A woman dreams of a man being murdered, and later she experiences the scene in real life. Before he made his name with the Ranown series of Westerns, Boetticher churned out a skein of low-budget programmers for Columbia and Monogram, many of them well above average. This mystery, while no masterpiece, nicely illustrates what Andrew Sarris called "the beatitude of the Bs". With typical B movie non-logic, the intriguing dream-coming-true angle is taken at face value and never explained. There are a couple of clever escape scenes, and the stylish 40s wardrobe (wide lapels, pin-striped suits, floppy hats) rivals the sartorial splendor of a Hawks movie. Second-string stalwart Nina Foch, more alluring than usual, gives another intelligent performance despite the plot holes. An even finer second-feature from the same director, Behind Locked Doors, has recently received mainstream video release.
28 Reviews
I'm not ill and I'm not insane. And I'm certainly not the victim of hallucinations.
hitchcockthelegend19 October 2013
Escape in the Fog is directed by Oscar "Budd" Boetticher and written by Aubrey Wisberg. It stars Nina Foch, William Wright, Otto Kruger and Konstantin Shayne.
Foch plays nurse Eileen Carr who dreams of a man being murdered only to wake and meet the man in real life...
Solid programmer out of Columbia, Escape in the Fog runs at just over an hour and gets by on its nifty spy like premise and a good sense of atmosphere. Boetticher himself would say that this early period in his career was all about a learning curve, and he shows some nice economical touches to mask the low budget nature of the production. Film is at its best when Frisco is fog bound, while the war time shenanigans amount to race against time espionage intrigue. Noir darling Foch is good value and Wright decent hero/romantic foil, and the skulduggery dealing villains are a fun product of the time. 6/10
Foch plays nurse Eileen Carr who dreams of a man being murdered only to wake and meet the man in real life...
Solid programmer out of Columbia, Escape in the Fog runs at just over an hour and gets by on its nifty spy like premise and a good sense of atmosphere. Boetticher himself would say that this early period in his career was all about a learning curve, and he shows some nice economical touches to mask the low budget nature of the production. Film is at its best when Frisco is fog bound, while the war time shenanigans amount to race against time espionage intrigue. Noir darling Foch is good value and Wright decent hero/romantic foil, and the skulduggery dealing villains are a fun product of the time. 6/10
Nice performance by Nina Foch
blanche-227 June 2009
"Escape in the Fog" is an intriguing 1945 B movie directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Nina Foch and Otto Kruger. Foch is a nurse, Eileen Carr, honorably discharged from the service after a something akin to a nervous breakdown. She has a nightmare where she witnesses a man being attacked on the Golden Gate Bridge. Once awake, she meets the actual victim in her dream, Barry Malcolm (William Wright) who is staying in the same place. There's an immediate attraction, and he offers to take her to San Francisco with him.
Once there, Malcolm, a special agent, gets orders from his boss, Paul Devon (Kruger) to go to Hong Kong to deliver a package to the Chinese underground. Devon's house has been bugged by the Axis, and they follow Malcolm to get the package. When it's revealed that the people who picked up Malcolm were not sent by Devon, Eileen realizes her dream is about to come true, and she rushes to the Golden Gate Bridge. The rest of the story takes place from there.
This is a pretty preposterous tale, but entertaining nonetheless, with a strong performance by the lovely Foch. Baby boomers like myself remember her as an older woman and a constant television presence. Here she's young, and she and Kruger do an excellent job of holding this film together.
If you can overcome the plot holes, you'll enjoy this one.
Once there, Malcolm, a special agent, gets orders from his boss, Paul Devon (Kruger) to go to Hong Kong to deliver a package to the Chinese underground. Devon's house has been bugged by the Axis, and they follow Malcolm to get the package. When it's revealed that the people who picked up Malcolm were not sent by Devon, Eileen realizes her dream is about to come true, and she rushes to the Golden Gate Bridge. The rest of the story takes place from there.
This is a pretty preposterous tale, but entertaining nonetheless, with a strong performance by the lovely Foch. Baby boomers like myself remember her as an older woman and a constant television presence. Here she's young, and she and Kruger do an excellent job of holding this film together.
If you can overcome the plot holes, you'll enjoy this one.
Pardon Me, But Weren't You in My Dream
dougdoepke2 July 2009
Another wartime programmer that Hollywood was turning out by the hundreds. The only unusual angle is the mixing of espionage with psychic dreams, apparently an everyday occurrence in this scripted world. Except for the bland male lead (Wright), it's an excellent cast of stereotypes, including professional Hollywood Nazi, Ivan Triesault who made a career of these cruel types. There's also the incredibly smooth Otto Kruger playing a good guy, for once, but then who could do oily villains better than his smiling cobra. And what guy wouldn't like to partner-up with newcomer Nina Foch in an extended game of mixed doubles. With his penchant for cool blondes, I wonder why Hitchcock didn't enlist her obvious talents at some point. Anyway, cult director Boetticher helms in efficient style, the fog machine gets overtime, and a number of practiced players do their thing. (In passing, note how slickly Boetticher stages the shootout near movie's end—a foreshadowing of the classics to come. Note too, that Malcolm represents a generic federal agency and not the FBI by name. That way possible legal problems are avoided.) Nothing exceptional here, just a demonstration of how the studio assembly line turned out an entertaining product even under straitened wartime conditions.
Clever, economical wartime espionage thriller set in foggy Frisco
bmacv5 August 2004
In 1945, Dutch-born actress Nina Foch had the good fortune to star in a pair of economical, satisfying thrillers. She was a damsel in distress in Joseph H. Lewis' My Name Is Julia Ross, an updated Gothic set in England. In Budd (then Oscar') Boettischer's wartime espionage drama Escape In The Fog, she's a dame in distress in the city by the bay.
It opens in a nightmare she's having. Walking one fog-bound night on the Golden Gate Bridge, she sees three men piling out of a taxi trying to kill a fourth. She screams and the screams bring to her room in Ye Rustic Dell Inn other guests running to her aid. One of them is the intended victim in her dream (William Wright), whom she's never before laid eyes on. They hit it off, though, and he persuades her to join him for a few days in San Francisco.
Their fling seems destined to be a short one, however, as Wright's a government agent who receives orders from his operator Otto Kruger to courier top-secret documents to Hong Kong. But he's waylaid by agents of the Axis powers, led by Konstantin Shayne. Luckily, Foch believes that her nightmare was in fact a premonition, and rushes off to the Golden Gate Bridge, this time for real....
It's not an especially memorable movie, but it's clever and atmospheric. If its ingenuity at times seems a bit stretched, it's stretched in the (pop)corny way of Saturday matinee serials of the era. There's of course the obligatory dose of wartime rhetoric, with much derision of `Japs,' while the Germans all speak in the most guttural tones they can reach without doing irreparable damage to the larynxes. Still, Boettischer keeps those fog machines churning, and there's plenty of skullduggery in Chinatown at Midnight. Not a bad way to while away an hour-plus.
It opens in a nightmare she's having. Walking one fog-bound night on the Golden Gate Bridge, she sees three men piling out of a taxi trying to kill a fourth. She screams and the screams bring to her room in Ye Rustic Dell Inn other guests running to her aid. One of them is the intended victim in her dream (William Wright), whom she's never before laid eyes on. They hit it off, though, and he persuades her to join him for a few days in San Francisco.
Their fling seems destined to be a short one, however, as Wright's a government agent who receives orders from his operator Otto Kruger to courier top-secret documents to Hong Kong. But he's waylaid by agents of the Axis powers, led by Konstantin Shayne. Luckily, Foch believes that her nightmare was in fact a premonition, and rushes off to the Golden Gate Bridge, this time for real....
It's not an especially memorable movie, but it's clever and atmospheric. If its ingenuity at times seems a bit stretched, it's stretched in the (pop)corny way of Saturday matinee serials of the era. There's of course the obligatory dose of wartime rhetoric, with much derision of `Japs,' while the Germans all speak in the most guttural tones they can reach without doing irreparable damage to the larynxes. Still, Boettischer keeps those fog machines churning, and there's plenty of skullduggery in Chinatown at Midnight. Not a bad way to while away an hour-plus.
One Goose Step Beyond
AlsExGal3 July 2017
This one starts out with such promise, but gets bogged down near the end. Still it is unique enough to be worth a watch. Nina Foch is walking along a bridge in the fog in the middle of the night, looking over the side, when she encounters a policeman. He asks if she is alright, asks her if she is contemplating jumping. She says yes to the first question, no to the second. He tells her to go home, that this is no place to be hanging around at this hour. She walks down the bridge a bit further when a car stops near her. Three men are fighting - actually two are attacking the third man. As one man gets ready to plunge a knife into the heart of another Foch's character screams loudly and repeatedly. And then she awakens. It has all been a bad dream.
In burst the innkeeper where Eileen Carr (Nina Foch) is staying, and by his side, the guy (William Wright as Barry Malcolm) who was about to be stabbed in the dream! What IS going on here? Well, Eileen and Barry are instantly drawn to each other, and it turns out Eileen is a nurse suffering from shock from being in a shipwreck of an American navy vessel. She is at the inn for a long rest. Barry is more illusive about what he is up to. He asks her to spend a couple of days with him in San Francisco and says that she can stay with an aunt of his there. She agrees.
Well it turns out Barry is a spy/courier for the allies, and while in San Francisco he goes to the house of wealthy Paul Devon (Otto Kruger), who gives him sealed orders on the coordination of the underground in Japanese occupied China with the final stages of the attack on Japan. Devon mentions that this mission is so super secret, that no matter what trouble he gets in he is not to contact him after he leaves his house. A car will pick him up at midnight at his hotel and then on to a plane to start him on his way to China.
In the meantime Barry and Eileen are falling for each other, although this must be entirely chemistry because there is no time for character development here. At one point in the evening she even calls him "darling"? Hey Nina you didn't know this guy 24 hours ago, isn't this going a little too fast, even for wartime? Foiling the plans of our young lovers and the allies are two nasty Nazis who have found out what is going on and plan to kidnap Barry by being in that car waiting to take him on his mission. How will this all work out, watch and find out.
I will tell you this much, these spies are VERY persistent. They do believe if at first you don't succeed try try again. It also involves grandfather clock repair, watertight buoyant envelopes, secret Navy experiments going on in San Francisco Bay, and, remember that dream Eileen had? It turns out to be a premonition.
Just a couple of questions for both sides. For the allies - why was it necessary to list the names of the members of the underground - which is what the Nazis are after. After all, the members of the underground know who they are, they don't need a role call! As for the Nazis, why are they doing all of this work for the Japanese? Couldn't they be bothered to try and stop the invasion of their own country? Inquiring minds want to know but will never find out. Well folks, you can't say this one is a paint by numbers war picture, and it has ace direction from Budd Boetticher, here at only age 29 and his third year of directing. Notice how the cinematography sticks to close ups so Columbia's low budget roots do not show.
In burst the innkeeper where Eileen Carr (Nina Foch) is staying, and by his side, the guy (William Wright as Barry Malcolm) who was about to be stabbed in the dream! What IS going on here? Well, Eileen and Barry are instantly drawn to each other, and it turns out Eileen is a nurse suffering from shock from being in a shipwreck of an American navy vessel. She is at the inn for a long rest. Barry is more illusive about what he is up to. He asks her to spend a couple of days with him in San Francisco and says that she can stay with an aunt of his there. She agrees.
Well it turns out Barry is a spy/courier for the allies, and while in San Francisco he goes to the house of wealthy Paul Devon (Otto Kruger), who gives him sealed orders on the coordination of the underground in Japanese occupied China with the final stages of the attack on Japan. Devon mentions that this mission is so super secret, that no matter what trouble he gets in he is not to contact him after he leaves his house. A car will pick him up at midnight at his hotel and then on to a plane to start him on his way to China.
In the meantime Barry and Eileen are falling for each other, although this must be entirely chemistry because there is no time for character development here. At one point in the evening she even calls him "darling"? Hey Nina you didn't know this guy 24 hours ago, isn't this going a little too fast, even for wartime? Foiling the plans of our young lovers and the allies are two nasty Nazis who have found out what is going on and plan to kidnap Barry by being in that car waiting to take him on his mission. How will this all work out, watch and find out.
I will tell you this much, these spies are VERY persistent. They do believe if at first you don't succeed try try again. It also involves grandfather clock repair, watertight buoyant envelopes, secret Navy experiments going on in San Francisco Bay, and, remember that dream Eileen had? It turns out to be a premonition.
Just a couple of questions for both sides. For the allies - why was it necessary to list the names of the members of the underground - which is what the Nazis are after. After all, the members of the underground know who they are, they don't need a role call! As for the Nazis, why are they doing all of this work for the Japanese? Couldn't they be bothered to try and stop the invasion of their own country? Inquiring minds want to know but will never find out. Well folks, you can't say this one is a paint by numbers war picture, and it has ace direction from Budd Boetticher, here at only age 29 and his third year of directing. Notice how the cinematography sticks to close ups so Columbia's low budget roots do not show.
Slightly foggy, not ruined
funkyfry9 October 2002
This wartime thriller follows conventional plot directions, but the framing of its story in a dream of murder makes it pretty interesting. Foch is excellent and very sexy. The suspense lags after the dream occurs in real time, and we have to see Foch tied up as Kruger (excellent as always) tries to find a missing envelope. Nicely photographed and directed; if only more thought had gone into its conception.
The psychic nurse
guswhovian20 August 2020
An army nurse on leave has a premonition about witnessing a murder attempt on a bridge. She later meets that man, who is a G-man who is being targeted by Nazi agents.
Escape in the Fog is a standard "B" spy film from Columbia. The film isn't cheap looking, and the cast is good. Nina Foch is good as the lead, while Clark Gable lookalike William Wright is good as the G-man. Top-billed Otto Kruger doesn't get much to do as Wright's boss, while Konstantin Shayne is entertaining as the lead Nazi?
The plot is pretty silly, and the end scene where the two baddies accidentally shoot each other is pretty cheesy stuff. Overall, nothing special, but it's entertaining.
Escape in the Fog is a standard "B" spy film from Columbia. The film isn't cheap looking, and the cast is good. Nina Foch is good as the lead, while Clark Gable lookalike William Wright is good as the G-man. Top-billed Otto Kruger doesn't get much to do as Wright's boss, while Konstantin Shayne is entertaining as the lead Nazi?
The plot is pretty silly, and the end scene where the two baddies accidentally shoot each other is pretty cheesy stuff. Overall, nothing special, but it's entertaining.
A Slog In The Fog
alonzoiii-124 April 2007
A tedious effort from not-yet great director Budd Boetticher and pretty but not-yet un-bland actress Nina Foch, this movie is, as one of the other reviewers notes, is the quintessence of a certain kind of B movie. It's just not the good kind. And a promising premise and an overactive fog machine is wasted.
Basic plot -- Nina, a nurse on leave from wartime duties on account of her nerves, has a nightmare. She meets a dashing fellow at the resort where she's giving her nerves a breather, and realizes he's in the dream, even though she's never met him before. Meanwhile, it turns out our dashing guy is working as a spy, and is about to go on an-extra secret, hush-hush mission that must not fail.
Of course, there are Nazis. And plot holes. And smart people acting in a fashion most likely to get them into entirely unnecessary scrapes, so that the running time can be spun out past an hour. At the end, the movie becomes a contest between which group of spies can act more foolishly. If the FBI and OSS had acted like this crew, we'd have lost the war in '42.
The movie itself is rather flatly shot (despite the best efforts of the fog machine) and the acting -- as it seems to be in many of the Columbia Bs TCM has been showing lately -- is curiously unengaged. It's less stylized than what one might find from a similarly budgeted Warner Bros movie, but also less fun to watch.
Boetticher's strength, of course, is a rather matter of fact style which allows the strong stories and acting in his Randolph Scott westerns to come to the fore. Maybe the problem here is that such a style is not going to work when the script is lousy and the actors tired from their five film a year schedule.
Basic plot -- Nina, a nurse on leave from wartime duties on account of her nerves, has a nightmare. She meets a dashing fellow at the resort where she's giving her nerves a breather, and realizes he's in the dream, even though she's never met him before. Meanwhile, it turns out our dashing guy is working as a spy, and is about to go on an-extra secret, hush-hush mission that must not fail.
Of course, there are Nazis. And plot holes. And smart people acting in a fashion most likely to get them into entirely unnecessary scrapes, so that the running time can be spun out past an hour. At the end, the movie becomes a contest between which group of spies can act more foolishly. If the FBI and OSS had acted like this crew, we'd have lost the war in '42.
The movie itself is rather flatly shot (despite the best efforts of the fog machine) and the acting -- as it seems to be in many of the Columbia Bs TCM has been showing lately -- is curiously unengaged. It's less stylized than what one might find from a similarly budgeted Warner Bros movie, but also less fun to watch.
Boetticher's strength, of course, is a rather matter of fact style which allows the strong stories and acting in his Randolph Scott westerns to come to the fore. Maybe the problem here is that such a style is not going to work when the script is lousy and the actors tired from their five film a year schedule.
Dream Girl
wes-connors14 February 2016
On a foggy San Francisco night, dreamy Nina Foch (as Eileen Carr) takes a melancholy walk on the Golden Gate Bridge. The beautiful young woman is suddenly witness to a terrifying confrontation. Apparently, it ends with a murder, but Ms. Foch wakes up just before the deadly knife takes its final plunge. Fortunately, it was only a dream. Unfortunately, it begins to come true. Foch's wakening scream draws the attention of a man in the inn where she is staying. He looks exactly like the victim, William Wright (as Barry Malcolm), from her dream. Foch has never met the man before he appeared in her nightmare. He's a spy for the US, soon to receive a summons from agent Otto Kruger (as Paul Devon). After showing a romantic interest in Foch, Mr. Wright must deliver a top secret packet to Hong Kong...
With a skillfully conceived story by Aubrey Wisberg, "Escape in the Fog" is an entertaining spy thriller. Director Budd Boetticher gets attention with the nightmarish opening and Foch delivers a fine characterization. On the downside, her romance with Mr. Wright is not initially believable; perhaps, if the actors had more quality time, the coupling would click. Most interesting is the fact that Foch's character has a supernatural power (seeing future events in her dreams). The explanation appears to be post-traumatic stress suffered during her stint as a nurse in World War II. Although this aspect of Foch's character is dispensed with early, she maintains interest. Watch for young starlet Shelley Winters as a hotel taxi driver and veteran D.W. Griffith player and "Tarzan" portrayer Elmo Lincoln as a lawman.
****** Escape in the Fog (1945/04/05) Budd Boetticher ~ Nina Foch, William Wright, Otto Kruger, Konstantin Shayne
With a skillfully conceived story by Aubrey Wisberg, "Escape in the Fog" is an entertaining spy thriller. Director Budd Boetticher gets attention with the nightmarish opening and Foch delivers a fine characterization. On the downside, her romance with Mr. Wright is not initially believable; perhaps, if the actors had more quality time, the coupling would click. Most interesting is the fact that Foch's character has a supernatural power (seeing future events in her dreams). The explanation appears to be post-traumatic stress suffered during her stint as a nurse in World War II. Although this aspect of Foch's character is dispensed with early, she maintains interest. Watch for young starlet Shelley Winters as a hotel taxi driver and veteran D.W. Griffith player and "Tarzan" portrayer Elmo Lincoln as a lawman.
****** Escape in the Fog (1945/04/05) Budd Boetticher ~ Nina Foch, William Wright, Otto Kruger, Konstantin Shayne
A Psychic Girl Friend For An FBI Guy
bkoganbing25 June 2009
Warning: Spoilers
We've all got to start somewhere, it was in films like Escape In The Fog that somebody like Budd Boetticher could learn his trade before turning out good films. In fact the film was dated before it even hit the movie going public on June 25, 1945.
The war on Europe was over for almost two months, of course not even Harry Cohn could control the events of history. So I'm wondering why even back then the public didn't question why a Nazi spy ring was helping out the Japanese. Another very bad historical inaccuracy was that the FBI had nothing to do with the Pacific or Asian theater. The cloak and dagger stuff was the territory of the OSS in that part of the world.
When you're an FBI man like William Wright it sure good to have a psychic girl friend like Nina Foch. He's about to go on a mission to the Orient to deliver the names of key underground leaders to start a general uprising in China against the Japanese occupation. Germans who've been bugging Otto Kruger's house learn of this and the whole movie is spent with these guys who've already lost the war trying to help their allies. Who, by the way, they refer to as 'Japs'. When Foch is sideswiped by a speeding car and knocked unconscious she dreams about Wright's danger and sees what is about to happen to him on the Golden Gate Bridge. She goes there and foils the plot.
All the stuff you'd expect from a nice noir film is there, the foggy atmosphere of San Francisco, the dimly lit sets, Budd Boetticher tried his best as did the cast. But they just weren't convincing, probably because they didn't believe this claptrap themselves.
It's possible, but not likely that Nina Foch's dream and its psychic consequences might have been more developed and the developments were left on the cutting room floor. I think it was just a lousy screenplay.
And Budd and Harry Cohn at Columbia Pictures had the fast moving events of history going against them here.
The war on Europe was over for almost two months, of course not even Harry Cohn could control the events of history. So I'm wondering why even back then the public didn't question why a Nazi spy ring was helping out the Japanese. Another very bad historical inaccuracy was that the FBI had nothing to do with the Pacific or Asian theater. The cloak and dagger stuff was the territory of the OSS in that part of the world.
When you're an FBI man like William Wright it sure good to have a psychic girl friend like Nina Foch. He's about to go on a mission to the Orient to deliver the names of key underground leaders to start a general uprising in China against the Japanese occupation. Germans who've been bugging Otto Kruger's house learn of this and the whole movie is spent with these guys who've already lost the war trying to help their allies. Who, by the way, they refer to as 'Japs'. When Foch is sideswiped by a speeding car and knocked unconscious she dreams about Wright's danger and sees what is about to happen to him on the Golden Gate Bridge. She goes there and foils the plot.
All the stuff you'd expect from a nice noir film is there, the foggy atmosphere of San Francisco, the dimly lit sets, Budd Boetticher tried his best as did the cast. But they just weren't convincing, probably because they didn't believe this claptrap themselves.
It's possible, but not likely that Nina Foch's dream and its psychic consequences might have been more developed and the developments were left on the cutting room floor. I think it was just a lousy screenplay.
And Budd and Harry Cohn at Columbia Pictures had the fast moving events of history going against them here.
Why Not a Higer Rating?
PrairieCal26 April 2017
I'm surprised this film hasn't received a higher rating. Maybe old folks need to think back to when they were kids and rode their bikes downtown on Saturday afternoon to watch a string of second run "B" pictures at the cheap theater.
Or perhaps some caught this in later decades when these old films were shown on TV late night on weekends. In any event, enjoy this for what it is. Don't expect Shakespeare and you won't be disappointed. As a typical WWII film this one will keep you entertained. As a bonus, Nina Foch has never looked lovelier.
My son and I have never called these WWII Spy Thrillers, Propaganda Films, or whatever. To us they've always been and always will be, "Nazi Scum" Movies. We've amassed a large collection. This is one of them ... and one of our favorites. It reeks of the surrealistic cheapie back lot films that seem both unreal and real simultaneously.
Or perhaps some caught this in later decades when these old films were shown on TV late night on weekends. In any event, enjoy this for what it is. Don't expect Shakespeare and you won't be disappointed. As a typical WWII film this one will keep you entertained. As a bonus, Nina Foch has never looked lovelier.
My son and I have never called these WWII Spy Thrillers, Propaganda Films, or whatever. To us they've always been and always will be, "Nazi Scum" Movies. We've amassed a large collection. This is one of them ... and one of our favorites. It reeks of the surrealistic cheapie back lot films that seem both unreal and real simultaneously.
Operation Under Serpent recently concluded that . . .
oscaralbert22 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
. . . the number of American-dropped Fifth Columnist Quisling Traitor Spies highlighted by Hollywood flicks during World War Two amounted to about 40% of the USA's total population from 1942-1945. This breakdown is confirmed during ESCAPE IN THE FOG, during which Prussian operatives are depicted as calling most of the shots on behalf of the Evil Axis, pulling the strings of Power and having the run of the town (which happens to be a strategic U.S. metropolis). In Real Life, as WWII raged overseas, instead of punting the Fuhrer's Core Supporters--many of them hiding in plain sight on Capitol Hill, within the U.S. Supreme Court and over at the Pachyderm Party Headquarters--Down Below, they were allowed to become Filthy Rich Fat Cat One Per Centers building the nefarious Military-Industrial Complex about which President General "I Like Ike" warned in his farewell address. This is what is known as a not-so-bloodless coup.
Nina Foch
Handlinghandel15 April 2007
That is the answer. The question is: What is the single reason to watch this movie? I loved her in "My Name Is Julia Ross." That is one of the best films noir of all time. Noir or whatever one may call it, it's a very unsettling movie.
She is fun in one of the worst major studio releases of all time, too. That would be "The Guilt Of Janet Ames." This one has a spooky, promising title. It has a good cast. It has a fine director. I was expecting something dark. Maybe something a little tawdry. Instead, it's an uninspired, routine espionage movie. It's pretty much is a total bore. At least it was to me. Ms. Foch is captivating. And that is about it.
She is fun in one of the worst major studio releases of all time, too. That would be "The Guilt Of Janet Ames." This one has a spooky, promising title. It has a good cast. It has a fine director. I was expecting something dark. Maybe something a little tawdry. Instead, it's an uninspired, routine espionage movie. It's pretty much is a total bore. At least it was to me. Ms. Foch is captivating. And that is about it.
A little atmosphere goes a long way
gerdeen-125 April 2015
Fog was a frequently used device in the "B" thrillers of the 1930s and '40s. It was a way to disguise the cheap sets while adding an element of menace. In this low-budget tale of enemy agents on the dark, glistening streets of San Francisco, the fog is almost one of the stars.
Nina Foch plays a World War II military nurse whose dream about a murder allows her to anticipate the real-life actions of the bad guys. It was just a single dream -- never really explained -- and otherwise she has no psychic powers. (She can't detect a spy hiding a few feet from her.) She's also not particularly smart, though no dumber than the federal agents she helps.
The heroine's love interest, as well as the subject of her dream, is a a kind of G-Man played by William Wright. He and his boss, portrayed by Otto Kruger, are at work on a plan to boost the war effort against Japan. Unfortunately, Nazi agents have compromised U.S. security and are on the verge of foiling the plan and committing some mayhem. The dreamer comes in handy.
In some ways, this movie is less "patriotic" than you might expect. Unintentionally, it makes American home-front security in World War II look amateurish. Everybody seems awfully naive. Wright's character gets a lot of mileage out of the little badge he flashes to local authorities, but it looks like a prize out of a cereal box. Most people would probably ask for more ID, considering that the fate of the nation hangs on his being legit.
"Escape in the Fog" has its corny and improbable elements, like most such movies. But it's entertaining, and the cast is more than adequate. Foch is more vulnerable and appealing than in her later roles. Wright, who got his best breaks during the war years but died too young to make much of a career, does fine in a rather routine role. And it's nice to see Kruger, who often played icy Nazi sympathizers, as one of the good guys.
This movie came out very late in the war, when the Nazis were already done for and the Japanese were only weeks from defeat. It does seem odd that Germans instead of Japanese are shown working as spies for Tokyo. My wild guess is that Asian actors, many of whom were still getting parts in films about the Pacific War, were not available for the average inexpensive "B" mystery. In this picture, even "Chinatown" has very few non-Caucasians, which actually prompts a subtle quip from one of the villains.
Nina Foch plays a World War II military nurse whose dream about a murder allows her to anticipate the real-life actions of the bad guys. It was just a single dream -- never really explained -- and otherwise she has no psychic powers. (She can't detect a spy hiding a few feet from her.) She's also not particularly smart, though no dumber than the federal agents she helps.
The heroine's love interest, as well as the subject of her dream, is a a kind of G-Man played by William Wright. He and his boss, portrayed by Otto Kruger, are at work on a plan to boost the war effort against Japan. Unfortunately, Nazi agents have compromised U.S. security and are on the verge of foiling the plan and committing some mayhem. The dreamer comes in handy.
In some ways, this movie is less "patriotic" than you might expect. Unintentionally, it makes American home-front security in World War II look amateurish. Everybody seems awfully naive. Wright's character gets a lot of mileage out of the little badge he flashes to local authorities, but it looks like a prize out of a cereal box. Most people would probably ask for more ID, considering that the fate of the nation hangs on his being legit.
"Escape in the Fog" has its corny and improbable elements, like most such movies. But it's entertaining, and the cast is more than adequate. Foch is more vulnerable and appealing than in her later roles. Wright, who got his best breaks during the war years but died too young to make much of a career, does fine in a rather routine role. And it's nice to see Kruger, who often played icy Nazi sympathizers, as one of the good guys.
This movie came out very late in the war, when the Nazis were already done for and the Japanese were only weeks from defeat. It does seem odd that Germans instead of Japanese are shown working as spies for Tokyo. My wild guess is that Asian actors, many of whom were still getting parts in films about the Pacific War, were not available for the average inexpensive "B" mystery. In this picture, even "Chinatown" has very few non-Caucasians, which actually prompts a subtle quip from one of the villains.
A dream come true.
Hey_Sweden12 February 2024
The beautiful and enchanting Nina Foch ("My Name is Julia Ross") headlines this decent thriller, more a wartime espionage yarn than true film noir. (Although it has wonderfully foggy, atmospheric moments.) Eileen Carr (Ms. Foch) has a nightmare of a man being murdered on the Golden Gate Bridge, then is stunned to encounter the guy in real life! He's Barry Malcolm (William Wright, "Philo Vance Returns"), an undercover operative assigned to a delicate, all-important mission in which she inevitably gets involved.
Although directed by future big name Oscar "Budd" Boetticher, Jr., "Escape in the Fog" is of no real distinction. Certainly, it tells an okay story in capable fashion, but it's the kind of thing you forget pretty quickly once it's over. At the least, like many B pictures of the long-ago past, it's very short & snappy, moving along more than adequately.
Foch is a delight, the handsome Wright merely okay. The villains (enemy agents, of course) are pure stereotypes, but they are effectively played by Konstantin Shayne ("Vertigo"), Ivan Triesault ("Notorious"), and Ernie Adams ("The Pride of the Yankees"). Top-billed Otto Kruger ("Saboteur") plays the boss who sends Malcolm on his way. And recognize that female cabbie? It's a very young, uncredited Shelley Winters, in one of her earlier film appearances.
Even if nothing special, this entertains well enough for an agreeable 63 minutes.
Six out of 10.
Although directed by future big name Oscar "Budd" Boetticher, Jr., "Escape in the Fog" is of no real distinction. Certainly, it tells an okay story in capable fashion, but it's the kind of thing you forget pretty quickly once it's over. At the least, like many B pictures of the long-ago past, it's very short & snappy, moving along more than adequately.
Foch is a delight, the handsome Wright merely okay. The villains (enemy agents, of course) are pure stereotypes, but they are effectively played by Konstantin Shayne ("Vertigo"), Ivan Triesault ("Notorious"), and Ernie Adams ("The Pride of the Yankees"). Top-billed Otto Kruger ("Saboteur") plays the boss who sends Malcolm on his way. And recognize that female cabbie? It's a very young, uncredited Shelley Winters, in one of her earlier film appearances.
Even if nothing special, this entertains well enough for an agreeable 63 minutes.
Six out of 10.
Taut Columbia pictures 40s B-noir
WelshFilmCraze8 November 2022
ESCAPE IN THE FOG starts NINA FOCH as US Army nurse Eileen Carr, who is resting at a countryside inn following a breakdown whilst serving during the tail-end of WW2.
At the beginning of this limited budget 63-minute espionage B-movie from COLUMBIA PICTURES. Our character Eileen is walking along a foggy San Francisco bridge at night when she witnesses 3 men tumble out of a taxi with 2 of the passengers attempting to kill the 3rd, during which she lets out a bloodcurdling scream - she then wakes in her hotel room and it was all a dream, but then 2 guests break down her door after hearing her scream and to her amazement one of the men standing in the doorway is the man she saw attacked in her dream, federal agent Barry Malcolm (WILLIAM WRIGHT a sort of cutprice Clark Gable, who had a relatively short career in 40s B Movies before his death from Cancer in 1949 still in his 30s).
Was her dream really a premonition?
Federal agents, Nazis, espionage, kidnappings & attempted murders - all within a barely 1 hour run time - I dont mean that as a criticism, ESCAPE IN THE FOG is a very fast moving, solid little B-Noir.
Not the most well known of 40s Film Noirs (at least not to me)
Co-starring OTTO KRUGER (a side character here but he's still top billed and a rare good guy role)
Directed by BUDD BOETTICHER (here credited as OSCAR BOETTICHER Jr) in one of his first directoral duties, He later spoke rather disparagingly of this and his other early works, calling them "nothing pictures" and while ESCAPE IN THE FOG is a definite low budget B-pic, I feel Boetticher was rather too hard on this picture, which is still an enjoyable, if minor noir, which doesnt outstay its welcome.
This also has SHELLEY WINTERS in her film debut in a uncredited, blink and you'll miss her role as a Taxi Driver who picks up our main characters from their Hotel.
6.5/10 rounded up to 7.
At the beginning of this limited budget 63-minute espionage B-movie from COLUMBIA PICTURES. Our character Eileen is walking along a foggy San Francisco bridge at night when she witnesses 3 men tumble out of a taxi with 2 of the passengers attempting to kill the 3rd, during which she lets out a bloodcurdling scream - she then wakes in her hotel room and it was all a dream, but then 2 guests break down her door after hearing her scream and to her amazement one of the men standing in the doorway is the man she saw attacked in her dream, federal agent Barry Malcolm (WILLIAM WRIGHT a sort of cutprice Clark Gable, who had a relatively short career in 40s B Movies before his death from Cancer in 1949 still in his 30s).
Was her dream really a premonition?
Federal agents, Nazis, espionage, kidnappings & attempted murders - all within a barely 1 hour run time - I dont mean that as a criticism, ESCAPE IN THE FOG is a very fast moving, solid little B-Noir.
Not the most well known of 40s Film Noirs (at least not to me)
Co-starring OTTO KRUGER (a side character here but he's still top billed and a rare good guy role)
Directed by BUDD BOETTICHER (here credited as OSCAR BOETTICHER Jr) in one of his first directoral duties, He later spoke rather disparagingly of this and his other early works, calling them "nothing pictures" and while ESCAPE IN THE FOG is a definite low budget B-pic, I feel Boetticher was rather too hard on this picture, which is still an enjoyable, if minor noir, which doesnt outstay its welcome.
This also has SHELLEY WINTERS in her film debut in a uncredited, blink and you'll miss her role as a Taxi Driver who picks up our main characters from their Hotel.
6.5/10 rounded up to 7.
Curious B pic directed by the ever intriguing Budd Boetticher
adrianovasconcelos31 July 2021
Other than the splendid Otto Kruger, Nina Foch is the only member of this cast that I know. Those two are one of the film's few saving graces. Foch's love interest (a very weak William Wright) grows too quickly to be believable, but perhaps that is how it happened in WWII, plus the film is only 67' long.
That said, nice directorial touches by Boetticher, and a tolerable script and decent photography.
That said, nice directorial touches by Boetticher, and a tolerable script and decent photography.
Escape in the Fog
coltras3528 November 2023
During World War II, a San Francisco nurse dreams of a murder and then meets the "victim" in real life. What she saw in the dream helps her in an effort to thwart enemy spies.
Nina Foch plays a nurse who is convalescing at an inn and gets nightmares of a man getting killed and in a strong coincidence he enters her room to ask if she's ok as she had just screamed. It's odd picture, especially when her sudden talent for premonition is never explained and no-one really remarks about how incredible it is, but as far as providing a diverting enough B with some good performances, steady suspense scenes and atmosphere it achieves this.
Nina Foch plays a nurse who is convalescing at an inn and gets nightmares of a man getting killed and in a strong coincidence he enters her room to ask if she's ok as she had just screamed. It's odd picture, especially when her sudden talent for premonition is never explained and no-one really remarks about how incredible it is, but as far as providing a diverting enough B with some good performances, steady suspense scenes and atmosphere it achieves this.
America's secret weapon during World War II--Extrasensory Perception!!!
planktonrules4 July 2009
The film begins with a fight on a bridge, as evil men are attempting to kill someone. However, it all turns out to be a dream by Eileen (Nina Foch). But, if it is just a dream, why is Barry (William Wright) in the dream being attacked and who are the other men? Is this a dream or perhaps a pre-cognition--some psychic situation where Eileen can see the future? It turns out that Barry is an agent for the US government and his job is to coordinate the underground in an assault on the Japanese (the war is still on). His boss (Paul--played by Otto Kruger) briefs him on his mission, but only moments later a Nazi agent sneaks into the home and removes a recording device--and now the enemy knows many of the details of his mission.
Just after Barry is taken prisoner, Eileen is run over by a passing car. While she's not seriously injured, she once again has one of those weird dreams. When she awakens, she goes to see Paul, but he acts as if he has no idea who Barry is or what her concerns are. Of course, considering he's on a secret mission, it's not surprising that he doesn't acknowledge more--plus what stock can you put in a woman's odd dreams or visions.
When Paul won't listen, Eileen rushes to the same bridge where she saw the evil men trying to kill Barry in her first dream. That's because she hopes to rescue him--and that's EXACTLY what happens! So, there is SOMETHING to her crazy dreams--she can see the future! The only negative is that as the men try to kill Barry, he loses a very important package over the side of the bridge that they were trying to toss him over in order to kill him. Oops.
Much of the rest of the film concerns both trying to recover the package as well as stopping the evil Nazi spies. And, to make matters worse, these evil dogs now have captured Eileen, so it's up to the good guys to find her, capture the spies and make the world safe.
Towards the end, Eileen and Barry are captured and locked in a room. The bad guys then open up the gas valve and lock them in to die. The only problem is that they didn't tie Barry up and there was nothing stopping him from just closing the valve! Instead, he comes up with a scheme to get help! A very silly and obvious mistake in the film.
Overall, a silly premise for a film, but considering that it's a cheap B-movie propaganda film, it is still not too bad and pretty watchable today. In fact, the actors tried hard and did decent work but the script was the biggest problem--too many goofy holes or bizarre plot ideas.
Just after Barry is taken prisoner, Eileen is run over by a passing car. While she's not seriously injured, she once again has one of those weird dreams. When she awakens, she goes to see Paul, but he acts as if he has no idea who Barry is or what her concerns are. Of course, considering he's on a secret mission, it's not surprising that he doesn't acknowledge more--plus what stock can you put in a woman's odd dreams or visions.
When Paul won't listen, Eileen rushes to the same bridge where she saw the evil men trying to kill Barry in her first dream. That's because she hopes to rescue him--and that's EXACTLY what happens! So, there is SOMETHING to her crazy dreams--she can see the future! The only negative is that as the men try to kill Barry, he loses a very important package over the side of the bridge that they were trying to toss him over in order to kill him. Oops.
Much of the rest of the film concerns both trying to recover the package as well as stopping the evil Nazi spies. And, to make matters worse, these evil dogs now have captured Eileen, so it's up to the good guys to find her, capture the spies and make the world safe.
Towards the end, Eileen and Barry are captured and locked in a room. The bad guys then open up the gas valve and lock them in to die. The only problem is that they didn't tie Barry up and there was nothing stopping him from just closing the valve! Instead, he comes up with a scheme to get help! A very silly and obvious mistake in the film.
Overall, a silly premise for a film, but considering that it's a cheap B-movie propaganda film, it is still not too bad and pretty watchable today. In fact, the actors tried hard and did decent work but the script was the biggest problem--too many goofy holes or bizarre plot ideas.
Better Than Average WW2 Nazi Spy film - Escape in the Fog
arthur_tafero31 March 2021
Where does the dream end and reality begin? You will have to find that out for yourself. This Columbia B film hits the spot as good clean entertainment. It is, of course, as about as realistic as you winning the lottery, but hey? It could happen. The world's most incompetent spy is given a prime assignment by a relatively incompetent group of supervisors. Inspector Clousseau would have been a better choice. Despite the twists and turns, the story is fun to watch, even though you can probably guess the ending after the first ten miniutes. I loved the setting in Chinatown, and the B actors ham it up real good. Enjoy during a dull weekday night.
20% unusual, 80% routine
gridoon202415 March 2020
The unusual part is the supernatural element (a nightmare comes to life), which gives "Escape In The Fog" an intriguing start; unfortunately, all of this is ignored after the midway point, and the movie ends up being a routine, by-the-numbers WWII spy programmer. ** out of 4.
EARLY BOETTICHER...NINA FOCH IN THE FOG...SNAPPY NORISH WAR-TIME HOOEY
LeonLouisRicci13 August 2021
"On the Job Training" is how Director Budd Bottichier Described His Early Years, Evidenced Here.
In this End of the War Release the Story is Peppered by some Psychology that was Becoming a Key Ingredient in Film-Noir.
It's a Trope that Enhanced with a Cutting-Edge that Help Slice-Off Noir from the "Straight" Stuff from the Hollywood Dream Factory.
Here, it is Dreams as Premonitions that Separate it from the Usual Films-During-War-Time.
Although this was Released almost Simultaneously with the End of WWII,
it makes the Most of the Urgency that Accompanied the "Silence of the Guns".
The Urgency is Symbolized Frequently with Clocks Appearing Everywhere.
Especially the "Grandfather" Clock Playing an Important Role in Espionage.
Nina Foch was one of the "Pretty Faces" that Brought along some Acting Talent, as She Lit Up the Screen.
Nina is a Joy Out-Shining Generic Leading Man William Wright.
He Plays a G-Man that Flashes a Badge Frequently and Goes About Romancing Foch and Side-Stepping the Axis-of-Evil.
Entertaining B-Movie that has Budd Boetticher who Became a Celebrated Cult-Director.
Mostly Because of His Western Work with Randolph Scott.
Along with Anthony Mann Helped Redefine the Western, that Took that Genre to a Higher-Level of Art.
In this End of the War Release the Story is Peppered by some Psychology that was Becoming a Key Ingredient in Film-Noir.
It's a Trope that Enhanced with a Cutting-Edge that Help Slice-Off Noir from the "Straight" Stuff from the Hollywood Dream Factory.
Here, it is Dreams as Premonitions that Separate it from the Usual Films-During-War-Time.
Although this was Released almost Simultaneously with the End of WWII,
it makes the Most of the Urgency that Accompanied the "Silence of the Guns".
The Urgency is Symbolized Frequently with Clocks Appearing Everywhere.
Especially the "Grandfather" Clock Playing an Important Role in Espionage.
Nina Foch was one of the "Pretty Faces" that Brought along some Acting Talent, as She Lit Up the Screen.
Nina is a Joy Out-Shining Generic Leading Man William Wright.
He Plays a G-Man that Flashes a Badge Frequently and Goes About Romancing Foch and Side-Stepping the Axis-of-Evil.
Entertaining B-Movie that has Budd Boetticher who Became a Celebrated Cult-Director.
Mostly Because of His Western Work with Randolph Scott.
Along with Anthony Mann Helped Redefine the Western, that Took that Genre to a Higher-Level of Art.
Even through the fog one can see Nina Foch
robert-temple-19 May 2023
The actress Nina Foch dominates this late wartime noir with her coolness and steady gaze. The film is based upon a young woman (Foch) having a premonition of a future situation enacted on the Golden Gate Bridge at San Francisco, where the story is based. Fantasy and reality are very much mixed in this film, and there is plenty of fog to assist in that. Then Foch meets the very man she saw in the dream. There are Nazi agents around, wishing to intercept an important packet of secret documents which he, as an American agent, must deliver in Hong Kong to the Chinese underground. Will the incident on the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog really come true? How deep will the attraction between Foch and the man go? The situation becomes increasingly tense and complex. The film could have been superb, and it is not. It only runs for 63 minutes, so was always intended for a B picture. But it is a good B picture. And it is in any case worth seeing because Nina Foch is so fascinating to watch, as she was then only 21 years old and a real spellbinder, with a deeply enigmatic persona.
I went to Chinatown
kapelusznik185 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** Foggy movie that has to do with seeing the future as well as a ring of Nazi spies in foggy San Francisco working for the Japanese Empire revolving around a clock shop run by one of them Mr.Schiller, Konstantin Shayne, in the Chinatown district. It's when Eilene Carr,Nina Foch, has this reoccurring nightmare about being trapped on the Golden Gate Bridge while someone is about to be stabbed to death that she's suddenly awakened from her dream by what turns out to be the man about to be murdered super secret US Government Agent Barry Malcolm, William Wright, and a fellow tenant who both brake into her hotel room.
As we soon find out Agent Barry isn't there to see the sights of the city or have a sea food dinner but deliver to his fellow US undercover agents stationed in far off Japanese occupied Hong Kong a list of those, I guess themselves, who are working there so they won't get confused to who's who and not end up accidentally offing themselves. While Barry is about to be sent on his top secret mission he's kidnapped by the Nazi spies lead by master spy Paul Devon,Otto Kruger, from his taxi, driven by actress Shelly Winters,and forced to spill the beans as well as the secret papers, identifying the US Agents in Hong Kong,to them.
This is where we first got in to this strange movie where the dream that Eilene had about Barry being kidnapped and soon to be killed comes to light in-for the second time-the movie! You just don't know what to make of all this is it about the supernatural or just a plain garden verity WWII spy movie with Eilene looking totally confused throughout the entire film. Eevn when she was kidnapped along with Barry-for a second time-after finding the secret memo, that Barry lost or threw away in the fog, by the Nazi spies who planned to murder the both of them by blowing them to bit in a gas explosion at Schiller's clock shop in Chinatown! It was Barry using his noodle-brain-who alerted a number of Chinese in the neighborhood to brake into the clock shop, by flashing with a combination flashlight and magnify glass "Hail Japan", who were anything but pro-Japanese.
***SPOILERS****With now both Devon & Schiller's cover blown and on the run from the police as well as Barry they end up shooting themselves by accident in not being able to recognize each other in the thick pea soup like fog. Released in April 1945 with the wars in both the Pacific and Europe just about to come to an end in a German & Japanese defeat there was really nothing for the then American audience to get excited about since the Nazi spies and their Japanese allies were in no position to do us any harm. What was interesting was Eilene's dream of future events that after it was proved to be accurate and in fact saved Agent Barry's life it was never explained or as far as I know mentioned again in the movie!
As we soon find out Agent Barry isn't there to see the sights of the city or have a sea food dinner but deliver to his fellow US undercover agents stationed in far off Japanese occupied Hong Kong a list of those, I guess themselves, who are working there so they won't get confused to who's who and not end up accidentally offing themselves. While Barry is about to be sent on his top secret mission he's kidnapped by the Nazi spies lead by master spy Paul Devon,Otto Kruger, from his taxi, driven by actress Shelly Winters,and forced to spill the beans as well as the secret papers, identifying the US Agents in Hong Kong,to them.
This is where we first got in to this strange movie where the dream that Eilene had about Barry being kidnapped and soon to be killed comes to light in-for the second time-the movie! You just don't know what to make of all this is it about the supernatural or just a plain garden verity WWII spy movie with Eilene looking totally confused throughout the entire film. Eevn when she was kidnapped along with Barry-for a second time-after finding the secret memo, that Barry lost or threw away in the fog, by the Nazi spies who planned to murder the both of them by blowing them to bit in a gas explosion at Schiller's clock shop in Chinatown! It was Barry using his noodle-brain-who alerted a number of Chinese in the neighborhood to brake into the clock shop, by flashing with a combination flashlight and magnify glass "Hail Japan", who were anything but pro-Japanese.
***SPOILERS****With now both Devon & Schiller's cover blown and on the run from the police as well as Barry they end up shooting themselves by accident in not being able to recognize each other in the thick pea soup like fog. Released in April 1945 with the wars in both the Pacific and Europe just about to come to an end in a German & Japanese defeat there was really nothing for the then American audience to get excited about since the Nazi spies and their Japanese allies were in no position to do us any harm. What was interesting was Eilene's dream of future events that after it was proved to be accurate and in fact saved Agent Barry's life it was never explained or as far as I know mentioned again in the movie!
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