Alfred Werker's atmospheric SEALED CARGO initially plays like a Ghost Ship picture as fisherman Dana Andrews climbs aboard what seems an abandoned larger vessel where Claude Rains, as a mysterious captain, is met with the kind of cautionary distrust that owns this wartime espionage, ultimately shaping into a heist/caper: but instead of stealing money it's about blowing up the titular contraband... or else...
Leaving little time for romance between Andrews and Carla Balenda, hitching a ride with Dana to his reluctant chagrin. But the unpredictable camaraderie between Andrews and who seems like a Nazi spy in Danish seaman Philip Dorn makes this a buddy flick within the pulpy, tightly-wound Mystery/Thriller; also involving a race-against-time mission that just happens to take place during World War II.
Replace the murky, fog-shrouded oceanic/coastal template with dark-lit alleyways and SEALED CARGO is as Film Noir as they come. Just call it a War Noir -- and a damn good one.
Leaving little time for romance between Andrews and Carla Balenda, hitching a ride with Dana to his reluctant chagrin. But the unpredictable camaraderie between Andrews and who seems like a Nazi spy in Danish seaman Philip Dorn makes this a buddy flick within the pulpy, tightly-wound Mystery/Thriller; also involving a race-against-time mission that just happens to take place during World War II.
Replace the murky, fog-shrouded oceanic/coastal template with dark-lit alleyways and SEALED CARGO is as Film Noir as they come. Just call it a War Noir -- and a damn good one.