Cloak and Dagger

This is the fourth and last of Fritz Lang's American espionage films and it is certainly a strange one. Written by Albert Maltz and Ring Lardner Jr. who were later blacklisted for their Communist sympathies, the film's anti-atomic sentiments have been expunged by the studio. As expected from Expressionist Lang the film looks wonderful but despite some thrilling moments it is on the whole uneven.

Inspired by the exploits of OSS operative Michael Burke this has Gary Cooper as a mild-mannered nuclear physicist who is attempting to smuggle a fellow physicist out of occupied Italy. He is aided in this by Italian partisans, one of whom is played by Lilli Palmer. Naturally, a romance blossoms.......

The character of Professor Jesper is surely one of the dullest heroes in film history which makes the casting of Gary Cooper a masterstroke. He carries it off wonderfully with his customary ease and we are with him all the way. He is especially sympathetic in his scenes with the marvellous Helene Thimig and Vladimir Sokolov and utilises the old charm with the double agent of Warner's contract player Marjorie Hoshell who is straight out of a film noir. His scenes with the Gina of Lilli Palmer just about work. There is certainly an emotional chemistry between them but alas not a physical one. As for Miss Palmer this is her first Hollywood film and proved to be a baptism by fire. Not only is her role as a traumatised bordering on paranoid resistance fighter extremely demanding, she was given a hard time by the director. Lang was known to be a bully and like all bullies picked on those least able to fight back. At one stage the entire crew walked out in protest at his treatment of her. When filming ended he told her; "I'll look after you in the cutting room." To his credit he did and she comes out very well. Needless to say Herr Lang was respectful towards Mr. Cooper!

The scene that lingers longest and the one directed by the sadistic Lang with true relish is the fight between Cooper and the Italian fascist agent of Marc Lawrence. Their gruesome and vicious struggle is played out to the sound of an Italian street singer while the child's toy ball bouncing down the stairs to the feet of the corpse is very effective and evidently a nod to his masterpiece 'M'.

Lang never concealed his loathing of meddling Hollywood producers and here once again his original ending in which the Germans appear to have the atomic bomb, has been cut. The horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were of course all too recent and it is one of Life's supreme ironies that ex-Nazi scientists were assisting America in its nuclear programme.

Despite its weaknesses this is still extremely watchable thanks to its charismatic cast, Lang's mastery of light and shade and of course the sine qua non of a Warner's film, Max Steiner's score.

Gary Cooper (Professor Jesper) is a nuclear scientist who is sent on an espionage assignment into Switzerland to discover and report back what progress the Nazis have made in developing an atomic bomb. It's World War II and the race is on to blow each other up. He is told that respected scientist Helen Thimig (Katarin Lodor) is to be his point of contact but his assignment turns into a rescue mission on meeting her. When this fails, he switches his focus to Italy where he links up with the Italian Underground movement in order to rescue Vladimir Sokoloff (Polda), another super-brain scientist.

The film reminded me of a James Bond style spy story. The cast are all OK and there are plenty of sequences that propel the plot forwards, although the film loses it's pace a bit with the romantic section between Cooper and Resistance fighter Lilli Palmer (Gina), which slows things down for about 20 minutes.

As regards the plot, I'm not sure it makes sense. Jesper is sent to find out information and report back, but he ends up in the front-line as a spy with a gun who has to fight and defend himself and is involved in a kidnapping plot. Totally unreal but it really doesn't matter. It's an enjoyable film with a collection of memorable sequences, eg, the French Resistance at the beginning, the scene when Cooper confronts undercover Gestapo agent Marjorie Hoshelle (Ann Dawson), the Italian Resistance and the episode in the truck, and the fight scene between Cooper and Marc Lawrence (Luigi).

Conventional and slick spy-thriller set during wartime from Fritz Lang at his best. However , Warner Bros reedited the movie into an usual spy melodrama with some action and intrigue . It deals with a scientific enlisted by the secret service and undertaking dangerous adventures throughout Europe . During the last years of WW2 the US learn that the Nazis are investigating an atomic power so the OSS (organization strategic services) asks for help to University Professor Alvah Jasper (Gary Cooper), an American scientist leading the way to atomic bomb development in the USA . They assign him to go to Europe to meet Dr. Polda (Vladimir Sokoloff), an atomic scientist being kidnapped by the Nazis and he is helping them to build the bomb . As Jesper working for the OSS must bring him to the United States, but he first must meet up with his old professor from college Dr. Katerin Lodor (Helen Thimig) who explains him that Polda is in Italy . Then there happens a shockingly casual execution . Later on , Jasper must go to Italy in search of the scientist. In Italy he is accompanied by a group of Italian guerrilla fighters led by a brave American (Robert Alda) and a valiant resistance fighter named Gina (Lilly Palmer). After that , Jasper has a brutal fight (Marc Lawrence) against a Nazi in an alley . And of course Jesper gets the girl and both of whom fall in love for each other.

Interesting espionage film about the dangers of the atomic age with an intrepid physicist who becomes into secret agent working for the O.S.S . Good performance of Cooper as scientist who spend most of the time trotting round Germany , Switzerland and Italy ensuring the Germans don't obtain the atomic bomb . An attractive Lilly Palmer steals the show as sensible female fighter Gina , someone with whom Cooper forms an enjoyable bond in part because she brings out him sensitive qualities . Considered talent involved at the movie as the classic musician Max Steiner who composes a fine score and atmospheric cinematography in black and white by Sol Polito . The version filmed by Fritz Lang was considerably more strong and exciting carrying on to suggest that German scientific has discovered the secret of atomic bomb and escaped with it to Argentina , then Warner Bros got into the act and cut it .The film belong to the Lang's trilogy about Nazi time along with ¨Man hunt¨and ¨Hangmen also die¨. Lang directed masterfully all kind of genres as Noir cinema as ¨Big heat , Scarlet Street and Beyond a reasonable doubt¨ , Epic as ¨Nibelungs¨, suspense as ¨Secret beyond the door, Clash by night¨ and Western as ¨Rancho Notorious and Return of Frank James ¨ .This standard espionage drama with some good and thrilling moments will appeal to Gary Cooper fans .

Toward the end of World War II, the allied secret service receives a partial message indicating that the Germans are researching nuclear energy to build atomic bombs. In Midwestern University, the scientist Alvah Jesper (Gary Cooper) is called up by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) to meet his former colleague Dr. Katerin Lodor (Helen Thimig) in Switzerland and bring her to North America. However, his mission fails and Dr. Lodor is killed by the Nazis but first she informs that Alvah's acquaintance Dr. Giovanni Polda (Vladimir Sokoloff) is working for the Nazis in Italy. Dr. Jesper travels to Italy and with the support of the Italian partisans leaded by Pinkie (Robert Alda) and Gina (Lilli Palmer), he has a meeting with Dr. Polda that is under the surveillance of the Gestapo. The scientist tells him that his daughter Maria had been abducted by the Gestapo and Alvah makes a deal with Dr. Polda, promising to release Maria first and bringing them to North America. While Pinkie travels to rescue Maria, Alvah stays with Gina and they fall in love for each other.

"Cloak and Dagger" is a suspenseful and full of action romance in times of war. The enjoyable story has good moments of tension but it is only a reasonable work of Fritz Lang. Gary Cooper's character seems to be a skilled and well-trained agent and not a scientist in many moments and Lili Palmer performs a strong female character in one of her first works. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Grande Segredo" ("The Great Secret")

One of 'Cloak and Dagger's' biggest attractions was having Fritz Lang as its director, have said more than once about liking Lang a lot as a director and this film does nothing to change my mind. Of the cast, Gary Cooper is the most familiar name to me and while there are performances of his that are great there are a few that are not so good. The story sounded really interesting on paper and sounded like it would be a very atmospheric film.

'Cloak and Dagger', when seeing it, could easily have been very run of the mill and very routine. Instead, to me on the most part it was really quite gripping. While 'Cloak and Dagger' is not one of Lang's best films, not by a long shot, and there are better spy thrillers out there, but it is still well done and better than a lot of similarly themed films from around this period and doesn't do anything to squander Lang's or Cooper's talents (a good thing, wastes of talent get on my nerves).

Very atmospheric photography is an obvious good point, and the same goes for the lighting. Both add to the film's bleak atmosphere. Lang directs with great skill, didn't get the sense that he was bored or unsure of what he was doing, instead in control of the material and getting much out of it as possible. The script doesn't ramble or feel melodramatic, with it feeling as tight and cohesive as ought generally. The story more often than not is dripping in tension, at its best nail-biting, and the time that the film is set in is superbly portrayed in a frighteningly bleak manner and not shying away.

There is one fight scene that is particularly tense. Cooper does very well in his role once he warmed into it. Lilli Palmer excels even better in a sensitive performance as a character just as interesting. Everybody else is solid, with Robert Alda being especially memorable.

Unfortunately, 'Cloak and Dagger' does start off a bit too sluggishly and uncertain, would go as far to say routine.

While the central relationship settles believably once things get going (which it took perhaps a little too much time to do so), it wasn't one that settled straightaway and took time to. The music is too intrusive in volume and tone, over-emphasising the mood.

Altogether, solid film if not a great one. 7/10