Confidential Agent (1945)

Director:

Herman Shumlin

Writers:

Robert Buckner (writer)
Graham Greene (novel)

Release Date:

10 November 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

During the Spanish Civil War, a republican courier travels to England to try and buy coal. He meets with an amount of local hostility...

Plot Keywords:

Coal | Fascist | Spanish Civil War | Road House | International Intrigue

Cast

Charles Boyer	...	Luis Denard
Lauren Bacall	...	Rose Cullen
Victor Francen	...	Licata
Wanda Hendrix	...	Else
George Coulouris	...	Captain Currie
Peter Lorre	...	Contreras
Katina Paxinou	...	Mrs. Melandez
John Warburton	...	Neil Forbes
Holmes Herbert	...	Lord Benditch
Dan Seymour	...	Mr. Muckerji
Art Foster	...	Chauffeur
Miles Mander	...	Mr. Brigstock
Lawrence Grant	...	Lord Fetting
Ian Wolfe	...	Dr. Bellows
George Zucco	...	Detective Geddes

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #11067) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Franz Waxman reused his title music for this movie in Dark Passage (1947).

Quotes:

Luis Denard: I've been beaten, robbed, suckered, betrayed - I've failed my mission - I've had enough. But that child was murdered, and for this someone is going to pay.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hold Your Breath and Cross Your Fingers: The Story of 'Dark Passage' (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Love Is the Sweetest Thing

Murky but atmospheric...Boyer and Bacall not quite credible...

Hollywood always has trouble translating the works of writers like Graham Greene and Ernest Hemingway to the screen. Something always gets lost in the transition--and in this case, that's not good because the plot is murky enough without losing some of the novel's detailed explanation of what's really going on.

LAUREN BACALL, poised and mature beyond her years as she was in all of her early Hollywood roles, is a bit miscast here as a British girl and seems to know it. Her performance is less credible than most of her chores opposite Bogart. On the other hand, CHARLES BOYER is impressive as a man on a mission who is eventually betrayed. As in all such spy thrillers, this one has a plot line that is better left undisclosed, but suffice it to say that there is plenty to ponder as you watch the story unfold, and some interesting work by a large supporting cast. Set at the time of the Spanish Civil War, it has plenty of plot to follow.

Wanda Hendrix has a nice bit as a Cockney lass and Katina Paxinou delivers the goods in a malicious role. Too bad the chemistry between Boyer and Bacall is not quite on par with the kind she had with Bogart because their romance never seems quite credible. Neverthelss, she does not deserve the panning her performance received when the film was first released on the heels of two successful films with Bogart.

A bit dull in the stretches, but atmospheric and worth watching as an interesting example of Warner Bros. noir, the sort of cloak and dagger atmosphere needed to give the story some punch.