17 Aug Journey into Fear
Journey into Fear, WWII Movie starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton.
(1943) I watched this right after”The Third Man” because it also starred Joseph Cotton and Orson Welles. In the opening credits Welles is the very last person named, in small lettering, so I prepared myself, again, to try to catch a glimpse of him somewhere.
Well, he really does have what I would call the strongest part. Some reviewers thought his acting was a little “over the top” but for goodness sakes, he’s in the Turkish Secret Service, wearing a Russian looking fur hat, and he’s trying to keep our hero (Joseph Cotton) alive. Not a character to underplay.
Turkey was neutral during most of World War II so, like Sweden, it would have been a hotbed of spies for both Allied and Axis countries. In 1945 Turkey joined the Allies.
This movie had Orson Welles written all over it. He was the uncredited producer and sometimes helped the director. He and Joseph Cotton, the lead actor, were two of the scriptwriters along with Eric Ambler, the author of the 1940 book by the same name. I read that he had to film his parts quickly and rush off to do another movie. That must be why this one fell a little short.
I had difficulty keeping track of who was a Nazi and who was not, and there were no surprises at the end. Still a good one to watch. It’s only 68 minutes, and the camera work is Orson-excellent.
Journey Into Fear at amazon.com
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