Segreto di stato

State Secret is a forgotten classic, made around the same time as the celebrated 'The Third Man', this film is equally, if not more enjoyable! A thriller in the Hitchcockian tradition, with a nice blend of comedy that doesn't detract from the thrills. Devilishly handsome, dashing and suave Douglas Fairbanks Jnr. in what is arguably his best role as the Doctor running for his life in a foreign country, ably supported by a menacing Jack Hawkins, pretty Glynis Johns, and a hilarious Herbert Lom, in one of the best 'cat & mouse' chases ever made! Nice locales, excellent black & white photography all add up to one hell of a ride! An even bigger mystery is why this film has never been given it's just desserts in an official DVD release? Perhaps it didn't have as catchy a theme as 'The Third Man'?

State Secret casts Douglas Fairbanks, Jr, as an American doctor practicing in London who goes on a goodwill tour behind the Iron Curtain to demonstrate a ew surgical technique.

Fairbanks is wined and dined and feted and then performs the operation and bad for him that he recognizes his patient is the country's dictator.

The secret police in the person of Jack Hawkins try to hold him, but Fairbanks escapes in possession of one of the biggest State Secrets out there. The rest of the film is Fairbanks and his efforts to flee the country.

Fairbanks gives a wonderful portrayal of a trapped man. Not knowing the language is a frightful and almost insurmountable barrier. A meting with Glynis John who is an entertainer who speaks English because her mother was from the United Kingdom is a godsend. Their scenes together as Fairbanks tries to persuade Glynis to help are special.

The atmosphere shown of the omnipresent state is the best thing about State Secret. Another special performance is that of Herbert Lom as a fixer who will help if it suits him for a price.

State Secret is one excellent Cold War drama/

I viewed this film at Cinevent in Columbus, Ohio on Memorial Day weekend, 2001. It is one of Fairbanks's best performances. He is believable as an American physician brought to a eastern European nation under false pretenses. When his patient, the current dictator, dies he is slated to be killed as part of the coverup. He escapes with the unwilling aid of a cabaret singer (Glynis Johns), a stranger who is the only person he can find that speaks English. The story is told in flashback and contains some highly tense moments of an escape over high mountains and a bit of comic relief provided by Herbert Lom. First rate! I hope this film can be released on video or seen on television. It shouldn't be missed.

1950 was a great year for films, but for some reason two fine ones came out that had the same plot line (with variations) set in two different parts of the world. These were CRISIS and STATE SECRET. CRISIS was set in Latin America, in a country run by a dictator and his cronies, similar to the Perons in Argentina. The dictator (Jose Ferrer) has a brain tumor, and when an American brain surgeon (Cary Grant) and his wife come to the country on a vacation, the dictator puts pressure on the brain surgeon to perform secret surgery on him. Grant also has pressure on him by the local revolutionaries (led by Gilbert Roland) to botch the operation.

STATE SECRET was a British film starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Jack Hawkins, Glynnis Johns, and Herbert Lom. Vacationing in a Balkan state that is not totally Communist (read Yugoslavia), Fairbanks is pressured by the head of the Secret Service (Hawkins) into operating on the Genreralisimo (a type of elderly version of Tito) who is gravely ill. When, after an initial period where the patient is responding well to the operation, the dictator dies, Fairbanks realizes that his life is in danger (Hawkins can't have the death of the dictator revealed so early - there has to be a replacement ready in the wings). Fairbanks' adventures in fleeing (aided by Johns and Lom) are the basis of the plot.

I find the sociological background to Latin American politics in CRISIS better than the Balkan background to STATE SECRET, but there are nice touches. Hawkins is a dangerous foe, but he is a man with an astute political brain. Lom (playing his normal villainous type: a blackmailing scoundrel) turns in a superb comic performance when he unwittingly stumbles on a secret he'd prefer never knowing at all. Fairbanks Jr. was always underrated as an actor, because too many critics saw him as trying to carry on the tradition of swashbuckling films his father made famous in the silent period. But he was better than that, and shows real, growing concern for Johns and her safety as the film continues.

If possible try to see this and CRISIS together, to see which one is better. I bet you will find that an impossible choice. Enjoy them both.

Fairbanks, in his most natural style makes you believe he is a gifted surgeon. He is "kidnapped" by a country to perform a delicate operation on its leader. Things go wrong and, of course, Fairbanks is in danger of being killed to silence his knowledge. I viewed this film a a local theatre in Los Angeles as "State Secret" and later I could see that other writers "borrowed" many of the twists and turns for later productions. Herbert Lom has a nice part and clearly establishes his talent for future films. Jack Hawkins is at his menacing best. Although there are some cute things to laugh at, this film is not a comedy as stated on the cover page, but an exciting chase that keeps you on the edge of your seat.