I See a Dark Stranger (1946) User Reviews

Wonderful performance by the young Kerr

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 31 August 2008]

Deborah Kerr is a determined Irish lass who hates the British and Oliver Cromwell in "I See a Dark Stranger," a 1946 film also starring Trevor Howard and Raymond Huntley. There are also a couple of names in the cast worth noting and watching for: Celia Johnson (The Ladykillers) and Joan Hickson, a well-known Miss Marple is uncredited as a hotel manager.

Kerr also narrates the thoughts of her character, Bridey, as she leaves her small town for Dublin in 1944, when she turns 21, determined to join the Irish Republican Army. She is rebuffed but eventually recruited by a German spy. Bridey goes to work at a pub near a British prison for the military. She winds up with a valuable document and, since her contact is dead, she has no idea what to do with it. The Germans are after her and later, so are the bumbling police. On top of this, she has a British officer (Howard) who likes her and seems to be following her around.

If you're British or Irish and watch this film, especially if you know something about the British and Irish in World War II, this film will resonate with you in a way that it cannot for Americans. Ireland did not support the British in the war; they remained neutral. That was the country itself. The people in it were divided. The militant part of the IRA bombed different parts of England with the help of the Nazis, for instance. Also, Eamon DeValera, for all the neutrality, didn't want Nazi agents in Ireland and had them arrested.

"I See a Dark Stranger" vacillates between comedy and drama easily, aided by Kerr's dead serious performance which makes some of the moments even funnier. Bridey has no sense of humor. She's great because an advance by a man doesn't just insult her - it infuriates her - and all of her emotions are that way. The last moment of the film made me laugh out loud. Her thought process told in narration is wonderful. In this movie, she reminds me very much of Maureen O'Hara who often had that same no-nonsense air about her. Trevor Howard gives a performance which offsets Kerr's intensity very well.

A young beauty when she made this, this film apparently brought Kerr to the attention of Hollywood as it should have. If you're a fan of hers, don't miss this delightful early performance in this very good movie.

Post-war war film that casts a spell

[Steve-318 · 8/10 · 4 December 2004]

Deborah Kerr (as in star) as the trailer says is usually thought of in almost matronly fashion since she's brought strength and dignity to so many roles as a veteran performer. Here you see her in younger days. She's a wild and bewitching Irish rose, marvelous as the brassy Bridey Kiltie, hater of all things English. Buoyed by Kerr, Trevor Howard and a wonderful British-Irish cast,this film makes you feel like you're right back there in UK during the war. Only you're not flying off to punish the Germans. It's a homefront thing. The movie is more drama than mystery but it's enthralling all the same with humor and style to burn. Among the great characters are a pair of British officers, Captain Goodhusband (Garry Marsh) and Lt. Spanswick(Tom Macaulay)who come along to steal the film in their portrayal as oh-so-very-English middle-aged officers.

Superior drama

[Penfold-13 · 8/10 · 7 September 1999]

Deborah Kerr is an Irish country lass brought up on her father's romanticised view of his heroic struggle against the English.

She leaves home for Dublin, where she wants to join the IRA, but is recruited by the Germans.

She gets entangled with Trevor Howard, a British officer, and conflicting loyalties ensue for both.

It's a classy piece, finely acted, atmospherically shot. There's suspense, humour, romance, and a strong plot. Kerr lives up to the three-dimensional role, and the rest of the cast give sterling support.

Well worthwhile.

Highly entertaining film

[howard.schumann · 14 April 2003]

Known in the U.S. as The Adventuress, I See a Dark Stranger was the vehicle that first brought Deborah Kerr to the attention of Hollywood. Smartly written, produced and directed by the team of Launder and Gilliat, it is a suspense-filled and highly entertaining yarn about a high-strung Irish girl, Bridey Quilty (Deborah Kerr) who unwittingly becomes a German spy out of hatred for the British. Raised by a father who delighted in spinning tall tales about his role in the 1916 battle against the English, she leaves home at age 21 for Dublin, determined to join the Irish Republican Army and continue her father's work.

Thinking he is part of the IRA, she falls in with a German spy named Miller (Raymond Huntley) and is used as a pawn to spring a Nazi from prison. Co-star Trevor Howard plays British Army Officer David Byrne, a British Intelligence Officer who doggedly pursues and falls in love with her in spite of her anti-English attitude, however she spends the entire film keeping him at arms length. Bridie gets deeper and deeper entangled, dumping a dead body over a cliff, forging identity papers, and dodging two overweight policemen on the Isle of Man. When she comes into possession of vital military secrets, however, it has become apparent that she is in over her head and both sides are out to get her.

I See a Dark Stranger has suspense, romance, and humor all coming together in a story that becomes lighter and lighter as it moves along. For every deadly serious moment, there are two comic ones and Bridey's character comes close to being played for laughs. However, the combination of Kerr's youthful energy (she is 24 here) and a sophisticated and witty script keeps this from being taken too seriously as either a put-down of women spies or as an attack on the Irish. Great fun.

Very good, though slightly marred by a silly ending

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 25 November 2007]

This is an interesting story about a young Irish woman who hates the British, so she's interested in becoming a spy for "the other guys" during WWII. She seems to know nothing about the Germans or what they stand for--she just knows that, as an Irishwoman, she hates the Brits and wants to help anyone they are fighting. Because her logic seems so simplistic, she seems very naive. However, despite this, she does get involved, somewhat by chance, in a German spy ring.

How this all works out and her eventual revelation about what and why she was doing this make this a very interesting film. Also, an improbable but interesting romance that occurs with a British officer is pretty interesting. Overall, it's a very good drama and very original, but I was disappointed with the last 10 minutes of the film. While it had been a straight drama, the fight scene between the Brit and the spies really seemed slapstick inspired and just didn't fit the overall style of the film. Still, it's a relatively minor quibble and this still is a nice film--with a particularly good performance by a young Deborah Kerr.

Deborah Kerr makes a feisty Bridie Quilty in suspenseful spy film...

[Doylenf · 7/10 · 28 January 2008]

I SEE A DARK STRANGER depends heavily on the central performance of DEBORAH KERR to carry its story about a naive young Irish woman who has grown up hating the British, thanks to her father's romanticized view of the Irish rebellion. She travels to Ireland to volunteer her services as a spy for the IRA, is promptly rebuffed and reminded that "things are neutral now", but is spotted by RAYMOND HUNTLEY who wants to use her services for his own espionage purposes.

What's so wonderful about the film, called THE ADVENTURESS in the U.S., is that it combines humor with drama, mystery and suspense, always with Kerr's strong performance as Bridie Quilty as the center of attention. Kerr uses her facial expressions expertly, especially in close-ups where we can actually see what she is thinking. It's a performance on par with her work in BLACK NARCISSUS, where close-ups allowed her to fully reveal a character's intentions and motivations.

TREVOR HOWARD is the Englishman instantly attracted to her who gradually comes to understand that she's involved in something way beyond her scope and is soon just as involved in all the intrigue as she is. There are unexpected twists and turns throughout and some very droll moments of comedy when a funeral procession turns out to be something quite unexpected.

The weaknesses only are apparent during the last fifteen minutes with an extended fight scene that borders on slapstick before Kerr and Howard are allowed a quieter moment of romance. And then the final zinger involving a hotel sign that infuriates Kerr--but I'll let that remain hidden so you can enjoy the moment.

Summing up: Highly satisfactory British film which won Deborah Kerr a N.Y. Film Critics Award as Best Actress in 1947--also for BLACK NARCISSUS.

Trivia note: David TOMLINSON and JOAN HICKSON both have brief roles, but you have to be awfully quick to catch a glimpse of Hickson.

Innocent Abroad.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 13 March 2012]

It's 1944 and Deborah Kerr is Bridie Quilty who has been raised in a remote Irish village on tales of mighty deeds fought against the British occupation army in 1916 by the blatherers in the local pub. Oliver Cromwell's name is a curse.

She leaves the town of Ballywally (or whatever it is) and travels to Dublin to volunteer for the I.R.A. Alas for her hopes. The I.R.A. is no more, and she is encouraged to forget all about that stuff. The suave German agent doesn't brush her off. He sweeps her up in a plot to save a German spy and spill the beans about military secrets.

But a British officer on leave, Trevor Howard, suspects something is up and when Kerr gets herself into hot water he helps her out of it and after a comic climax he marries her. On their honeymoon night, she stomps out of the hotel. She's discovered that its name is The Cromwell Arms.

Katie Johnson, "Mrs. Lopsided" of "The Lady Killers" puts in an appearance on a train. And David Tomlinson, adept at goofy roles, is an intelligence officer who complains about having been stationed in Scotland which was so dull it was "a dead end." He is so right. You can NOT get a decent pizza at four in the morning in John O'Groats.

The plot is too twisted to go into in any detail. It's not the dramatic spy thriller you might expect. It has too many light-hearted touches to be taken seriously. And Deborah Kerr, her womanly beauty notwithstanding, projects the wide-eyed innocence of a child. Howard is the harried and puzzled lover/pursuer. Put it this way. If you like Hitchcock's later chase thrillers like "The Lady Vanishes," you'll probably like this, though it struck me as a bit long.

If it's not a masterpiece, it's a diverting bit of entertainment, an exciting and amusing story brightened by Kerr's marvelous performance.

An Irish Lass Who Takes Care of Cromwell

[theowinthrop · 10/10 · 15 April 2006]

I SEE A DARK STRANGER was not the first film with Deborah Kerr in it that showed her acting capacity as a lead star. She had played three roles in THE LIFE OF COLONEL BLIMP, first as the Englishwoman who marries Antoine Walbrook, then as the Englishwoman who marries Roger Livesey, then as Livesey's military driver and secretary who tries to warn him about Patrick Macnee's sneak attack during military maneuvers. But Colonel Blimp really concentrated on Livesey's role from 1900 and 1940. Kerr's performances were smothered by acclaim for Livesey.

Not so two years later with I SEE A DARK STRANGER. Although she is balanced by Trevor Howard's performance as David Byrne (the Intelligence Officer who is both pursuing her and wooing her), Kerr's Bridey is the central figure in the adventure tale.

Bridey represents (at the start) a problem that bothered and perplexed British security from 1939 to 1945. Although a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations (the replacement of the Empire) since 1931, the Republic of Eire (or Southern Ireland) was - at best - very ambivalent about it's enforced membership in this organization. It was a reminder to many that the 1922 treaty between them and the British had divided Ireland into two countries (the Northern portion firmly under Protestant control) and the southern portion still kept in durance vile. De Valera had made his own opposition to the division and restraint very openly known. But he was aware that a state of continued Civil War was no good. In the end he accepted the treaty as a temporary measure. He meant that - in 1949 he pulled Eire out of the Commonwealth.

But others were not so willing to let the treaty off so easily. The more militant arm of the Irish Republican Army did not - they would insist that Ireland was not free yet. So acts of violence continued.

De Valera was fully aware of the threat of Nazism, Fascism, and Communism in the 1920s and 1930s. He faced a homegrown fascist movement in Ireland with the Blue Shirts led by General O'Duffy. Moreover, De Valera was elected head of the League of Nations in the middle 1930s, and proceeded to make some anti-German speeches of warning regarding potential aggression. But nobody heeded him.

When war came in 1939 De Valera announced Eire was going to be neutral. It was a shock to the British, who expected a member of the Commonwealth would show it's support. It didn't. Churchill suggested (at one point) seizing the Irish ports. De Valera told Churchill that it would be considered an act of war if he did. The scheme was not put into effect.

In actual truth, though, De Valera was quite selective about his neutrality. He did not care for Nazi agents in Ireland to attack England, and arrested many of them. He also made sure that when Belfast and other cities of Northern Ireland were bombed in the blitz, Southern Irish firetrucks and firemen were sent to help put out the fires. He was, given an official neutrality, quite a good neighbor. However Churchill was unforgiving, and managed to make FDR equally so. Americans were told that De Valera favored a Nazi victory (which, of course, he didn't). Still he made blunders until the very end that angered the allies. On April 13, 1945 De Valera visited the American embassy in Dublin to pay his respects upon the death of Franklin Roosevelt the day before. On May 1, 1945 he did the same, visiting the German embassy, upon hearing of the suicide of Adolf Hitler in Berlin. This just did not sit well.

While De Valera managed to keep a cool head, the militant branch of the I. R. A. Did not. British attention to the war effort under Nevil Chamberlain and Winston Churchill (in 1939 - 1940) was interrupted by a series of bombings in England, the worst (in terms of casualties) at Coventry. Peter Barnes and several other I. R. A. Members were tried and executed for the bombings. It turned out Barnes had gotten some assistance from Nazi Germany.

This then is the background that Kerr's Bridey takes into the film. It is a mark of the superior writing skills of Gilliat and Launder that most of the film is an adventure comedy, rather than a serious study of anger and tragedy. Bridey is a patriotic southern Irish lass, who hates the Brits for centuries of cruelty and oppression. So she is easily manipulated by Raymond Huntley in helping him conduct what is an intelligence operation in England. But Bridey is constantly jumping the gun on cooler heads (her father - who lies about his own patriotism, or the local ex-IRA man who only wants to worry about his art gallery). She gets into deep trouble, and Howard has to try to get her out of it. Fortunately her opponents are not the brightest. In THE LADY VANISHES and NIGHT TRAIN Gilliat and Launder created Chalmers and Caldicott (Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne) to muddle through German espionage and chicanery. Now it is Captain Goodhusband and Lieutenant Spanswick (Garry Marshall and Tom Macauley) who represent the military defending the homeland. They could be the cousins of the earlier pair.

The film has nice surprises in it, including a moving death scene for Huntley, and an unexpected arrest on a train. Kerr expects to be arrested, but watches stunned by the arrest of an elderly lady (who acts without any surprise). Check her out, ladies and gentlemen - it is Katy Johnson, who would gain immortality in the 1955 version of THE LADYKILLERS as the great Mrs. Wilberforce.

I like the film, and it's balance of thrills, tragedy, and high comedy. As a patriotic Irish lass, Bridey hates the memory of the butcher of Drogheda (1654) Oliver Cromwell. Notice how she knows what to do with a can of whitewash regarding Cromwell.

light farce with high drama

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 30 September 2019]

Bridie Quilty (Deborah Kerr) grew up on her late father's war stories about his battles in the Irish independence. It's 1944 before D-Day and Ireland is a neutral country. On her 21st birthday, she leaves her rural town for Dublin to seek out her father's war comrade Michael O'Callaghan. He's a little confused which confirms the unreliability of her father's tall tales. She wants to join the IRA and he politely dissuades her. She runs into her train mate Miller (Raymond Huntley) whom she assumed to be a haughty Englishman. In reality, he's a spy tasked with breaking Nazi Oscar Pryce out of British prison. He sees an opportunity to turn the naive idealist. Lieutenant David Baynes (Trevor Howard) arrives on leave but Miller suspects him to be a counter-intelligence agent.

Deborah Kerr is a little funny in this espionage film. All her interior monologues and confusions are funny. On top of everything else, it's a solid spy thriller. It does walk the balance between light farce and high drama. I do object to the screwball comedic climax. That scene puts this movie firmly into the farce side of the ledger when the climax should really lead more towards the drama side. The fight should not laughable. It should be thrilling instead. It's probably it's only flaw.

A forgotten masterpiece (possible spoiler)

[alice liddell · 9/10 · 19 January 2000]

A lovely surprise of a film from partners in eccentricity, Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, which somehow manages to combine a serious, noir-tinged thriller about espionage, war and terrorism, with wonderful character comedy, stereotype-puncturing genuine satire, and a wilful streak of absurdity. Deborah Kerr is absolutely marvellous as Bridie Quilty, the headstrong daughter of a publican, teller of tall tales about his experiences during the 1916 Irish revolution against the British. Having accordingly developed a hatred of all things British, she dertermines to join the IRA, and continue her father's unwarranted tradition.

She meets Miller, superficially the caricature of a bumbling Englishman, but in actual fact a ruthless Nazi agent pretending to be an IRA man. They relocate to a sleepy English village beside a jail, from which Miller plans to spring a terrorist with information. Bridie becomes a barmaid, and dates a sergeant from whom she extracts vital information. On the day of the plan, an Englishman, Baynes, arrives at the pub. Miller suspects him of being an intelligence officer, and orders Bridie to use her feminine wiles to distract him.

Everything goes as planned, but the escapees are eventually caught. Miller, fatally wounded, manages to flee, and tells Bridie that the terrorist's notebook, which contains classified military information, is hidden in the Isle of Man. She fails to meet a contact on a train, and has to go to the Isle herself, all the time followed by Baynes. The notebook contains detailed information about the Normandy landings, which, in the hands of the Nazis, could spell the end for D-Day. Bridie realises the extent of her ideological naivite, but soon both the British army and the republicans are after her.

This brilliant mixture of suspense and whimsy works on so many levels. It is an excellent thriller, whose human details are magnified by the global implications of events. The plot is rarely clear, and Launder consistently tries to undermine it with playful exagerration and preposterous set-ups (the climax involving alarm-clock smugglers masked as funeral mourners is hilarious) reminiscent of Hitchcock - Launder and Gilliat wrote the Master's best British film, THE LADY VANISHES. There is a genuine noir dread darkening this playfulness, ominous shadows, cramped interiors and suffocating frames engulfing characters.

It also plays cleverly with national stereotypes. STRANGER opens with a genuinely moving spiel from Bridie's father about his harrowing experiences of 1916, but, as everybody in Ireland knows, stories like this are ten-a-penny, and pure waffle. Fired with revolutionary fervour, Bridie visits a leading figure in the rebellion, a fearsome comrade of her father, who, of course, has never heard of him. Far from being a hot-headed idealist, he is the mild-mannered, pragmatic director of an art gallery, horrified at Bridie's intentions, scandalously supporting the Treaty, which, even today, is ragarded by many in Ireland as a compromise which sold out the North.

One of Launder's tactics is to invoke stereotypes only to knock them down - the aforementioned smuggling scene is an excellent example. Indeed, one of STRANGER'S themes is the breaking away from stereotype, perceived ideology, histories constructed by vested interests. Bridie begins the film eavesdropping on her father speaking, outside the community he belongs to, silently repeating his words - the film charts her growth, into a person in her own right, whose strong personality rejects all controlling bonds.

Similarly with Baynes, stiff-upper-lipped military man prepared to dob in his true love for King and country. He too is bound by received ideas of duty and history, which is beautifully mocked throughout the film, especially in the Tweedledum and Tweedledee figures of Goodhusband and Spanswick. Indeed all extremists, terrorists and Imperialists alike, are either ruthlessly or idiotically inhuman.

STRANGER achieves a satisfactory conclusion without ever betraying character - Bridie isn't going to change all that quickly. Her personal growth is linked to the form of the film, which opens with two authorial voiceovers - one the narrator, who playfully guides the film at the beginning; secondly her father, telling the stories that will decide her destiny; while she, as I mentioned, speaks mutely. As the film continues, there is a greater dependence on, and faith in, her voiceovers, to the extent that her thoughts actually spill out into the world of the plot.

Another interesting motif in the film is the difference in Irish and English perception of the same things - for instance in Ireland one is reared loathing Cromwell as a genocidal maniac, whereas in Britain he is a radical opponent of monarchy, tyranny and privilege. It is strange that such a percptive film should have no mention of religion, but then that is probably its final subversive sleight of hand. There are quite a few people in the North today who could benefit from watching this sublime film.

Pride in heritage.

[michaelRokeefe · 7/10 · 23 February 2010]

Frank Launder directs an enjoyable comedic drama starring the lovely Deborah Kerr, who plays Bridie, an unsophisticated Irish lass with an inherited hatred toward the British. When she reaches 21, she leaves her tiny village and travels alone to Dublin in hopes of signing up to fight the British only to find out that Ireland is not exactly fighting the Brits at all. She returns home disappointed, but still full of fight. Somehow she gets involved with a Nazi secret agent and agrees to carryout his mission against their common foe.

Scenery and atmosphere fitting with the intrigue. Kerr is excellent and has a way of playing comedy with a straight face. Or maybe its just the role that lacks sophistication. There is no doubt about her camera appeal. Also starring are: Trevor Howard, Raymond Huntley, Norman Shelley, Tom Macaulay and Liam Redmond.

Comedy/ Drama

[whpratt1 · 8/10 · 29 January 2008]

Enjoyed seeing how young Deborah Kerr appeared in this picture at the age of twenty-four years. Deborah plays the role as Birdie Quilty who works in her families pub in England and heard all kinds of stories told by people who visited the pub about how Ireland fought against the British years ago and she starts to form a hated toward the English Government. Birdie becomes of age and wants to go to Dublin, Ireland to live and work and she meets up with some very strange people who have listened to Birdie talk about England and they decide to utilize her hatred towards the British Nation for their own benefits. Birdie finds herself in some very difficult situations until she meets up with a British Lt. David Baynes, (Trevor Howard) who seems to fall madly in love with Birdie at first seeing her and on other dates, it becomes serious. However, Birdie has so many dark secrets that she does not want to show any affections towards David and this still does not stop David from following her from one country to another. This is a very great film with plenty of funny moments and at other times can be very dark and mysterious. Enjoy.

Dark prey

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 11 February 2020]

'I See a Dark Stranger' was another film that sounded right up my alley, really loved the idea for the story and the film's genre mix sounded like the genres would go well together and not clash. Also have always really liked Deborah Kerr, two of my favourite performances of hers being in 'The King and I' and 'Black Narcissus' and wanted to see how she would fare in an early role. Trevor Howard has also been good in other things, 'Brief Encounter' is still a favourite and one of the most moving films ever made.

Although a lot of things work here, 'I See a Dark Stranger' doesn't completely succeed. It is not a waste of potential, a long way from that, but it is a case of great potential not being fully realised. Which was a little disappointing but not in a way that frustrated me massively. If you like Kerr, you'll like it. If you like the idea for the story and this mix of genres, you should mostly like it with reservations. If you like Howard, it's best to look elsewhere as to me this was not a great representation of him.

Will start with the good, which are many, quite big and outweigh the not so good. 'I See a Dark Stranger' is a very well made film visually, especially the photography which is both luminous and atmosphere. Which particularly excels in the more suspenseful scenes and how it captures Kerr, who the camera clearly loves. William Alwyn's score is typically moody without being too melodramatic while the direction is mostly very skilled until petering out at the end. The script is mostly quite sophisticated and thoughtful, with touches of witty humour.

The story generally compels, with some nice suspense, no over-obviousness and turns that aren't too convoluted. Plausibility is not always a strong suit but it is on the most part diverting and solidly paced. Kerr looks beautiful and is both feisty and dignified. The supporting cast are solid.

For all those good things, there are things that could have been better. Am going to agree with those disappointed in the final 20 minutes, which were too farcical and didn't fit with the tone of the rest of the film. Another big problem for me was Howard, who is disappointingly taciturn.

His romantic chemistry with Kerr wasn't really there either and lacked spark, and a big part of it was down to Howard and his character being underdeveloped. A shame because all the other tones are there and balanced quite well.

Concluding, well done generally but there was room for it to have been better. 7/10

Getting Even For Cromwell

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 8 January 2007]

I See a Dark Stranger finds Deborah Kerr as Irish colleen Bridie Quilty trying to get even with the English for all manner of deprivations visited on her people. Unfortunately she's born during World War II and her own government is scrupulously maintaining its neutrality because they recognize a Nazi victory wouldn't be good for them either.

Deb's been brought up on tales of the Rebellion of 1916 by her family and her first attempt to join the Irish Republican Army by that time an illegal group meets with a rebuff. She looks up an old IRA fighter whose name Dad's dropped for years and finds he's now a museum curator and a believer in the constitutional and diplomatic solutions for remaining problems with the British. Brefni O'Rourke plays Michael Callaghan the old Irish freedom fighter who tries to disillusion Deborah with no success.

She doesn't give up so easily and before long she's really in over her head involved with Nazi spies headed by Raymond Huntley. But she also has a British officer, Trevor Howard, who does convince her in the end that not all the British are Oliver Cromwell while falling for her at the same time.

I See A Dark Stranger was well received in its day, but I think it has a problem of varying degree of mood that isn't explained. The film can't seem to make up its mind as to just how light hearted the story should be. It should have come down on one side or the other.

Still Deborah makes a spirited Bridie and this film together with Black Narcissus are the ones responsible for her going to Hollywood and a long term and honored career which sad to say was not rewarded with an Oscar except a life time achievement one. Trevor Howard is a stalwart leading man and Tom McCauley and Garry Marsh play a couple of Colonel Blimps in training on the Isle of Man who nearly steal the film.

Noir thriller or comedy, you decide.

[Maverick1962 · 7/10 · 4 March 2020]

I would have loved to give I See A Dark Stranger a higher star rating than my 7 but it can't quite satisfy due to it's ambiguity. Is it it serious or not? For the most part it is a stylish noir thriller, only to leave me somewhat perplexed towards the end when it seems to lose it's way, but decide for yourself. The main plusses are some stylish camera angles, the black and white photography, lots of appearances by later well known actors before they were famous like Leslie Dwyer, Joan Hickson, David Tomlinson etc and most of all, a stunning star performance by Deborah Kerr who I couldn't take my eyes off. I grew up going to see her films but that was only from The King and I and that image of a rather staid stiff personality had stuck with me. She's never been more watchable than she is here, in a word, mesmerising.

Very enjoyable if you switch off your brain

[rhoda-9 · 7/10 · 12 April 2020]

Though many Irishmen voluntarily joined the British forces in World War II, the country's official neutrality must have aroused a great deal of resentment and anger among the British fighting for their lives at home and abroad. This movie could be seen as an attempt at reconciliation, not by trying to justify the Irish policy as a response to centuries of British oppression but by characterizing Irish super-patriots as eccentric and silly. Nothing succeeds with the English like making them feel superior.

Deborah Kerr was seldom so tender, vulnerable, and utterly lovely as in her role as a girl brought up on her family's semi-mythical stories of rebellion and guerrilla fighting who, with World War II under way for several years, decides to join the IRA. But before she manages to do that, she encounters a German spy who apparently takes about five minutes to convince her that her that she would do just as well serving her enemy's enemy. Since she declares that, although living in a remote rural area, she reads newspapers and is up to date, one cannot consider her a backward eccentric. So--if we think about it--we have to assume that she is indifferent to Nazi terror, murder, and genocide. In other words, she is a monster. Kerr plays her as a romantic, over-enthusiastic young girl who sees herself as a character in a girls' adventure book, but it's not enough to give her a pass. She is, after all, supposed to be 21, not six. Even at sixteen she would be expected to have more morals and sense.

Dead Body In Wheelchair

[flowerboy · 7/10 · 11 November 2006]

I don't usually go for old movies, but I saw this one today (I hadn't even heard of it before and the name sounded ridiculous). But I must say I eventually found the movie to be quite engaging. It's Deborah Kerr's show all the way. Trevor Howard was someone whose name I'd heard and I was a bit surprised at how he looked! I always thought leading men of the 50s were supposed to be very handsome, like Gregory Peck or Mongomery Clift. The best scene in this movie is where Deborah is wheeling this dead body from a hotel to the cliffs to dispose of it. On the way she passes by a cinema (or is it a play house) where the show's just finished and a stream of people come out. Then there's a cad who makes a move on her and then there's policeman who rescues her and then tries to talk to the dead body (who she's trying to pass off as her wheelchair bound grandfather).

Strange and delightful film

[sabre-cc · 10/10 · 5 April 2009]

Isn't she just absolutely gorgeous! This is an amazing example of film noir that also manages to include a good deal of humour - ironically about times and events that were not particularly humorous. Debora Kerrs character is a beautiful and somewhat naive young lady - but decidedly full of spirit! and operating on the philosophy that 'my enemy's enemy must be my friend'. The film is supported with the introduction of a wide range of characters as the film unfolds. Viewed many times, I could always do so again. For location buffs - The English town scenes are filmed at Dunster (Somerset)- The medieval yarn market is clearly visible in the background, and I adore her assertion that, 'it all depends which side I'm being neutral on!' Perfect.

Quite good - intriguing and amusing

[grantss · 7/10 · 9 April 2016]

Quite good - intriguing and amusing.

Starts slowly, and without any apparent focus, but gets better and better as it goes on.

Initially looks like a weak political-drama, but then evolves into an intriguing spy drama, plus develops a comedic side (in some ways parodying the spy drama genre). After moving slowly in the first half, the second half rollicks along.

Solid performance by Deborah Kerr in the lead role. Good support from Trevor Howard. The best comedic moments involve Garry Marsh and Tom Macaulay.

Hitchcockian and Fun

[jayraskin1 · 8/10 · 23 September 2016]

Most of the things I felt about the film were nicely expressed by the favorable reviewers I read, especially the ones from the U.K.. I remember Deborah Kerr from "the King and I," and sort of remember Trevor Howard from "Mutiny on the Bounty," the excellent 1962 version with Marlon Brando. It was nice to see them much younger in this 1946 film. I agree with the viewers that said this movie was witty, full of surprises and twists and turns and had a beautiful performance from a younger and very beautiful Deborah Kerr. I agreed with the negative criticism of the film that it is a bit long and the plot gets muddled a few times. In its defense, the movie does manage to unmuddle itself the numerous times that it strays from the beaten path. If you like movies that break formulas so much that you can't trust the narration, this is a joy. Actually the narrator tells you in the very beginning of the movie what to expect from the film when he says that he has chosen the wrong place to start his tale and restarts it at a completely different place. Thanks to all the U.K. and other reviewers who filled us in on the many historical and other references in the film.

Hard to classify!

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 25 December 2017]

Like a few other movies, I could name, "I See a Dark Stranger" (or "The Adventuress" as it was known in the USA in a cut 98 minutes version) simply cannot be classified. Film noir? Definitely.

Romance? Adventure? Espionage thriller? Comedy? All these too.

And what a superb gallery of players are assembled here, headed by Deborah Kerr (never more animated and certainly never more beautifully photographed), Trevor Howard (the ideal of an idealistic pursuer-in both senses of the word), and Raymond Huntley (at his most suavely villainous).

The only disappointment occurs in the casting of Garry Marsh and Tom Macaulay in roles originally designed for Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne (who refused to sign unless their parts were made larger).

Deborah Kerr = Outstanding

[Panamint · 8/10 · 1 October 2007]

Deborah Kerr portrays every emotion, from hate to love to fear and everything in between, with consummate skill. Her range of emotion is astonishing. If you pay careful attention you will observe subtleties and range of performance that most actors cannot achieve.

Few viewers in the USA may be able to relate to the Irish Problems or European WWII themes, however these themes are more interesting than you might expect, so give them a chance. This movie exploits the themes to provide a high level of tension, particularly a harrowing scene in a crowded train compartment where someone is about to be arrested. Also, there is a "corpse in a wheelchair" sequence that is very well done. The gritty, grimy world of wartime spies is also well-portrayed in this film. A British actor named Raymond Huntley is terrific in one of the best cool, ruthless, living-on-the-edge spy roles you will ever see.

Trevor Howard is a perfect male lead to offset the high-strung, headstrong young woman portrayed by Ms Kerr.

The plot itself is tense throughout. Forget about the film's age, its black-and-white filming, or any other concerns you may have. Watch this one and you will enjoy.

Eclectic Movie

[GManfred · 12 June 2013]

This movie has something for every taste and could fall into several classifications. In addition to the website heading of Drama, Thriller and War it could also be a Comedy, Adventure or even a Film Noir. It is very entertaining and characteristically well done under the Launder-Gilliat banner.

I think, though, that it could have a higher rating if it could have decided exactly which genre it should fall under. It is an absorbing picture until, at a very inopportune moment it decides to inject a bit of humor into a scene, thereby killing the mood as well as the tension. I wished it had taken itself seriously as it could have been and excellent WWII spy picture. As is, it is a good enough as a comedy/drama which goes about its business with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

Deborah Kerr is the central character as Bridie Quilty, an idealistic Irish lass who wants to work for the IRA. She carries the picture and Trevor Howard along with her. There is also a wonderful cast of supporting actors who boost the proceedings immeasurably, and I wonder if some are from Dublin's Abbey Theatre, so capable are they in their roles. No other complaints, and I would recommend it to film fans who enjoy a potpourri of genres in their movies.

i see a dark stranger

[mossgrymk · 6/10 · 21 October 2021]

Kind of a poor man's "39 Steps" what with Nazi spies, The Isle of Man standing in for Scotland, and action/adventure romance between the two leads featuring trains, hotels and moors. However, if Hitch had directed it instead of the journeyman Frank Launder you can bet your kippered herring it would be faster paced...that second half with the bumbling police officials really drags...with better cinematography (i.e. Mixing day for night and broad daylight in the same scene!) and a stronger story (i.e. Bridie first finding out Miller was a German spy AFTER he told her, while dying, that he's dying for Germany). As for the acting Deborah Kerr, in an early role, does the flirtatious/callow stuff pretty well but lays the Irish schtick on a bit thick and Trevor Howard, in one of his stiffer acting jobs, will not exactly make you forget Robert Donat. Actually, the best performance, in my opinion, is turned in by Raymond Huntley as the oddly likable yet still menacing Nazi spy. His slow death with cigarette is the best scene in the film and a lot of air is let out of the balloon when he's gone. C plus.

A different kind of war story

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 16 May 2020]

I SEE A DARK STRANGER is an interesting little spy thriller from the period, quite unusually featuring an anti-heroine as the lead character. Later Hollywood starlet Deborah Kerr puts in a top job as a committed young Irish nationalist who ends up spying for her side during WW2, romancing Trevor Howard as part of the scheme. It's fairly dated as are many features from this era, but the uniqueness of the situation along with the usual exemplary performances you see in British cinema (Raymond Huntley is particularly strong here) make it worthwhile.