Contre-espionnage

This spy film seems to have used every cliché from spy films made earlier in World War 2.In particular it seems to have taken much of the story line of "Let George Do It".In particular it uses the encoding of messages into music.There is the fake court martial ling of Mason,the drugging of a signals officer and a spy ring in a port,and of course the obligatory missing corpse.All done in a most lacklustre fashion.At just over 90 minutes the story drags along.Compare it with Hitchcocks " Saboteur" made the same year in Hollywood.It looks as if the film was originally longer but was cut before release.i was looking forward to seeing George Robey but his scenes as a pawnbroker were obviously cut.I think that Mason should have based his character on Formby's so he could have ended the film with a cheerful "turned out nice again".

"They Met in the Dark" is like the first draft of a Hitchcock film, before the better plotting, interesting camera-work, and Hitchcock wit is added. In fact, it's a blend of "The 39 Steps" and "The Lady Vanishes." With many of the same elements:

Man and woman meet during a mysterious incident. Check. They are forced to stay on the run together. Check. The "McGuffin" is a secret message about the military. Check. The secret is conveyed by a music hall entertainer. Check. The unlikely couple end up in love. Check.

It's interesting to see the difference between a perfectly fine movie and a great one. Hitchcock created striking lighting effects, innovative camera moves, and darker, more menacing threat.

"They Met in the Dark" is a perfectly charming diversion and a nice, little movie. But pales in comparison to the Hitchcock films of the same era.

Another of the British Noirs from the Koch Lorber box. It takes place in England, with English characters: at least we have some coherence of plot and setting. What is the plot, exactly? Something to do with Nazi spies trying to strike at a warship; James Mason has vowed to stop them. I kept thinking of Hitchcock's 39 Steps; Mason and Joyce Howard sticking together the way Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll did--handcuffed--as they traipsed through Scotland. I don't think there's any value to labelling this movie a noir--it's a wartime thriller, pure and simple, and enjoyable for that reason. Where is the hard-bitten but honest detective, where the dangerous woman? no noir here.

This is an entertaining if uninspired wartime espionage yarn. It contains a fine and energetic performance by James Mason, full of vigour and fully believing in what he is doing. He even manages to deliver convincingly the inane line to Joyce Howard, the heroine, 'I love you', despite the fact that he barely knows her and could not possibly love her. The romantic elements of this story are too ludicrous for comment. This is the third and mercifully the last of the story ideas of Basil Bartlett which were filmed. (His 'Secret Mission' was so terrible it was one of the worst films ever made.) Sir Basil was the stepfather of my friend Annabel. Sorry, Annabel. There is a strong Czech component to the film. The director, Karel Lamac, was a Czech refugee, and apart from Mason, the main performance is by the talented Czech refugee actor, Karel Stepanek, who does extremely well, as usual, and raises the tone considerably. Joyce Howard's fluttery helplessness and bone-headed character may have been typical of women in 1943, but God have mercy on us poor viewers. A spectacular element in this film, which makes it worth seeing, is the incredible harmonica playing by Ronald Chesney, who only appeared in three films and is featured a lot here. Larry Adler eat your heart out (if Larry were still here, that is). Alvar Liddell, the famous wartime radio announcer, makes his first film appearance here, for all of ten seconds. At least Finlay Currie got 20 seconds. Someone savagely cut this film prior to release, as chasms occur in the continuity of fairly mammoth proportions. It is 95 minutes and must have been 110 when the director delivered it. This will keep an undemanding viewer entertained on a rainy afternoon. I had to get the DVD from Germany (where it is known as 'Spionagering'), turn off the dubbed German soundtrack, and listen to the original, which is preserved. The things one does to see these rarities!

I know nothing about Karel Lamac, other than he was born in Prague, captial of the former Czechoslovakia, and he directed THEY MET IN THE DARK at the height of WWII.

The script by Anatole Grunwald and well known British supporting actor, Miles Malleson, rates less than memorable, as does the acting by young James Mason, David Farrar and Joyce Howard (best of all, good old Edward Rigby as Mason's sidekick). Not that photography and art direction lift the film to any unusual heights, either, but in the end I will always remember it as an enjoyable ally vs axis spy yarn.

There is a side magician/singing show featuring Phyllis Stanley, a harmonica player who sounds like Larry Adler, and a couple of rabbit- and pup-producing artists which lightens the atmosphere.

No masterpiece, but I liked it. 7/10.