The Accursed (1957)
"The Traitor" (original title)

A German Jewish doctor, who is a former resistance fighter against the Nazis during the war, attends an annual reunion at the home of a former British officer. However, when he discovers ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael McCarthy

Writers:

Michael McCarthy (screenplay), Michael McCarthy (story)

Stars:

Donald Wolfit, Robert Bray, Jane Griffiths

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Donald Wolfit	...	Colonel Charles Price
Robert Bray	...	Major Shane
Jane Griffiths	...	Vicki Toller
Carl Jaffe	...	Prof. Stefan Toller
Anton Diffring	...	Joseph Brezina
Karel Stepanek	...	Mayor Friederich Suderman
Oscar Quitak	...	Thomas Rilke
Christopher Lee	...	Doctor Neumann
Frederick Schiller	...	Alfred Baum
Rupert Davies	...	Clinton (the butler)
John Van Eyssen	...	Lieut. Bobby Grant
Colin Croft	...	Theodore Dehmel
Dennis Edwards	...	Man Cutting Down Zimmerman's Body
Fletcher Lightfoot	...	Man Giving Suderman Telegram
Marie Lightfoot	...	Nurse

Storyline

A German Jewish doctor, who is a former resistance fighter against the Nazis during the war, attends an annual reunion at the home of a former British officer. However, when he discovers that many of his former compatriots have mysteriously died, he begins to suspect that one of the "resistance" fighters may in fact have been a Nazi agent who is now trying to eliminate all the members of the unit.

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Plot Keywords:

spy

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 July 1958 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Accursed

Company Credits

Production Co:

E.J. Fancey Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Completed in June 1956, not released in the US until 1958.

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Goofs

When Shane is speaking to Col. Price, Shane puts a spoon into his coffee cup as seen from a side angle. When shown from the front, Shane is holding the handle of the cup and the spoon is not in it. When the angle switches back to the side shot, the spoon is again in the coffee cup.

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Soundtracks

"Prelude Without A Name"
Composed by Jackie Brown
Played by Dennis Wilson

User Reviews

Who dunnit?

A very wordy and stagey production that could almost have been a filmed stage play with no scene changes so confined is the action in the lounge of an (old dark) house. Central is late great British classical stage thesp Sir Donald Wolfit (the inspiration for the film "The Dresser") who as usual bigs up his part.

The premiss (German resistance fighters suffering betrayal to the Gestapo) did deserve superior plot and screenplay and it is regretable that this is something of a pot-boiler. The closing scene is stagey almost to the point of self-parody (indeed I believe subsequent comic parody versions have appeared). However the method by which the murderer is tricked into revealing himself at the end is perhaps worth sitting through the remainder on a rainy afternoon.