5 Fingers (1952)

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
Danielle Darrieux	...	Countess Anna Staviska
Michael Rennie	...	Colin Travers
Walter Hampden	...	Sir Frederic Taylor
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 | West Germany:12 | Finland:K-11 (new rating: 2001) | Finland:K-12 (new visa: 1966) | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Ankara, Turkey

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

French visa # 12630.

Goofs:

Continuity: Foam in the Countess' beer while she talks with Count von Papen.

Quotes:

Count Franz Von Papen: I've often wondered, Countess - why did you leave Warsaw?
Countess Anna Staviska: Bombs were falling. I felt I was in the way.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Vanités (2004) (V)

James Mason and sadistic Pre-Connery elegant scoundrels

This is one of the best roles of James Mason's career, and it's a long, distinguished one indeed, with more than its share of underrated masterpieces (Michael Powell's "Age of Consent") and overrated mediocrities (Carol Reed's "Odd Man Out) for film fans to dig through. This role is perfect for Mason because no one is better than he at playing elegant scoundrels that you can't help but admire for their craftiness. You root for this spy to double cross everybody all the way even though it might mean the allies losing WWII, etc. And the ending is wonderfully ambiguous and evily hilarious with Mason laughing his head off and not caring that he's personally in a very tight spot but thoroughly amused that the "Contessa" who tried to double-cross him had 'gotten hers.' One of the best written and acted American films of the '50s.