortal Storm" ten years earlier.
A top secret microfilm is smuggled via a cigarette and a meatball (don't ask!) into the collar of one of a pair of black panthers being transported by "Quain" (Howard Duff) from Europe to the United States. When their train is derailed and the panthers escape, "Quain" and his newly found journalist pal "Catherine" (Märta Torén) - whom we know to be not quite all she seems - soon find themselves at a local mountain hotel where the prospects of a panther hunt attract both the army and a few colonial-types who fancy a bit of a big game hunt. The arrival of "Paradou" (Robert Douglas) reinforces the threat to the beasts and to anyone who gets in the way of those malevolently determined to secure this (pretty robust) little document. What now ensues doesn't auger very well for these lithe and beautiful creatures, nor for "Quain" and "Catherine" either unless they can keep alert and stay one step ahead of their rivals. The beginning of this is quite fun, the middle portion quite intriguing, but the concluding third of the film is all just a little bit too formulaic. The presence of Douglas does little to enhance any sense of jeopardy, but he does always manage to exude a degree of nastiness and that compensates a little before the denouement. The production is rudimentary - lots of fairly obvious green-screen effects that suggest they never left California, but in the end it's a watchable, amiable, crime thriller that passes seventy-five minutes effortlessly enough.
Le saviez-vous
- AnecdotesOpening music is the same theme used in the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes series of films
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Détails
- Durée1 heure 14 minutes
- Couleur
- Rapport de forme
- 1.37 : 1
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