• Very Hitchcockian’- a train-bound thriller with Margaret Lockwood just like Hitch’s 1938 success The Lady Vanishes
  • 7th and final collaboration of Lockwood and Reed- I can’t say I’ve seen or archived any of the others/previous
  • Reed doesn’t just relay on Lockwood and Rex Harrison—he has these gorgeous miniatures throughout- stunning- he starts the film with strong simulated helicopter shot on a miniature and then goes through the window
  • He does it again at the factory in Prague
  • Paul Henreid is good here- he’s a Nazi spy- he’d go on to be cast on the opposite side of the struggle in his most famous role as Victor Laszlo in Casablanca
  • another miniature of a prison
  • brilliant redirect with Heinreid as the spy placed in prison
  • the narrative moves wonderfully— many cities and set pieces—strong adventure
  • Harrison has a presence- he’s disfigured like Cary Grant and charming- confidence and brass—his scenes faking being a Nazi German are strong and then the great Lockwood line at him saying “if a woman ever loved you like you love yourself it should be one of the great romances in history”
  • Ski-lift finale set piece
  • Wonderful shot through the emblem cutout in a door
  • Recommend leaning HR with another viewing