JOURNEY INTO FEAR: Nearly 100% Cotten

JOURNEY INTO FEAR (Blu-ray)

1943 / 68 min

FROM WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Paws😺

In the shadow of Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons, Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater cohorts cranked out Journey Into Fear, a comparatively quick and economical spy thriller starring good buddy Joseph Cotten. 

Though Cotton is solely credited with writing the screenplay (based on Eric Ambler’s novel), it was actually a collaboration with Welles, who also produced and is featured in a small but amusing supporting role as Colonel Haki, head of the Turkish police. But despite Welles’ involvement on both sides of the camera, it’s ultimately Cotten who makes the movie engaging. 

He plays Howard Graham, an American arms engineer doing business in Istanbul with wife Stephanie (Ruth Warrick) in-tow. After a failed attempt on his life by a mysterious assassin, Colonel Haki explains Howard’s been targeted by a Nazi named Muller (Eustace Wyatt), who ordered the hit to delay Howard’s efforts to rearm Turkey’s navy. The colonel then puts him on-board a steamer ship bound for Batumi (where he and Stephanie were originally scheduled to reach by train).

Howard discovers the Special Of The Day ain't so special.

A majority of the story takes place on the ship, which is a run-down hulk carrying livestock and a variety of other disgruntled passengers. Much of the middle act introduces these characters, including tobacco salesman Kuvetli (Edgar Barrier), exotic dancer Josette (Delores del Rio), the bickering Matthews couple (featuring a wonderfully obnoxious Anges Moorehead) and Professor Haller. However, also on-board is Banat, the assassin who tried to kill him in the first place, and maybe even Muller himself.

Journey Into Fear begins with a masterful pre-title sequence that not-only introduces Banat, it sort-of reminds me of Welles’ legendary single-shot opening to 1958’s Touch of Evil. The basic story is interesting, anchored by Cotten’s great performance. He convincingly conveys an everyman totally out of his element. The momentum (and interest level) wanes a bit during some of the ship scenes, some of which seem designed to pad-out an already brief running time. However, once all the characters are established - and their intentions revealed - the film culminates in an exciting climax.

While no masterpiece, Journey Into Fear is an enjoyable, efficient little spy flick with a few nifty twists. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

3 ORSON WELLES MERCURY THEATER RADIO BROADCASTS - Dracula, Treasure Island and A Tale of Two Cities.

THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (4K): Welles Knows Something About Wickedness

THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (4K UHD)

1948 / 87 min

FROM SONY

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Paws

If Citizen Kane is his greatest, Touch of Evil his grittiest, The Stranger his most underrated and The Trial his most experimental, then The Lady from Shanghai might be the Orson Welles at his most playful. Not that the film is a light-hearted barrel of laughs, but the director seems to be having a good time on both sides of the camera. Juggling film noir, mystery, romance, courtroom drama and occasional surrealism, Welles creates a compelling concoction that’s sometimes narratively messy, but thoroughly enjoyable. 

Not bad for a guy who only agreed to star and direct the film in exchange for financial help to save a doomed stage production he was working on. In fact, the story behind The Lady from Shanghai is nearly as interesting as the movie itself, which is discussed in bonus features by Peter Bogdanovich, who has not only written about Welles, he knew the man personally.

The movie itself is a twist-laden thriller with a tough, cynical protagonist, a fetching femme fatale and a couple of despicable bad guys. Welles himself plays Michael O’Hara, an Irish seaman who meets Elsa Bannister (Rita Hayworth) and becomes immediately smitten by her. She offers him a job onboard her private yacht, but when learning she’s married, he angrily declines. Elsa’s husband, wealthy-but-ailing defense attorney Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane), later convinces him to join the boat crew for a lengthy cruise. 

Michael has a dark past, having once killed a man, which is exploited by Arthur’s lecherous partner, George Grisby (Glenn Anders). Grisby offers Michael $5000 to “murder” him, which is to help Grisby fake his own death while Michael hands the police a written confession. Grisby assures him that, with no body, there will be no conviction. Concurrently during the cruise, Arthur’s cruelty towards his young wife infuriates Michael, who eventually accepts Grisby’s offer and use the payoff for he and Elsa to escape from under Arthur's thumb.

"I ain't cleaning this up."

Anyone even remotely familiar with film noir already knows Michael’s being set up. But when Grisby is actually murdered by a yet-unknown killer, Michael is caught by police, confession in-hand. And during what might be the weirdest trial in movie history, Arthur Bannister himself handles his defense. But the plot twists don’t end there. The final act holds plenty of surprises, as well as some bravura imagery and camerawork during the iconic climax, set inside a funhouse’s hall of mirrors. 

The narrative occasionally suffers from plot contrivances and a bit of sloppy writing (by Welles’ standards anyway), resulting in a film that sometimes tries to do too many things at once. But overall, the story is very compelling and comes to a satisfying conclusion. Elsewhere, the performances are generally really good. Welles manages to instill Michael with equal measures of toughness and vulnerability, while Hayworth makes a worthy temptress even without her legendary red locks. But the true scene stealers are Sloane and Anders, both of whom waste little time turning the audience against them (in the best possible way).

Though somewhat maligned when first released, The Lady from Shanghai has since become a film noir classic and it’s easy to see why. It may not be Orson Welles’ greatest film, but it might be his most purely entertaining one. The film has been given an excellent 4K UHD facelift, along with a few enjoyable and revealing bonus features. The overall picture and sound is a significant improvement over any previous Blu-ray or DVD version.

EXTRA KIBBLES

A CONVERSATION WITH PETER BOGDANOVICH - The late director discusses Welles, the movie and his admiration of both.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By Peter Bogdanovich.

TRAILER

DIGITAL COPY