Ministry of Fear (1944)

Note des utilisateurs:

7.2/10   

Réalisateur:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Seton I. Miller (screenplay)
Graham Greene (novel)

Release Date:

16 octobre 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drame | Film-Noir | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

Stephen Neale is released into WWII England after two years in an asylum, but it doesn't seem so sane outside either...

Plot Keywords:

Asylum | WWII | England | Spy | Agent

Avis des utilisateurs:

Almost a superb flick

Ensemble

Ray Milland	...	Stephen Neale
Marjorie Reynolds	...	Carla Hilfe
Carl Esmond	...	Willi Hilfe
Hillary Brooke	...	Mrs. Bellane #2, spiritualist
Percy Waram	...	Inspector Prentice
Dan Duryea	...	Cost aka Travers the tailor
Alan Napier	...	Dr. Forrester
Erskine Sanford	...	George Rennit, private investigator

Autre(s) titre(s):

Graham Greene's Ministry of Fear (Australia)
Espions sur la Tamise (France) [fr]

Durée:

86 min (copyright length)

Pays:

USA

Langue:

Anglais

Couleur:

Noir et Blanc

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Son:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Classification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG | New Zealand:PG | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #9511) | Sweden:15

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Anecdotes:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Guillemet:

Willi Hilfe: We thought you'd been killed.
Stephen Neale: Not quite.

Movie Connections:

Version of "Quinta colonna" (1966)

Almost a superb flick

If you like Hitchcock's "39 Steps" or "The Man Who Knew Too Much", you're likely to enjoy this one, too. It's weakness, in comparison to "39 Steps" lies in a frustratingly shallow treatment of the characters. Development of the relationship between the protagonist Neale and the very photogenic Fraeulein Hilfe is disappointingly sketchy - and their unwavering trust in each other - and love - essentially instantaneous, not gradually won through tension, doubt and adversity. And our doubts concerning Neale's time in prison for murder are defused all too quickly, assuring us he's no "Stagefright" personality. I can't help thinking Lang attempted to emulate "39 Steps". The result's a fun film, with wonderful close-ups of a very young Millan and his girl, but of "thinner fabric". As in "39" or "North by Northwest", the plot doesn't resist much scrutiny - the bad guys' judgment pretty lame. The fun lies in character eccentricities, great photography, the creation of an artificial universe, etc. Personally, I find "Man Who Knew Too Much" too long, impossible to sit through a second time, excessive in several ways - overacted, over-dramatized; this film, like "39" or "North by Northwest", I have no problem watching again and again.