Chasse aux espions

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.

The story is very predictable but everything is well done so 74 minutes pass very quickly. Especially since there are some very good actors, all of them, Märta Torén, Howard Duff, Philip Friend, Robert Douglas, Philip Dorn, Walter Slezak, Otto Waldis, etc. Plus, no joke, there are also two dogs that play the role of followers very well. And, even better, two black panthers (if they really exist...), who actually perfectly play their roles to be hunted by everyone, people, all the characters, and the two dogs. I don't know how they managed to film those scenes with the panthers. And, all in the picturesque setting of the mountains of Switzerland.

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.

The story begins in some country behind the Iron Curtain. Evidence that the rightful leader of the nation was murdered and was replaced by a communist stooge is being taken out of the country by some spies. However, the secret police are right behind and they apprehend most of the conspirators...but don't manage to get the microfilm with the evidence. Soon, one of the spies comes up with an insane solution for how to get the information out to the Free World...she sticks it in the collar of a nasty black panther headed to Paris on a train. The secret police learn of this and derail the train...but the pair of panthers manage to make it to Switzerland...along with the man who was paid to escort them to Paris and then the States, Steve Quain (Howard Duff). Can the good guys manage to get their hands on the collar before the forces of evil do?

While the story was mostly interesting, there was one HUGE problem with the plot. In the story, the pair of panthers (also called pumas or mountain lions) are supposedly black. There is no such thing as an animal called a black panther and the species has never had a documented case of a dark or melanistic big cat...NONE. The writer obviously confused this with black jaguars or black leopards...which do actually exist. So, to make the story work, you need to ignore this as well as that the filmmakers actually painted a pair of pumas for the film! Poor animals...especially since something similar was done while making the film "The Beast Master"...and the paint ended up killing the tiger they painted black for the movie!

Overall, a decent time-passer...nothing more.

The film is tense and exciting throughout. A panther has a message inserted into a collar around its neck, a message which is of great interest to some questionable characters. The panther escapes its cage and is tracked by Howard Duff, representing the U.S. and by parties who represent the subversives (Ivan Tresault being one of them). The entire film deals with the search and provides some very tense moments. Marta Toren is the beauty who has questionable credentials which have one guessing as to which side she is on. A good film which deserves some recognition.



J.W.