Controspionaggio

Despite good performances from Lana Turner, Clark Gable and Victor Mature (in a colorful role as "The Scarf"), and some pretty location photography of Holland (filmed in Eastmancolor), there are script problems that render BETRAYED a contrived spy tale about the Dutch underground resistance to Nazis.

As one reviewer noted, "at times it is hard to tell who Clark Gable, Lana Turner and Victor Mature are spying for" -- and the revelation that there is a traitor among them comes as no great surprise.

Still, the story moves at a fair pace, Lana looks gorgeous even with a brunette hairdo, and the aging Clark Gable gives a quietly underplayed performance in his final role at Metro. Victor Mature comes off best in a colorful pivotal role. Wilfred Hyde-White, Louis Calhern and Roland Culver are wasted in supporting roles.

All in all, an average spy melodrama bolstered by some fine location photography.

For more about the film and Lana Turner, see my article on LANA TURNER: DANGEROUS CURVES in the Spring Issue 2002 of FILMS OF THE GOLDEN AGE magazine.

"Betrayed!" is just a bit above average World War II film in the espionage genre. Even though I can't help watching it every once in a while I'm not really sure where its attraction is for me. Perhaps it is that I like World War II espionage films and so I don't get too demanding with movies that deal with such matters.

Considering that in my opinion this product has an interesting story about courage, love and mainly treason, lots of action sequences, beautiful outdoor locations in Holland and two important stars in the male and female leading roles (Clark Gable and Lana Turner) I must agree with one reviewer here that thinks the flaw is in the direction work. Gottfied Reinhardt was a not very prolific and average director whose best work was probably the interesting "Town Without Pity" (1961). In "Betrayed!" he doesn't succeed with a movie that had chances of delivering more impact and strength; none of the main actors look too enthusiastic about their characters and it shows.

Gable doesn't add much to his brilliant career in his role as a Dutch intelligence officer though his impressive screen presence always helps him. Lana Turner looks beautiful as a brunette in spite of the just standard performance she delivers as an infiltrated spy for the allies. Victor Mature as a partisan chief ("Scarf") is the only one that shoes interest in what he is doing as usual, but he also overacts terribly as usual. Anton Diffring is also there in one of his nasty Nazi officer roles he played so well.

My feeling about "Betrayed!" is that a better film could have been made with a more strong and imaginative directors, but as it came out this picture is just for fans of the genre.

"This dog just does not hunt." Not just that it is contrived and unbelievable in places.....the characters are not believable, none of them. Clark Gable is aging and looks and sounds totally American. Not at all like a Dutch intelligence officer who's still on his game. Lana Turner sounds American though she too is supposed to be Dutch. In her case, we are supposed to believe that being stuck in hiding for days in a windmill with no amenities or frills, or trekking through rough countryside, she still has perfectly coiffed hair and red lipstick that never wears off even a little, the entire time.

And then we have the third lead, Victor Mature, also sounding very American. At least Wilfred Hyde White and Louis Calhern and the wonderful, not well known Ian Carmichael sound British and are supposed to be, in the film. I just think having all three leads being so apple pie American pretending to be Dutch who have never set foot in America, is too much to impose on the viewer's "suspension of disbelief." Victor Mature's character development (want to avoid spoilers) that affects the plot heavily also seems "a bridge too far."

Many, many better spy films out there!

Clark Gable and Lana Turner made their fourth and final film together in Betrayed which also was Gable's final film for MGM where he reigned as king for 24 years. Also along for the ride in this World War II story is Victor Mature.

Gable is a member of the Dutch army in exile which is part of the overall allied army that will shortly be invading cross channel. Turner is an agent that he has recruited of whose loyalties he has some qualms about and Mature is a reckless Dutch resistance leader.

One of these three is a traitor, a person responsible for several failed missions of the resistance. Even more important the traitor leaked information to the Germans about Field Marshal Montgomery's Operation Market Garden which got the British Army hung up in Arnhem. Who could it be?

For a more accurate picture of that operation, I would strongly urge you to watch A Bridge Too Far. In that film you will see none of the events or characters that are shown in Betrayed.

This was Gable's last film at MGM, Dore Schary was cutting loose from a lot of the stalwart contract players that kept Leo the Lion on top of the heap for 20 years. Gable looks like he's just going through the motions and the cast follows suit.

Turner is somewhat interesting as the femme fatale of ambiguous loyalties. Mature looks as bored as Gable, though he does try to invest his part with some of that heavy lidded beefcake charm he was known for.

Not the best work for any of the stars involved.

In the opening credits for "Betrayed," MGM states clearly that the movie is fictitious, with the standard disclaimer. That being the case, the writers did a marvelous job of tying it to some real history. First, the Dutch resistance and underground, including incidents of traitors. Second, the rescue of the 2,500 plus men of the British First Airborne division who had been surrounded and cut off near Remagen in Operation Market Garden. The movie, "A Bridge Too Far," gives a fairly detailed and accurate portrayal of that operation, including the rescue of the men who were cut off.

In this film, of course, the incidents that lead to the rescue are fiction, but the movie does a good job of linking the fictitious story to real events of the time and place during World War II. That lends it that much more of a sense of reality. Along with that, most of the film was shot at locations in The Netherlands. Some scenes show the unmistakable lowland countryside. One very poignant scene shows Carla and The Scarf driving to his mother's home. They are on a long Holland dike that separates the open sea from an inland body of water.

The cast for this film is excellent. The main leads have about the same amount of film time. Clark Gable is Col. Pieter Deventer, a member of the Dutch army in exile and the head of Dutch intelligence working with British intelligence. Lana Turner is Carla Van Oven, a notorious black-market operator in Holland whom the British recruit and Deventer trains for espionage work. Victor Mature is The Scarf, a free- wheeling leader of a resistance faction. He resists coordination with the British and seems to enjoy the killing and destruction of German facilities. A fine supporting cast includes well-known British actors, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Louis Calhern and Ian Carmichael.

Other reviewers note that this is the last film Gable made with MGM, ending a 24-year contract under which he was its prime male star for much of the time. He made nine more films before his death from a heart attack in 1960. All of them were box office successes, and some are excellent films and highly regarded. Turner was active in films into the early 1970s, after which she turned to TV series until finally retiring in 1985 at age 64.

This film has some good action scenes along with the espionage intrigue. And, of course, the Gable and Turner characters fall in love for the Hollywood romantic aspect. While the story and movie are very good and interesting, this isn't a model production. The direction seems to be weak. The film editing is not what it could be. The movie is choppy in places, and at times, some of the actors seem a little wooden.

Still, it's an interesting wartime espionage and action thriller that most people should enjoy.