Noites Perigosas

French actress Annabella, (whose brother was killed by the Nazis)after leaving her native country for the broader horizons of Hollywood often devoted her career to propaganda movies :"tonight we raid Calais " (1943) " 13,Rue Madeleine " ,probably the best of the lot ,and this one.

This is a low budget movie entirely filmed in studios.It depicts a chocolate box Germany (and Holland).Montgomery is a war prisoner who escapes from a camp with a Russian (!) doctor and tries to get to England,carrying important documents ,not to fall into the Nazi's hands.

Watchable,if completely implausible (mainly the ending),this movie makes sometimes think ,in its last part,of George Seaton's "the counterfeit traitor" (1962), a feeling the presence of the Nazi brat reinforces .

Before the FIGHTING SEABEES, director Edward Ludwig gave us this war film, propaganda war flick, not too long, fast paced, produced by 20th Century Fox, which contributed to the war effort. This is not an exceptional story, very predictable, but an excellent time waster and some good surprises, if you put the whole thing in the forties context. In the meantime, of course, you had THE EAGLE HAS LANDED, ten millions times better than this one; but you'll understand why I evoke the John Sturges' film after you will have watched this one. I don't want to spoil anything of the plot. Annabella and George Montgomery was a very unlikely cast....

George Montgomery is a bomber pilot. His plane is shot down, and his kid brother is killed. He's taken prisoner, but escapes with Czech Kent Taylor and Russian Annabella. As they make their way to Holland and, they hope, freedom, Montgomery doesn't know that one of his companions is actually a Gestapo agent, using the information gathered on their journey to destroy the Underground.

It's an enthusiastically performed but rather rote movie from 20th Century-Fox's B unit. Three directors worked on it: Edward Ludwig, Harold Schuster, and some fill-in shooting by John Brahm. None of the wanted credit, and it was released under a pseudonym. With Walter Kingsford, Robert Barratt, Victor Kilian, and Christian Rub.