This Cold War suspenser is chiefly notable today for being completely dialogue-free for its entire 86-minute duration; this was very rare for a Hollywood product of its time, even if independent (1953's DEMENTIA) or foreign (1961's THE NAKED ISLAND) examples would eventually follow. While it certainly makes for a striking contrast with the relentlessly talky fare typical of the same genre like, say, Martin Ritt's THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD (1965), the gimmick does prove tiresome long before the end.
Although one might expect a traitor to generally keep to himself and feel isolated, and spies to perform their devious acts in complete silence (in a public library) and convene in abandoned places (on a deserted street), there is no real reason why the few strangers they come across, while going about their business, must also do likewise (especially during a crowded day atop the Empire State Building!). The film-makers cleverly make use of unanswered telephone rings for the secret code of communication between the spies but this repeated contrivance ultimately becomes silly.
Ray Milland was nominated for a Golden Globe (one of the film's 5 nods) and is practically the whole show here as a renowned research scientist who, for reasons clearly unexplained, sells trade secrets to the other side by photographing evidently important documents. Privately, he is showing signs of being tormented by his conscience for what he has been doing to his country and, after fatally disposing of a pursuing agent (a surprisingly bloody scene), he suffers a nervous breakdown and, instead of defecting as planned, gives himself up to the F.B.I. in the film's very closing shot!
The only two other notable members of the cast are Martin Gabel (curiously misspelled Gable in the pictured end credits!) as Milland's bespectacled contact and a debuting Rita Gam (also up for a Globe) as the star's sultry neighbor in the dingy hotel where he lodges once his duplicity is discovered. Sam Leavitt's cinematography and Herschel Burke Gilbert's Oscar-nominated score effortlessly stand out in a movie where there is often very little going on; unfortunately, Russell Rouse is no Orson Welles and one bemoans the lack of the visual virtuosity that the latter might have employed in tackling such a theme.
For the record, I have four more thrillers from this director in my unwatched pile: the real-life human drama THE WELL (1951), the gangland expose' NEW YORK CONFIDENTIAL (1955), the prison-break drama HOUSE OF NUMBERS (1957) and the heist movie (in color this time) THE CAPER OF THE GOLDEN BULLS (1967). It is fair to say that time has not been too kind to this daringly experimental production (perhaps inspired by Hitchcock's one-set restriction in LIFEBOAT [1944], ROPE [1948] and REAR WINDOW [1954]) and what seemed impressive upon its original release feels occasionally interesting but mostly tedious today.
Although one might expect a traitor to generally keep to himself and feel isolated, and spies to perform their devious acts in complete silence (in a public library) and convene in abandoned places (on a deserted street), there is no real reason why the few strangers they come across, while going about their business, must also do likewise (especially during a crowded day atop the Empire State Building!). The film-makers cleverly make use of unanswered telephone rings for the secret code of communication between the spies but this repeated contrivance ultimately becomes silly.
Ray Milland was nominated for a Golden Globe (one of the film's 5 nods) and is practically the whole show here as a renowned research scientist who, for reasons clearly unexplained, sells trade secrets to the other side by photographing evidently important documents. Privately, he is showing signs of being tormented by his conscience for what he has been doing to his country and, after fatally disposing of a pursuing agent (a surprisingly bloody scene), he suffers a nervous breakdown and, instead of defecting as planned, gives himself up to the F.B.I. in the film's very closing shot!
The only two other notable members of the cast are Martin Gabel (curiously misspelled Gable in the pictured end credits!) as Milland's bespectacled contact and a debuting Rita Gam (also up for a Globe) as the star's sultry neighbor in the dingy hotel where he lodges once his duplicity is discovered. Sam Leavitt's cinematography and Herschel Burke Gilbert's Oscar-nominated score effortlessly stand out in a movie where there is often very little going on; unfortunately, Russell Rouse is no Orson Welles and one bemoans the lack of the visual virtuosity that the latter might have employed in tackling such a theme.
For the record, I have four more thrillers from this director in my unwatched pile: the real-life human drama THE WELL (1951), the gangland expose' NEW YORK CONFIDENTIAL (1955), the prison-break drama HOUSE OF NUMBERS (1957) and the heist movie (in color this time) THE CAPER OF THE GOLDEN BULLS (1967). It is fair to say that time has not been too kind to this daringly experimental production (perhaps inspired by Hitchcock's one-set restriction in LIFEBOAT [1944], ROPE [1948] and REAR WINDOW [1954]) and what seemed impressive upon its original release feels occasionally interesting but mostly tedious today.