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.

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

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!

---

Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

---

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

The pivotal character of Colonel Haki, here played by Orson Welles, was played two years later by Kurt Katch in "The Mask of Dimitrios". Both films were based on novels by Eric Ambler.

---

Goofs

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.

---

Quotes

Prof. Haller: Won't you join me, Mr. Graham? I'm just getting some fresh air.
Howard Graham: Oh.
Prof. Haller: [standing at the ship's railing, looking into the distance] To see the land from a ship, or to see a ship from the land, I used to like both. Now I dislike both. When a man reaches my age, he grows, I think, to resent subconsciously the movement of everything except the respiratory muscles which keep him alive. Movement is change. And to an old man, change means death.

---

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.

---

Connections

Referenced in Suburban Girl (2007)

---

Soundtracks

Three Little Words
(1930) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Ruby
Lyrics by Bert Kalmar

User Reviews

Wartime noir thriller with Cotten and Welles

Wartime noir crafted from an Eric Ambler thriller, with a screenplay by lead actor Joseph Cotton with Orson Welles, and the influence of Orson Welles is everywhere. He produced and designed the film, and speculation is that he lost control at some point in the production, that RKO brought in another director to take over the project, and that extreme cuts were made. The run time is very short, just 68 minutes. Character development (other than Cotten as protagonist) seems spotty and and events seem to accelerate in the last third of the film, an acceleration not explained by the escalating excitement of the story-line. Nonetheless, the film works as a splendid admixture of wartime intrigue and film noir, and bears the mark of Welles's vision, the strong camera angles, the shadowy sets, the large and small spaces, the cutting. Cotten is fine as Howard Graham, a naval engineer whose assistance to the Turkish navy the Nazis would like to cut short. The plot has a many intricacies and concealed identities, but the strongest character by far is the Turkish head of intelligence, Col. Haki, played by Welles as a powerful, shrewd, smart man with a trace of self-mocking humour. The propaganda function of the film—including its indirect persuasion directed to the U.S. about joining the effort to defeat the Nazis—is very well handled.