Journey Into Fear (1943)

An American ballistics expert in Turkey finds himself targeted by Nazi agents. Safe passage home by ship is arranged for him, but he soon discovers that his pursuers are also on board.

Directors:

Norman Foster, Orson Welles (uncredited)

Writers:

Joseph Cotten (screenplay), Eric Ambler (novel)

Stars:

Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dolores del Rio

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Joseph Cotten	...	Howard Graham
Dolores del Rio	...	Josette Martel (as Dolores Del Rio)
Ruth Warrick	...	Mrs. Stephanie Graham
Agnes Moorehead	...	Mrs. Mathews
Jack Durant	...	Gogo Martel
Everett Sloane	...	Kopeikin
Eustace Wyatt	...	Prof. Haller / Muller
Frank Readick	...	Matthews
Edgar Barrier	...	Kuvetli
Jack Moss	...	Peter Banat
Stefan Schnabel	...	Translator for Ship's Captain
Hans Conried	...	Swami Magician
Robert Meltzer	...	Ship Baggageman
Richard Bennett	...	Ship's Captain
Orson Welles	...	Colonel Haki

Storyline

A Navy engineer, returning to the U.S. with his wife from a conference, finds himself pursued by Nazi agents, who are out to kill him. Without a word to his wife, he flees the hotel the couple is staying in and boards a ship, only to find, after the ship sails, that the agents have followed him.

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Plot Keywords:

wellesian | secret agent | nazi spy | held at gunpoint | espionage | 

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Taglines:

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!

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Turkish French German

Release Date:

12 February 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Jornada do Medo

Filming Locations:

RKO Studios - 780 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures, Mercury Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although many critics and biographers have spoken about a narration in the film, and also about a sequence before the opening credits, the version which has always been shown on British television has neither of these things.

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Goofs

At c.33 minutes we see the ship's first aid cabinet on the wall of the captain's berth marked with a Red Cross symbol. In a Turkish ship the marking would be a Red Crescent (or, commonly, a Red Cross and a Red Crescent side by side) but never solely a Red Cross motif.

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Quotes

Kopeikin: [seeing Graham off at the dock] Oh, by the way, have you a gun in your luggage?
Howard Graham: I haven't got any luggage!
Kopeikin: [pulls a loaded revolver from his coat] Then, uh, you better take this. I picked it up on my way to see your wife. It is completely loaded.
Howard Graham: What did she say?
Kopeikin: [hands the gun to Graham] Here.
Howard Graham: Well, I don't need this!
Kopeikin: Put it in your pocket. It will make you feel nicer to have it.
Howard Graham: I never fired one of these things, you know?
Kopeikin: [laughs] That's a good one, Howard. You are a ballistics expert, and you ...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

In 2005 an alternate cut was shown at the Welles film retrospective in Locarno, Switzerland. It was the original European release print, lacking the narration and ending of the US version but including about six minutes of footage later deleted by RKO.

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Connections

Referenced in The Lady from Shanghai: A Discussion with Peter Bogdanovich (2000)

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Soundtracks

I'd Know You Anywhere
(uncredited)
Music by Jimmy McHugh
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer

User Reviews

"Some business competitors don't want me to get back to America"

Orson Welles graciously denied having any directing role in Norman Foster's 'Journey into Fear (1943),' though his influence appears to be all over it. 'Citizen Kane (1941)' first showcased Welles' fondness for filming people via low and high-angled cameras, a stylistic technique that distorts statures, placing the audience in a position either of power or helplessness. Here, the talented Karl Struss – who also worked on such films as 'Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)' and 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)' – employs similar techniques, capturing human faces with a threatening immediacy that distorts their features and suggests imminent danger. You won't, of course, fail to notice that the film's cast also boasts more than a few Welles regulars, mostly members of his Mercury Theatre team – Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Everett Sloane, Ruth Warrick and Welles himself. The film's screenplay was written by Cotten, his sole attempt at writing {outside some uncredited work on 'The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)'}, a pity since the dialogue is frequently crisp, intelligent and memorable.

'Journey into Fear' is one of those rare WWII-themed films of the early 1940s that you wouldn't automatically class as propaganda. Indeed, the Nazis are only mentioned in passing, and the sinister agents who attempt to assassinate Cotten could just as easily be motivated by reasons other than war. Much of the story takes place on a small passenger ship, on which American engineer Howard Graham (Cotten) seeks refuge from German assassins, who are hell-bent on delaying his return home with important Allied intelligence. Silent enemy Peter Banat (played by Welles' agent, Jack Moss) watches ominously from across the ship's cabin, never saying a word, but suggesting sadistic menace through every dryly-amused smirk. Cotten is strong in the lead role, playing Graham as a frightened and confused amateur, a role reminiscent of Holly Martins from 'The Third Man (1949),' rather than the experienced and resourceful American spy we would otherwise expect in such a film. Welles lends his mighty presence to the role of the Turkish Colonel Haki, though he is noticeably more subdued than usual.

In one final manner, 'Journey into Evil' is very much like an Orson Welles film: it was re-edited at the studio's request. According to some sources, Welles did some of the trimming himself, recutting the final reel and adding Joseph Cotten's rather awkward narration. At just 68 minutes in length, the film certainly feels as though it has been tampered with. The relationship between Graham and Rosette (Dolores del Rio) is brief and poorly explored, and certainly not worthy of the repeated reassurances that the former frequently bestows upon his anxious wife (Ruth Warrick); there's little indication that the their affiliation extended beyond exchanging a few harmless pleasantries. Though the film doesn't exactly feel incomplete – as did a noir like Renoir's 'The Woman on the Beach (1947)' – the bare-bones narrative gives the sense of a minor and inconsequential work. Even so, 'Journey into Evil' is well worth seeking out for its terrific photography – including a superb climax on the slippery ledges of a hotel exterior – and the talents of a very talented cast.