Copyright 11 March 1954 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Roxy: 12 March 1954. U.S. release: March 1954. U.K. release: August 1954. Australian release: 3 June 1954. Sydney opening at the Regent. 11 reels. 8,359 feet. 93 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: When Corporal Johnny Leatherby (Ted Avery) is kidnapped by East Berlin Reds after saying goodnight to his German sweetheart, Kathy Gerhardt (Marianne Koch), trouble really begins. His father, Charles Leatherby (Broderick Crawford), a tycoon from Toledo, Ohio, arrives in Berlin to get his boy back through his powerful political influence. State Department's Fred Hobart (Casey Adams) takes him to see the C.I.C. man working on the case, Colonel Steve Van Dyke (Gregory Peck), in whose office works a U.S. secretary, Ricky Cates (Rita Gam), and M/Sergeant Eddie McColloch (Buddy Ebsen).
NOTES: Fox's 7th CinemaScope feature. Jed Harris and Tom Reed were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Motion Picture Story, losing to Philip Yordan's Broken Lance. Producer/screenwriter Nunnally Johnson's debut as director.
COMMENT: A dull slice of Cold War propaganda which forces the viewer to sit still while the players ping-pong incessant information dialogue across the CinemaScope screen. Almost no action, despite actual location filming in Berlin. A dull, cliché-ridden, jingoistic and simplistic script, compounded by even duller direction. Peck is dull too. And with lines like he has, who can blame him? But we expected more from Sweden's top actress Anita Bjork, here making her Hollywood movie debut. "Miss Julie" is wasted in a thankless role.
The Broderick Crawford character holds out a promise of bombastic fireworks, but even this fizzles out. Miss Gam is likewise not utilized, whilst Peter Van Eyck is made to mark time in an equally small, utterly thankless role. At least Buddy Ebsen is occasionally if rather mechanically amusing, especially given the uninspired and even embarrassingly trite material he's forced to work with. Walter Abel is also cast for comic relief but he performs consistently poorly. Clarke's photography is early CinemaScope grainy, whilst the music is appropriately flag-waving.
SYNOPSIS: When Corporal Johnny Leatherby (Ted Avery) is kidnapped by East Berlin Reds after saying goodnight to his German sweetheart, Kathy Gerhardt (Marianne Koch), trouble really begins. His father, Charles Leatherby (Broderick Crawford), a tycoon from Toledo, Ohio, arrives in Berlin to get his boy back through his powerful political influence. State Department's Fred Hobart (Casey Adams) takes him to see the C.I.C. man working on the case, Colonel Steve Van Dyke (Gregory Peck), in whose office works a U.S. secretary, Ricky Cates (Rita Gam), and M/Sergeant Eddie McColloch (Buddy Ebsen).
NOTES: Fox's 7th CinemaScope feature. Jed Harris and Tom Reed were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Motion Picture Story, losing to Philip Yordan's Broken Lance. Producer/screenwriter Nunnally Johnson's debut as director.
COMMENT: A dull slice of Cold War propaganda which forces the viewer to sit still while the players ping-pong incessant information dialogue across the CinemaScope screen. Almost no action, despite actual location filming in Berlin. A dull, cliché-ridden, jingoistic and simplistic script, compounded by even duller direction. Peck is dull too. And with lines like he has, who can blame him? But we expected more from Sweden's top actress Anita Bjork, here making her Hollywood movie debut. "Miss Julie" is wasted in a thankless role.
The Broderick Crawford character holds out a promise of bombastic fireworks, but even this fizzles out. Miss Gam is likewise not utilized, whilst Peter Van Eyck is made to mark time in an equally small, utterly thankless role. At least Buddy Ebsen is occasionally if rather mechanically amusing, especially given the uninspired and even embarrassingly trite material he's forced to work with. Walter Abel is also cast for comic relief but he performs consistently poorly. Clarke's photography is early CinemaScope grainy, whilst the music is appropriately flag-waving.