Passport to Treason

O. K. Rod Cameron is no Bogart, but his burly transatlantic presence helps this British B-thriller tick along nicely. Utilising that British staple - fog, P. I. Mike O'Kelly is accosted by three men in quick succession when on his way to see pal Ben Connor. The last man drops a passport and, we're on our way. Connor is found dead by O'Kelly and to save time he follows up on the passport, leaving secretary Jonesy (Marianne Stone) to tell the police. Another British staple of the fifties is introduced; a gang of neo-nazis hiding within a peace organization. Femme fatale ( Diane Boyd (Lois Maxwell) drapes herself pleasingly on the bar in the smoky atmosphere of the Stella Lupari Club. She is obviously involved and leads O'Kelly on a merry, not to mention life-threatening, dance. But what about the mysterious Orlando Syms (Clifford Evans)? The shady Dr Randolph (Douglas Wilmer) and the obviously terrified owner of the passport Amedeo Sacchi (Derek Sydney)? Not forgetting the stereotypical gang of murderously-inclined Italians who can't fight their way out of a paper bag, let alone get past Mike's clubbing right fist! What is the meaning of the list of numbers? Is anyone really what they seem to be? Can anyone be trusted? No! That's what makes the story! From the Berman/Baker stable who made a lot of these entertaining thrillers; they moved on to produce the, very successful, Saint tv series in the sixties. In fact, substitute Roger Moore for Cameron, tweak the script a little, and you have a typical Saint episode. Half of the rest of the cast also appeared regularly in various episodes. A good old-fashioned thriller with no profanity or gratuitous sex, and just complicated enough to keep you on the hook.

Rod Cameron is a private investigator in London -- not a horse in sight. When a friend of his is killed, he takes it upon himself to investigate, despite the disapproval of Scotland Yard. His hunt sends him to an international peace organization that seems to have peculiar connections.

Based on a novel by Manning O'Brine, the movie seems to be a mashup of other, better remembered movies: MURDER, MY SWEET and FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT are two of the obvious ones. Cameron is pretty good, following pretty Lois Maxwell around, but he can sure bounce back from a beating and drugging pretty fast. There's nothing else to complain about in this competent B picture.... but nothing to get excited over either. It's another decent time-waster.

Blimey how boring can a film get. One of the most wooden leading men in anything I can remember. And despite several other reviewers say so, a Canadian not an American I understand. Why was it thought such a good idea to import these awful overseas actors when any number of Brits could have played them so much better.

The story veered all over the place, and what might read well in a book, certainly didn't work as a film. And what exactly was the great threat to this country, the world, or wherever it was meant to be. I'm struggling to find enough required words to get this approved, never mind to offer further comment.

PASSPORT TO TREASON is a fun, densely-plotted little British thriller which heavily emulates the American detective noir films of the 1940s; imported Canadian lead Rod Cameron even contributes a voice over narrative in the opening scenes. It's a fairly standard film of its type, but it has a dense little plot and plenty of suspense to see it through, plus a cracking supporting cast.

The tall and pudgy Cameron makes for an imposing presence as the private eye lead; more of a heavy than a hero, he slugs and pushes his way through the villainous members of the plot, who are part of an Italian gang determined to thwart the efforts of a 'peace organisation' of some type. Along the way, he hooks up with a pre-Bond Lois Maxwell, who is at her most beautiful and intelligent in this film.

There are fist-fights a-plenty, alongside character twists and various other scenarios which work out well. Fans of the genre will know exactly what they're in for and they won't be disappointed. The supporting cast includes Clifford Evans (THE 20 QUESTIONS MURDER MYSTERY) as the leader of the slightly bizarre 'peace organisation' and Douglas Wilmer (THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU) as a doctor. Ballard Berkeley plays one of his stock policeman roles and there's a minor part for popular Canadian TV actor John Colicos (who looks very young) as a thug. PASSPORT TO TREASON certainly isn't a work of high art but it's a lot of fun all the same.

In the 1950s it was quite popular in this country to import fading American stars to give the film a bit of a boost at the box office here and to give the film a chance of being sold to a distributor in America.It has to be said that there seems to be a line of descent for American actors.Starting out as leading men,then gravitating to Westerns and then making the trip over to the UK to give films a boost for reasons stated above.However films like this really did not have much chance in any territory.the problem is that for a film of fairly modest ambitions it is really over plotted.You just tend to loose interest in the whole thing after about 20 minutes.So not really worth bothering with.