Confidential Agent (1945)

Director:

Herman Shumlin

Writers:

Robert Buckner (writer)
Graham Greene (novel)

Release Date:

10 November 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

During the Spanish Civil War, a republican courier travels to England to try and buy coal. He meets with an amount of local hostility...

Plot Keywords:

Coal | Fascist | Spanish Civil War | Road House | International Intrigue

Cast

Charles Boyer	...	Luis Denard
Lauren Bacall	...	Rose Cullen
Victor Francen	...	Licata
Wanda Hendrix	...	Else
George Coulouris	...	Captain Currie
Peter Lorre	...	Contreras
Katina Paxinou	...	Mrs. Melandez
John Warburton	...	Neil Forbes
Holmes Herbert	...	Lord Benditch
Dan Seymour	...	Mr. Muckerji
Art Foster	...	Chauffeur
Miles Mander	...	Mr. Brigstock
Lawrence Grant	...	Lord Fetting
Ian Wolfe	...	Dr. Bellows
George Zucco	...	Detective Geddes

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #11067) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Franz Waxman reused his title music for this movie in Dark Passage (1947).

Quotes:

Rose Cullen: I have my points - if a man can stand the strain.
Luis Denard: It might be worth it - if he had the time.
Rose Cullen: He'd find the time - if he wasn't a fool.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hold Your Breath and Cross Your Fingers: The Story of 'Dark Passage' (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Too Marvelous for Words

Wonderful and Could Have Been Even Better

It could have been better had it been directed by someone with more experience. Shumlin didn't do a bad job but it is not a great work of cinematic art.

It is, however, a beautiful movie. I have loved it since local channels used to show it. Graham Greene is one of my favorite writers of the last century. Some pretty bad movies were made from his novels and stories. (Many love "The Fallen Idol" but I am not among them. I think I saw "Brighton Rock" once many years ago and liked it but maybe I'm simply thinking fondly of the novel.) This is superbly cast. Charles Boyer does not, it's true, come across as Spanish. But he seems to have the perfect temperament for this character -- tired, wary, caring. Lauren Bacall is appealing as the British girl who falls for him. But the supporting players are the best: Katina Paxinou is excellent. Her performance is a little Grand Guignol, but I attribute that to the director. Peter Lorre, whom we first meet as he gives Boyer a lesson in an Esperanto-like universal language, is excellent -- as always.

And Wanda Hendrix could break the hardest heart. She comes across as a precocious early teenager. The character wants to be helpful. She does her best.

I recommend this movie highly. Not without reservations. The reservation is, primarily, that it is a little stolid. But the story and acting can scarcely be bettered.