Or the Red Sox....
This is a spy drama which takes the viewer inside the intrigue as seen through the Communist eye, at least through the writings of anti-communists. It's a film noir cold war thriller well acted by a mostly unknown cast, although future politician George Murphy is recognizable as the head FBI agent. The Scottish Finlay Currie is excellent as the scientist the commies (a combination of mostly both American born and Russian, as well as some from a few other countries) want to get their hands on for his complicated formula, and they have held his son as prisoner as leverage for getting him to do what they need him to do. It's not strictly just the desire for the secret formula and everything it can do which makes this tense, but each step they take and every action which occurs, making them sly and calculating as agents who don't even know each other must prove their identities when they first encounter each other (usually through a torn dollar or photo).
Don't cast judgment on all of the communist characters involved in the quest for the formula because as this film will reveal, some are communists through youthful error, some blackmailed into participating and some actually double agents. This is a brilliantly written and well made film noir which turns the naked city into the cradle of liberty where that liberty is definitely being threatened. Such innocuous shops such as flower stores, photography labs and even a mortuary are the fronts for commie activity. This isn't one of those cold war era anti-communist propaganda films that is simply out to discredit communism, just the actions of those involved in stealing vital secrets and the danger in the world of espionage where nobody is safe.
This is a spy drama which takes the viewer inside the intrigue as seen through the Communist eye, at least through the writings of anti-communists. It's a film noir cold war thriller well acted by a mostly unknown cast, although future politician George Murphy is recognizable as the head FBI agent. The Scottish Finlay Currie is excellent as the scientist the commies (a combination of mostly both American born and Russian, as well as some from a few other countries) want to get their hands on for his complicated formula, and they have held his son as prisoner as leverage for getting him to do what they need him to do. It's not strictly just the desire for the secret formula and everything it can do which makes this tense, but each step they take and every action which occurs, making them sly and calculating as agents who don't even know each other must prove their identities when they first encounter each other (usually through a torn dollar or photo).
Don't cast judgment on all of the communist characters involved in the quest for the formula because as this film will reveal, some are communists through youthful error, some blackmailed into participating and some actually double agents. This is a brilliantly written and well made film noir which turns the naked city into the cradle of liberty where that liberty is definitely being threatened. Such innocuous shops such as flower stores, photography labs and even a mortuary are the fronts for commie activity. This isn't one of those cold war era anti-communist propaganda films that is simply out to discredit communism, just the actions of those involved in stealing vital secrets and the danger in the world of espionage where nobody is safe.