5 Fingers (1952)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writers:

L.C. Moyzisch (book)
Michael Wilson (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 February 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

5 FINGERS...BEHIND THEM THE FABULOUS TRUE EXPLOITS OF THE HIGHEST PAID SPY IN HISTORY! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

Based on a true story. In neutral Turkey during WWII, the ambitious and extremely efficient valet for...

Plot Keywords:

Countess | Nazi | WWII | Valet | Ambassador

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

James Mason	...	Ulysses Diello (Code Name: Cicero)
Danielle Darrieux	...	Countess Anna Staviska
Michael Rennie	...	Colin Travers
Walter Hampden	...	Sir Frederic
Oskar Karlweis	...	L. C. Moyzisch
Herbert Berghof	...	Col. von Richter
John Wengraf	...	Count Franz Von Papen
Ben Astar	...	Siebert (as A. Ben Astar)
Roger Plowden	...	Keith Macfadden

Also Known As:

Five Fingers

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Portuguese | Turkish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Ankara, Turkey

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The real Cicero was Elyesa Bazna, an Albanian. In his book, "I Was Cicero" he retells the story, listing his collaborators as a chambermaid and his niece. The character of the countess was a Hollywood fabrication.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When the Britsh ambassador's valet Diello (Brit James Mason) suggests that his new German spymaster change the combination on the latter's safe, he gives the existing combination 1-30-33 as based on the date of Hitler's rise to power, suggesting instead 6-18-15, the date of the Battle of Waterloo. One would expect an employee of the Britsh Embassy (particularly one born in the UK) to have used "European" notation (date/month/year) instead of US notation (month/day/year), particularly when speaking with a German.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Vanités (2004) (V)

Excellent all around

This film is far from forgotten. Fans of James Mason and director Joseph L. Mankiewicz know it well. It's one of the most intelligent spy thrillers ever thanks to an Oscar-winning screenplay by Michael Wilson ("Bridge on the River Kwai," "Lawrence of Arabia," and the original "Planet of the Apes"). It also has a score by Bernard Herrmann. What else do you need? Other comments here have told what the plot is, so all I'll say is I envy you if haven't seen it yet and plan to. It's gripping and enjoyable all the way, and wonderfully ironic.