Irregularly gifted director Thorold Dickinson, at his best in LOYALTIES/’33, GASLIGHT (aka ANGEL STREET)/’40 and QUEEN OF SPADES/’49, here working his own original story, can’t quite pull off this political thriller set during the run up to WWII. Sisters Valentina Cortese & a pre-ROMAN HOLIDAY Audrey Hepburn are displaced persons in London, living with a surrogate uncle after their father was murdered by Fascists back in an unnamed homeland. Reconnecting with friends from the old country, they’re unaware the men are now part of the Communist underground resistance and plotting political assassination. Missing all signs of trouble, the sisters end up tangentially involved in a bombing conspiracy gone wrong. It’s a tense, clever setup, and Dickinson proves a wiz at developing and clearly organizing stakeouts, ambushes, chases and the tight-cornered logistics of a house search, only to fall down on characterizations and relationships. The main problem stems from a kindly Uncle (Charles Goldner) whose Mittel-Europa shtick is strictly touring company and, unexpectedly, from Valentina Cortese, normally a fine screen presence, here unable to gauge her effects. Happy, depressed, confused?; hard to differentiate. (Famously hailed by Ingrid Bergman as the woman who should have won her Supporting Actress Oscar® in ‘75 for Truffaut’s DAY FOR NIGHT, she might be auditioning for that role here.) On the other hand, Serge Reggiani, as her ambivalent long-lost boyfriend, is very effective*, even when Dickinson leans on easy coincidences to keep the suspense up. And what a treat to see the young Irene Worth in a small but pivotal role as a British agent working with Cortese. If only the ending didn’t feel manipulated to please the censors by providing proper punishment for the crime, it’d be easier to celebrate what does work rather than note what doesn’t.
DOUBLE-BILL: *1952 was a good year for Serge Reggiani with CASQUE D’OR against Simone Signoret, dir. Jacques Becker, his next.
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