Journey into Fear
                    
Director: Norman Foster  - Orson Welles (uncredited)
Year:  1943
Rating: 7.0
For much of the film, it is a faithful rendering of the Eric Ambler novel of the same name. Ambler was the premier espionage writer of the 1930's and 40's and a few of his books were made into films. Journey Into Fear is a terrific fast moving read and like many of his books it throws an innocent into a perilous situation that is in many ways beyond his capabilities - but he finds a way. In the book it is an Englishman, but this being Hollywood the nationality is switched to an American and possibly from that small change my only issues with the film emanate. Joseph Cotton plays an American munitions maker who is dealing with Turkey and Nazi agents want him dead. Turkish Inspector Haki puts him on a boat for his safety to leave Istanbul - or so he thinks. It is a small freighter full of eccentric travelers - one being Josette played by Mexican star Dolores Del Rio - others though are intent on killing Cotton. Cotton being an American swaggers, yells and annoys his way through the script to the point you sort of root for the Nazis to shut him up. Only in the finale does the book go off into ludicrous Hollywood territory.



The film is actually from a film geek perspective of more interest simply for its background. Orson Welles had been hired by RKO to make a few films for them - his debut Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons being classics - but Welles's relations with RKO went downhill quite quickly with the unrecognized genius of Citizen Kane and its poor box office due to showing it in so few theaters and with RKO re-editing The Magnificent Ambersons. Welles was contracted for three films though and so adapted Ambler's book keeping much of its mood and plot and some dialogue if I remember correctly.



He uses many of his Mercury Players in the film. The Mercury Players had made a number of well-received plays and then produced the radio show The War of the Worlds in 1938 that became legendary as many in the audience actually thought the world was being invaded by aliens. This success led to the invitation from RKO who were in financial trouble and looking for some magic. Welles wrote the script and the quick overlapping dialogue is clearly his style - he also appears in it as Haki and though Norman Foster is credited with directing the film there is much evidence that Welles had a strong hand in doing so as well. Foster was part of the Mercury Players as were others in the film - Cotton, Agnes Morehead and Everett Sloane.