Escape in the Fog

Another wartime programmer that Hollywood was turning out by the hundreds. The only unusual angle is the mixing of espionage with psychic dreams, apparently an everyday occurrence in this scripted world. Except for the bland male lead (Wright), it's an excellent cast of stereotypes, including professional Hollywood Nazi, Ivan Triesault who made a career of these cruel types. There's also the incredibly smooth Otto Kruger playing a good guy, for once, but then who could do oily villains better than his smiling cobra. And what guy wouldn't like to partner-up with newcomer Nina Foch in an extended game of mixed doubles. With his penchant for cool blondes, I wonder why Hitchcock didn't enlist her obvious talents at some point. Anyway, cult director Boetticher helms in efficient style, the fog machine gets overtime, and a number of practiced players do their thing. (In passing, note how slickly Boetticher stages the shootout near movie's end—a foreshadowing of the classics to come. Note too, that Malcolm represents a generic federal agency and not the FBI by name. That way possible legal problems are avoided.) Nothing exceptional here, just a demonstration of how the studio assembly line turned out an entertaining product even under straitened wartime conditions.

Did I have a dream too, as the woman in this film? This is a short length Columbia Pictures thriller, where the villain is not George Mac Ready !! I can't believe it. Otto Kruger is however effective here, but in a role in the total opposite of what the villain character that George Mac Ready should have had. The villians here are of course Nazis; a couple of years later, it would have been the Commies.... Anyway, yes, Nina Foch is the predictable character for this cheap Columbia - but so effective though - film, but, I repeat, the usual villain Mac Ready is missing. So, even without him, this early Budd Boetticher programmer is worth the catch, as any other Budd boetticher's film anyway. Some Hitchcockian elements in this movie too.

This one starts out with such promise, but gets bogged down near the end. Still it is unique enough to be worth a watch. Nina Foch is walking along a bridge in the fog in the middle of the night, looking over the side, when she encounters a policeman. He asks if she is alright, asks her if she is contemplating jumping. She says yes to the first question, no to the second. He tells her to go home, that this is no place to be hanging around at this hour. She walks down the bridge a bit further when a car stops near her. Three men are fighting - actually two are attacking the third man. As one man gets ready to plunge a knife into the heart of another Foch's character screams loudly and repeatedly. And then she awakens. It has all been a bad dream.

In burst the innkeeper where Eileen Carr (Nina Foch) is staying, and by his side, the guy (William Wright as Barry Malcolm) who was about to be stabbed in the dream! What IS going on here? Well, Eileen and Barry are instantly drawn to each other, and it turns out Eileen is a nurse suffering from shock from being in a shipwreck of an American navy vessel. She is at the inn for a long rest. Barry is more illusive about what he is up to. He asks her to spend a couple of days with him in San Francisco and says that she can stay with an aunt of his there. She agrees.

Well it turns out Barry is a spy/courier for the allies, and while in San Francisco he goes to the house of wealthy Paul Devon (Otto Kruger), who gives him sealed orders on the coordination of the underground in Japanese occupied China with the final stages of the attack on Japan. Devon mentions that this mission is so super secret, that no matter what trouble he gets in he is not to contact him after he leaves his house. A car will pick him up at midnight at his hotel and then on to a plane to start him on his way to China.

In the meantime Barry and Eileen are falling for each other, although this must be entirely chemistry because there is no time for character development here. At one point in the evening she even calls him "darling"? Hey Nina you didn't know this guy 24 hours ago, isn't this going a little too fast, even for wartime? Foiling the plans of our young lovers and the allies are two nasty Nazis who have found out what is going on and plan to kidnap Barry by being in that car waiting to take him on his mission. How will this all work out, watch and find out.

I will tell you this much, these spies are VERY persistent. They do believe if at first you don't succeed try try again. It also involves grandfather clock repair, watertight buoyant envelopes, secret Navy experiments going on in San Francisco Bay, and, remember that dream Eileen had? It turns out to be a premonition.

Just a couple of questions for both sides. For the allies - why was it necessary to list the names of the members of the underground - which is what the Nazis are after. After all, the members of the underground know who they are, they don't need a role call! As for the Nazis, why are they doing all of this work for the Japanese? Couldn't they be bothered to try and stop the invasion of their own country? Inquiring minds want to know but will never find out. Well folks, you can't say this one is a paint by numbers war picture, and it has ace direction from Budd Boetticher, here at only age 29 and his third year of directing. Notice how the cinematography sticks to close ups so Columbia's low budget roots do not show.

"Escape in the Fog" is an intriguing 1945 B movie directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Nina Foch and Otto Kruger.

Foch is a nurse, Eileen Carr, honorably discharged from the service after a something akin to a nervous breakdown. She has a nightmare where she witnesses a man being attacked on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Once awake, she meets the actual victim in her dream, Barry Malcolm (William Wright) who is staying in the same place. There's an immediate attraction, and he offers to take her to San Francisco with him.

Once there, Malcolm, a special agent, gets orders from his boss, Paul Devon (Kruger) to go to Hong Kong to deliver a package to the Chinese underground. Devon's house has been bugged by the Axis, and they follow Malcolm to get the package.

When it's revealed that the people who picked up Malcolm were not sent by Devon, Eileen realizes her dream is about to come true, and she rushes to the Golden Gate Bridge. The rest of the story takes place from there.

This is a pretty preposterous tale, but entertaining nonetheless, with a strong performance by the lovely Foch. Baby boomers like myself remember her as an older woman and a constant television presence. Here she's young, and she and Kruger do an excellent job of holding this film together.

If you can overcome the plot holes, you'll enjoy this one.

This wartime thriller follows conventional plot directions, but the framing of its story in a dream of murder makes it pretty interesting. Foch is excellent and very sexy. The suspense lags after the dream occurs in real time, and we have to see Foch tied up as Kruger (excellent as always) tries to find a missing envelope. Nicely photographed and directed; if only more thought had gone into its conception.