Foreign Intrigue

I first saw this film as a young boy, and then for years it could not be seen on television, or for that mater anywhere else. I saw the film for the last time in the early 70's, until it was released again early again in this century.

Others have gone into the plot of this film, and I will not do that. What is interesting for me is that the plot of the story is interesting, and it has one of the most unusual ending of any film made in the 1950's. Also while some have criticized Mitchums performance and if he is walking through this film, I think he plays it just right, a man of cool. Ela Fitzgerald once commented that she liked the way Mitchum walked. During the open sequence we see him, I am sure she is referring to this film. Watching him, you realize that if the opportunity had come, and he had wanted to, he could have been the American equivalent to James Bond. Perhaps he could have played the character that Dean Martin would play of Matt Helm, and in films that would have been more in keeping with the books. He really carries this film. His performance reminds me a little of the character he played in OUT OF THE PAST, a wiser Jeff Bailey perhaps.

I see parallels with MR. ARKADIN and THE THIRD MAN, it really tries to be the latter, though does not succeed. It does have the classic look of the film noir, darkness with light shinning through certain areas of the frame, unusual for a color film of the time, and can be quite enjoyable to watch. Also the traces of the Noir film come immediately through when he informs his employers sexy young wife that she now has to become the grieving widow.

Eastman color, while cheaper than the original Technicolor, does have a tendency to fade over time. When I first saw this film in color, it was rather gorgeous to look at. Perhaps the comment about the horrible Eastman color is due to the fading of these prints.

If you liked Robert Mitchum in other films, I highly recommend this film just to see him. Without him the film would not be worth seeing at all.

When a reclusive , sinister millionaire called Victor Danemore dies suddenly of a heart attack on the Riviera, his press agent , Dave Bishop (Robert Mitchum) discovers his deceased body , but not even his enigmatic young wife (Genevieve Page) knows anything about her husband's background or how he earned his richness . As Bishop starts investigating and races from Stockholm to Vienna to the Riviera. As in Stockholm, a blonde (Ingrid Thulin) offered him an invitation: "Is it secrets you want to buy... Or Me!" . In Vienna, a master spy offers him an ultimatum: "I've been paid to kill you, can you better the price?" On the Riviera, a back-ally ambush drenched the cobblestones in blood! . Only one bullet ahead of half the secret agents of Europe . Robert Mitchum is the hunted . . . Europe is the hunting ground !. The most startling spy-hunt ever filmed! .Yesterday he held the world in the palm of his hand... Now it was about to explode in his face!.. And still he wouldn't let go of the deadliest secret a man ever carried!. A world in which a bullet fired in a Vienna slum is heard in London's Foreign Office... where a blonde's warm promise in Stockholm turns to cold on the Riviera... where you can hold the world right in the palm of your hard one minute - and have it explode right in your face the next!

Intriguing and surprising flick with decent performances , atmospheric cinematography and exciting score . A nice thriller with a show-world of traitors-for-hire , several surprises , suspense shattering the screen , twists and turns . A simple and plain premise becomes more and more confuse and twisted when starring carries out deep investigations and becomes romantically involved with two suspect women resulting in treachery . Being well-paced by writer/producer/filmmaker Sheldon Reynolds who in the 60s decade he produced and directed several films . Fine interpretation from trio of protagonists , as Robert Mitchum as the stubborn secretary who begins to investigate his employer's shady past and finds a large number of tracks leading an unexpected revelation . And introducing the attractive Genevieve Page and Igorgeous ngrid Thulin , along with the ordinarily effective secondaries, though they're really unknown.

It packs an adequate cinematography in Panavision by cameraman Bertil Palmgrenas shot on location in Riviera , Vienna , Stockholm , as well as atmospheric and thrilling musical score by Paul Durand. The motion picture was professionally written/produced/directed by Sheldon Reynolds, though it has some flaws , gaps and unfinished conclusion . He produced and directed some episodes about ¨Foreign Intrigue¨ series (1951-1955) that seems to be a precedent to this 1956 film . And about ¨Sherlock Holmes¨series , as he acquired a license to produce and direct adaptations of the Arthur Conan Doyle stories, and successfully formed a consortium which acquired the rights at auction. Reynolds also filmed a Western titled ¨A place called Glory¨ and some thrillers as ¨Assignment kill¨ , ¨Carnival's killer¨ and ¨Foreign intrigue¨.

In order to review this movie, you need to put yourself back into the 50s when it was made. WW2 was just a decade before (closer than Desert Storm is to us), and the cold war was raging. Tales of spies, traitors, and exotic locations were just the ticket for mid-50s audiences. FOREIGN INTRIGUE has plenty of interesting turns and surprises, but it seems to be trying too hard to mix THIRD MAN with MR ARKADIN and perhaps a bit of WW2 Hitchcock (Sabotage, Foreign Correspondent?). I'm not a big Mitchum fan, but he gives his usual looming, low-key performance, and the supporting players do well. My real reason for watching this film (and I've been waiting over 30 years to catch it) is to see Frederick O'Brady, who plays the heavy (he was reviewed at the time as "out-Lorrying Peter Lorre."). He was my French teacher in 1973-74 at the Eastman School of Music and a great raconteur. He had enormous talent in music, languages, writing, and of course acting (having worked with Orson Welles in ARKADIN, plus Jean Renoir, Roger Vadim, and others). If you can find his autobiography ALL TOLD, you'll be fascinated. He told us that Mitchum tried to teach him to drive during the making of this movie, resulting in a wrecked car. Some thought this would be O'Brady's ticket to Hollywood, but instead French directors dropped him, assuming he would be asking too much money for "lowly" French pictures. He spent many years on stage and never had another juicy film part like "Spring" in this picture. If you enjoy the spy genre and aren't in a big hurry for lots of blazing action, find this movie!

Robert Mitchum does not seem to be concerned about the situation .Ingrid Thulin (spelled Tulean (sic))does ,but it is a far cry from Bergman and Visconti.Genevieve Page is French and her best part in an English language movie is still to come : "the private life of Sherlock Holmes" by Billy Wilder.Another French thespian ,Jean Galland,has nothing to say and dies in the first sequence before collecting his money.The plot is complicated and undecipherable .Most of the time,we do not know why those people are bustling about and what they are looking for.When we understand the story deals with blackmail and former Nazis ,it's too late.Take "L'Affaire Nina B" by Robert Siodmak (1961) instead.That director knew what he was talking about.

The musical score almost makes it unwatchable. The same transition music throughout the film consists of a tom-tom and Gilligan knocking on a coconut with two wooden dowels. It's enough to cause a coma. That being said, the rest of the film's attributes out-weigh the migraine-inducing music.

Mitchum is classic, using his debonair best to woo admirers of his old-school, Hitchcockian style. (Wonder why Hitchcock never really used him?)

The cinematography uses the 1956 color like an oil painting, still incorporating the contrast and shadows of a black and white noir classic.

It's worth a watch.