Aveux spontanes

A cold war insight that is fairly realistic and gives a very clear picture of the state of Europe, especially Hungary, during the last years of Stalin. It is especially relevant today as Putin tries to exonerate him and repeat his methods of stretching far outside Russia to persecute so called enemies that could be considered a threat to the infallibility of Russian dictatorship. Dana Andrews is reliable as usual, seconded here by the lovely Marta Toren, who played in films together with almost all the major stars of Hollywood before she died suddenly at only 30 as the successor to Ingrid Bergman, but Marta Toren also married and filmed in Italy. George Sanders is the sober diplomat who handles the intricate situation with due dignity, while the most realistic scenes are the most revolting, those of the Hungarian brainwash procedure under Stalin.

It's not one of Dana Andrews' best pictures, but no one could have made the part he plays better - he had been in it before, like in "The Iron Curtain" 1948.

Assignment: Paris is another of those films with a faraway location that never got past the Columbia back lot. Still it's a decent enough Cold War noir thriller.

Dana Andrews is a hotshot reporter for the New York Herald Tribune assigned to its prestige international division in Paris which is headed by editor George Sanders. Andrews is covering the capture and trial of an American for espionage by the Hungarian hardline regime. Of course when he's sent to Budapest in pursuit of the story, Andrews becomes the story himself and Sanders works like a demon to get him free.

Sanders is aided and abetted by the lovely Marta Toren who gets in a bit of hot water herself in the effort. Audrey Totter, the fashion editor, provides moral support all around.

Hard to believe that in five years Toren would be gone, dying of leukemia at a young age. That was one extraordinarily beautiful woman, what a career she should have had.

Though Andrews is first billed, the film is really carried by Sanders in one of his few roles as a good guy. The man with the built in sneer carries the part off well.

The Cold War atmosphere was just right for these shadowy noir films of intrigue. Assignment: Paris is a good representation of the times.

An American named Robert Anderson has been arrested by Hungary for spying. Jimmy Race (Dana Andrews) is a brash reporter from the New York Herald-Tribune in Paris. He and top reporter Jeanne Moray (Märta Torén) are trying to interview the Hungary ambassador. She has a story that the Hungary leadership is trying rapprochement with Yugoslavia's Tito despite Soviet objection. The Hungarian authority is keeping a close eye on her.

The story is a little slow at times. The movie seems more interested in getting the Cold War right. The Iron Curtain has descended and this is an almost straight forward telling. It's a story out of the headlines. It doesn't automatically make it a good story. Jimmy Race is overly brash to the point of arrogance. He should be smarter than that. The girl doesn't seem like the reporter type. I do like the rip from the headlines aspect but it could be done with more tension.

Dana Andrews has "Assignment: Paris" in this 1952 Cold War drama that also stars George Sanders and Marta Toren. Andrews is Jimmy Race, an ambitious reporter in the Paris office of the New York Herald Tribune; his boss is George Sanders. Race is assigned the espionage trial of an American captured by the Hungarians. In Budapest, Race is captured, and it's up to Sanders to try to free him.

Sanders gets help from a woman, played by Marta Toren, whose background is not explained. Audrey Totter plays a fashion editor.

All the performances are good, but the revelation is Toren, whom I'd never seen before. She was remarkably beautiful and a fine actress. Unfortunately she died very young, which is a terrible tragedy. She never makes the list of most beautiful, and she should. I suppose not that many people are familiar with her.

Sanders carries the film in the workhorse role, and an unusual one for him as he's a good guy. The film is done in more of a documentary style with a dynamic conclusion, though some plot points are up in the air.

Definitely worth seeing for the stunning Toren.

Cocky young reporter DANA ANDREWS gets at the truth of some political funny business in Cold War Hungary. Will this help him in his budding romance with the pretty young émigré he took from improbable good guy GEORGE SANDERS during his ASSIGNMENT Paris?

This is a rather typical Columbia production -- decent actors thrown into a fairly silly plot where the implausibilities keep piling up. The good to this movie is the location shooting (they really are in Paris in the exteriors -- love the scene where it's spitting snowflakes) and George Sanders, gamely taking on the sort of role given to Ralph Bellamy. The bad is a somewhat dumb cold war plot, that assumes that a reporter sent to a cold war country is likely going to be arrested, put on trial, and brainwashed (as opposed to merely deported after a careful search). Also, if a reporter really acted like Dana Andrews in his professional or romantic life, he would have his lights punched out by his victims, and be arrested for stalking.

In other words -- not bad, and if you like George Sanders, it might be interesting to see him tackle a non-sneering part. Be warned, though, that Dana Andrews is seriously annoying in this one.