An exciting World War 2 thriller directed by Fritz Lang. Main star Ray Milland has just been released from a sanitarium after serving a two year sentence there for his unwitting complicity in his terminally ill wife's suicide, which actually might have made for a different and interesting movie in itself. Keen to get back amongst the living, he happily stumbles into a village fete to guess the weight of a cake where a case of mistaken identity involves him in a Nazi plot to steal invasion plans of the Allied Forces.
On his subsequent travels, he encounters a villainous blind man on a train, a mysterious group of individuals attending of all things a seance which also ends violently and an emigré brother and sister from Vienna who run a fundraising group called "The Mothers Of The Free World". When an elderly private detective he employs also winds up dead and with an unbelieving police force unwilling to help, it's up to him and the pretty sister to get to the bottom of the plot, uncover the unlikely mastermind (although I guessed their identity early on) and save the day for all concerned.
Entertainingly directed by Lang, the film is a winning mixture of wartime intrigue, thrills and romance. Milland is the handsome lead, who gets more than he bargains for when he wins a cake (!) and Marjorie Reynolds is the pretty, romantic interest with whom he joins forces. Perhaps the film could have played up more the parts of the scheming plotters to better dramatic effect and some of the plot jumps are a bit implausible but on the whole this was another watchable, fast-moving entry in director Lang's underrated, in my opinion, Hollywood credits.
On his subsequent travels, he encounters a villainous blind man on a train, a mysterious group of individuals attending of all things a seance which also ends violently and an emigré brother and sister from Vienna who run a fundraising group called "The Mothers Of The Free World". When an elderly private detective he employs also winds up dead and with an unbelieving police force unwilling to help, it's up to him and the pretty sister to get to the bottom of the plot, uncover the unlikely mastermind (although I guessed their identity early on) and save the day for all concerned.
Entertainingly directed by Lang, the film is a winning mixture of wartime intrigue, thrills and romance. Milland is the handsome lead, who gets more than he bargains for when he wins a cake (!) and Marjorie Reynolds is the pretty, romantic interest with whom he joins forces. Perhaps the film could have played up more the parts of the scheming plotters to better dramatic effect and some of the plot jumps are a bit implausible but on the whole this was another watchable, fast-moving entry in director Lang's underrated, in my opinion, Hollywood credits.