Journey into Fear (1942)

Directed by Norman Foster. Starring Joseph Cotten, Dolores del Río, Everett Sloane, Orson Welles, Ruth Warrick, Eustace Wyatt, Agnes Moorehead, Frank Readick, Jack Durant, Jack Moss, Edgar Barrier.

The lede was buried in this RKO cloak-and-dagger thriller when Welles’ efforts as producer, co-scripter, and co-director (the latter merely rumored) all went uncredited, and his name was shoved down to the bottom of the main cast list despite having a critical role within his limited running time. His introduction in The Third Man was instantly iconic, while his introduction here is instantly ridiculous, a Turkish colonel in outlandish garb and makeup striding into a crowded room with the out-of-place appearance but brazen confidence of a glorious drag queen. His appearance confirms suspicions that this is going to be a movie of fits and starts, labored and downright drowsy when inspiration is in short supply, but there’s bound to be something around the corner to startle the viewers out of their stupor. An early example of a sequence preceding the opening credits, a magic show murder, the almost surreal communication between a couple played by Readick and Moorehead, the rainy struggle out on a building ledge, and other moments clear out the cobwebs and compensate for myriad plot holes, some of which may have been created when the film was taken away from Welles in the editing room. Cotten’s narration and performance as an American engineer in Istanbul is quite drab, but the actor never was much known for onscreen vitality.

60/100