Journey Into Fear (1943)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Norman Foster

Writers:

Eric Ambler (novel)
Joseph Cotten (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 February 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Film-Noir | Drama | War

Tagline:

Welles and Del Rio together! as Terror Man vs. Leopard Woman--for possession of a mysterious stranger in the powder-keg Middle East...a man with a military secret worth more than his love and his life!...It's menace melodrama thrilled with mighty mystery and suspense...SEE IT!

Plot:

A US Navy engineer, returning to the US with his wife from a conference, finds himself pursued by Nazi agents...

Plot Keywords:

Ship | Nazi | Hotel | Engineer | Rainstorm

Cast

Joseph Cotten	...	Howard Graham
Dolores del Rio	...	Josette Martel
Ruth Warrick	...	Mrs. Stephanie Graham
Agnes Moorehead	...	Mrs. Mathews
Jack Durant	...	Gogo Martel
Everett Sloane	...	Kopeikin
Eustace Wyatt	...	Prof Haller - German archeologist
Frank Readick	...	Matthews - Cockney socialist
Edgar Barrier	...	Kuvetli - tobacco salesman
Jack Moss	...	Peter Banat - obese gunman
Stefan Schnabel	...	Translator for ships captain
Hans Conried	...	Swami magician
Robert Meltzer	...	Ship baggageman / Head waiter
Richard Bennett	...	Ship's Captain
Orson Welles	...	Colonel Haki

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Turkish | French | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #8048) | Australia:G | Finland:K-16

Company:

Mercury Productions

Trivia:

It is widely believed that Orson Welles directed this film, or at least large portions of it. However, in "This Is Orson Welles", he states he only acted in it and the directing credit should go to Norman Foster.

Goofs:

Factual errors: During the chase outside the hotel in the rain, Banat's pistol, a P-08 "Luger" runs out of ammunition but the action closes normally after he fires the last shot. This particular pistol was designed so that the action stays open after the last round is fired, giving a clear indication to the user that the gun is empty.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Suburban Girl (2007)

Soundtrack:

Three Little Words

don't grade this movie on the KANE curve... it's a cool little flick!!!

this is a good movie and not a put-on like another poster has said, there is a plot, that the nazis want to kill an arms dealer (cotton) who sells guns to the turks, who're allies of the americans, so that if they kill him the guns for the turks will take a long while because the americans will have to send someone else over to replace the arms dealer. whew! well it is confusing i agree but so are a lotta noir movies and so are a lotta espionage books (this movie is based on an eric ambler novel). it takes a couple times to watch a film like this to really get it. jo cotten (that's how welles' refers to him spelling and all) is great as the lead. he makes a fantastic pawn like in THE THIRD MAN (i think he would have fit the lead in LADY FROM SHANGHAI because he has a lost-in-confusion quality about him and welles is always very powerful and unafraid). orson welles is hardly in the movie but he is fun to watch as a turkish colonel, Haki (pronounced HAWK-E). everette sloane is also fun as his assistant and his fake accent rules. agnes moorehead plays one of the passengers on the boat, where most of the action takes place. and one of my favorite characters is GoGo who is a handsome (tall, dark and handsome if you will) poker playing manager of the beautiful delores del rio - cotten's siren in the picture. it's no 'Citizen Kane' or 'Touch of Evil' or even 'The Stranger' for that matter, but it's a blast to enjoy. a kickback movie that was edited i'm sure by the studio henchmen who crucified welles throughout the forties and wanted him to look mediocre, something he was far, far from. i enjoy the heck out of this little flick and i've owned the VHS tape (hard to find but it's findable) for about a year and i've seen the movie more than a dozen times already. it's good fun and that's that - take it for what it's worth...