The Man Between

This taut film noir when compared to Carol Reed's masterpieces of that genre, Odd Man Out and The Third Man, is a flawed gem, but still that - a gem.

Filmed in Berlin just eight years after WWII ended, and eight years before the Wall went up, it stars James Mason and Claire Bloom as star-crossed lovers in a city still digging itself out of the rubble made by Allied bombs, and still taking refugees from the east of Europe. The story tells of Susanne Mallison, a young Englishwoman who has arrived in Berlin to visit her older brother Martin, an army physician in the British sector of the city, and his German wife Bettina. It is while Susanne and Bettina are spending a day in the eastern sector, that Bettina finds herself reluctantly introducing Susanne to an old friend, the suave and handsome Ivo Kern. Susanne doesn't like Ivo at first -the audience isn't supposed to either - and she immediately becomes suspicious that he and Bettina are having a clandestine affair. She is curious though about the man, but will she learn the truth about Ivo and his mysterious background?

Meanwhile off the set of the film there was more going on behind the scenes between the two stars. From the book 'James Mason - A Personal Biography', by Mason's former sister-in-law and life long friend, Diana de Rosso: "I was to observe another side of his character, rarely disclosed, when he came to London to finish filming The Man Between. He was a frequent visitor to our London home and he began to bring with him increasingly, his ethereally lovely co-star Claire Bloom...He showed a marked interest in the young actress. There was a quality about her, a stillness and tranquillity which set her apart from most artists her age, yet she had a pointed wit and a fine intelligence, virtues which appealed to James - and it was quite apparent that he was in danger of losing his heart. In truth I believe his heart was lost...His attachment to Claire was purely romantic. They used to sit on the floor together in our house, hand in hand, plainly adoring each other..."

But as with Ivo and Susanne, it was the same with James and Claire. Mason did not divorce his estranged wife Pamela Kellino, and de Rosso was surprised that he didn't, but she has some theories. When he finally did get his divorce a few years later, Claire had moved on to other things in her career and private life. Still, when they met again several years later, it was clear that Mason still was very fond of her and she likewise.

When I first saw this film I questioned whether Mason's German accent was very good, but when I lent it to a pair of friends who are German, they said that he did a good job. As for the German supporting cast, it is the best, especially the lovely Hildegard Neff, and the hauntingly beautiful musical score catches the bleak feeling of the city during a cold winter. They are also reasons I list this as one of my favourite film noir productions.

In the Post-World War II, the British Susanne Mallison (Claire Bloom) travels to Berlin to visit her older brother Martin Mallison (Geoffrey Toone), a military that has married the German Bettina Mallison (Hildegarde Neff). The naive Susanne snoops on Bettina and suspects that she is hiding a secret from her brother.

When Susanne meets Bettina with her friend Ivo Kern (James Mason), he offers to show Berlin to her and they date. But Ivo meets the strange Halendar (Aribert Waescher) from the East Germany and Susanne takes a cab and return to her home alone. Then she dates Ivo again and he meets Olaf Kastner (Ernst Schroeder), who is a friend of Martin and Bettina. But soon Susanne, who has fallen in love with Ivo, learns that he was a former attorney married to Bettina in East Germany but with a criminal past during the war. Now he is blackmailed by Halendar to kidnap Kastner and bring him back to the other side of the border. The plan fails and Halender asks his men to abduct Bettina to get Kastner. However, Susanne is kidnapped by mistake and is imprisoned in the basement of a house in East Berlin. Now Ivo plots a plan to rescue Susanne from Halender and help her to cross the border. Will they succeed in their intent?

"The Man Between" is another wonderful classic by Carol Reed with suspense and romance in the post-war Berlin totally destroyed, in the same environment of Rossellini's "Germania Anno Zero" or Billy Wilder's "A Foreign Affair". James Mason has another top-notch performance in the role of Ivo Kern, a cynical man that changes his behavior when he meets the naive and charming character performed by Claire Bloom. Their chemistry is fantastic and Hildegarde Neff is a very beautiful woman. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Outro Homem" ("The Other Man")

James Mason is "The Man Between" in this 1953 Carol Reed film, shot on location in post-war Berlin. The film also stars Claire Bloom and Hildegarde Neff. Bloom plays Susanne, a young American woman who comes to Berlin to visit her brother Martin. Martin is stationed there and married to Bettina (Neff). Bettina is clearly unhappy about something, and Susanne soon realizes that her discomfiture has to do with a mysterious man, Iwo (Mason), described as an old friend. When Iwo offers to show her the sights, Susanne accepts, and, believing him to be having an affair with her sister-in-law, advises him to leave her alone. Iwo says he is trying to leave the area, and a friend of Martin's can help by getting him the required documents and introductions. When Susanne asks her brother to help Iwo by contacting the man, Bettina loses her temper, and the truth about Iwo and his true relationship to Bettina emerges.

This is an odd, moody, dark film with some haunting images of the destroyed Berlin, and some beautiful shots, particularly the very last one in the film which stays in one's memory. The serenely beautiful Claire Bloom and the enigmatic Mason are magic together and make this a poignant love story, and very typical Reed - the innocent who has her eyes opened, the man tainted by sin going to meet his fate. The whole last half of the film focuses on only the two of them, and we sense their isolation, an odd couple in a changing world.

The German supporting cast is excellent, particularly Neff, whose career in Hollywood was brief. She wrote a wonderful best-selling autobiography, The Gift Horse, in 1970, which leaves no doubt of her feelings about the place. She went on to star in Silk Stockings on Broadway and eventually returned to Germany.

Quite a beautiful film, not up to "The Third Man," but still has the touch of the master.

Vintage Reed with all the elements from his films of the period. The innocent (Bloom) whose view needs to be muddied. The world weary, complex hero/villain. The confusion and ambiguities veering between love and hate, trust and betrayal, weakness and strength. Humans pulled from their comfortable lives and twisted by circumstance. The worn surroundings of war torn Berlin an extra character in the plot. All this in typical stark angled Reed view, with an atmospheric signature tune used noticeably towards the end, and a scene sequence mirroring the ambiguities of the characters.

Whilst the film doesn't flow as fluently and seamlessly as The Third Man, Mason and Bloom create eminently watchable if not entirely rounded characters.

The bleak war-torn settings of East and West Germany during the post-war years of WWII provide a suitable backdrop for a rather cold tale involving complex characters and moral ambiguities.

The story's first half takes time to set up the murky relationships between CLAIRE BLOOM, HILDEGARD KNEF and JAMES MASON before settling down to some quieter moments and romantic overtones when the chemistry between the young girl (Bloom) and the dangerous criminal (Mason) becomes evident. It's their relationship in the second half of the story that heats up some of the cold war atmosphere of the tale.

Suspense mounts as they hide out from the German authorities, but all the while one gets the feeling that all will not end well for the ill-fated pair who have fallen deeply in love.

If you liked the somber atmosphere of films like ODD MAN OUT and THE THIRD MAN, you'll definitely enjoy the atmospheric effects achieved in the crisp B&W photography on display here. Outstanding photography in scene after scene, although the story itself never quite achieves the same degree of finesse as the previously mentioned Carol Reed films.

Nevertheless, it's all extremely well acted. Mason has never been more effective as a complex man full of moral ambiguities and Bloom is given a wonderful chance to display her charm and sensitivity in a well-written role.

Definitely worth watching.