Deep Courier (film)

U.S. Department of State diplomatic courier Mike Kells ( Tyrone Power ) receives an urgent mission to fly to Salzburg to meet another diplomatic courier, his old military comrade Sam Carew, who is from Bucharest , and must pass him a top-secret document along the way. In a neighboring place on the plane with Mike is the rich seductive American Joan Ross ( Patricia Neal ). Upon learning that Mike is late for an important meeting due to the delay in the plane, Joan offers to give him a lift in his car. Having delivered Mike to the hotel, Joan hopes to continue dating.

Mike runs to the train station, where he has scheduled a meeting with Sam. He notices Sam in a roadside cafe, but he pretends not to recognize Mike, leaves the cafe and gets on the train. Mike notices that two people are following Sam. Without hesitating for a long time, he jumps into the composition that has already started to move. In the car, Mike draws attention to the fact that the car next to Sam is occupied by a young blonde ( Hildegard Knef ), who seems to be familiar with him. Seeing Mike in the car, Sam makes Mike aware that they should not make contact. In the dining car, Mike sees confirmation that Sam is relentlessly followed by two men, and the blonde is somehow connected with them. When the train goes through the tunnel, the light goes out throughout the train. Mike gets out of the compartment and sees two in the vestibule strangling, and then throwing Sam out of the train. Mike stops the train, and, together with representatives of the US military administration, goes to inspect the scene. They find Sam’s body, his briefcase and scattered documents, but there’s not one among them that Mike should pick up.

The train continues its journey, and Mike leaves for the closest headquarters of the American military counterintelligence, where he is interrogated with bias by Colonel Cagle ( Stephen McNally ) and Sergeant Gelvada ( Karl Malden ). Having found out that Mike does not have a document, and the only thread connecting Mike with the document is the blonde on the train, Cagle directs Mike in pursuit of the train so that he can track down and identify the mysterious blonde.

Mike gets to the city of Trieste , which at that time had the status of a free territory and was divided into zones controlled by various countries. Mike discovers in his pocket a photograph of a blonde with the hotel name written on the back. He settles in this hotel and goes to the bar, where he meets Joan. She tells him that she travels around Europe in search of entertainment. Meanwhile, a wristwatch dealer approaches Mike, in one of which Mike recognizes Sam’s watch by engraving, he also receives an address from the dealer. Mike leaves the bar and at that moment a car hits him. Mike manages to dodge, but the car knocks the merchant to death.

Mike picks up the watch and goes to the received address, where he discovers the same blonde. Contrary to Mike's expectation, she is glad to see him. She introduces herself as Janine Betka, and tells him that she did not follow Sam, but loved him. Further, Janine reports that at the beginning of the war she was recruited by Soviet intelligence, but then became close to Sam and became a double agent, secretly supplying information to the Americans. For this, Sam took her with him to take to America. However, the American counterintelligence does not confirm that Janine worked for the Americans, and they continue to suspect her of stealing the document. At the same time, Janine is under suspicion by the Russian intelligence chief, who is also hunting for a document. He demands that Janine immediately extradite him. She promises to transfer the document to both parties, mutually demanding guarantees of personal security.

Mike realizes that Sam hid the microfilm on which the document was photographed in his wrist watch, and sent for him to the watchmaker, to whom Janine handed them over to fix it. Meanwhile, Joan is seeking a meeting with Mike, claiming that a sniper tried to kill her. Then she tells Mike that she understood what he is doing for a long time, and begins to persuade him to give her the secret document. When he refuses, Joan threatens him with a weapon, but Sergeant Gelvada, who appeared on time, neutralizes her. Then Mike hands over the microfilm to Cagle, which confirms that this is indeed the very material containing the plan for the capture of Yugoslavia by the Soviet troops.

Russian agents, meanwhile, are searching Janin and Mike’s clothes, but they find nothing. Soon, they hunt down Mike and kidnap him. After searching and beating him, they throw the wounded Mike into the sea near the port, but local fishermen notice and save him. Janine deceives the Russian intelligence chief, saying that she hid the document in another city, and leaves with him on the train. Cagle tells Mike that the operation is over and orders him to return to Washington and return to his business. However, Mike considers it his duty to save Janine, and Cagle agrees to help him. Mike catches up with the train and finds a compartment where the Russians are holding the girl. In the fight against the armed chief of the Russian intelligence, Mike defeats him, and at the last moment jumps out with Janine from the outgoing train. Their work is finished, and Mike tells Janine that he finally saw a girl in her ...

• Tyrone Power - Mike Kells
• Patricia Neal - Joan Ross
• Hildegard Knef - Jeannine Betki
• Stephen McNally - Colonel Mark Cagle
• Carl Malden - Sergeant Ernie Gelvada
• Dubbs Greer - clerk at the Intelligence Agency (uncredited)
• Tom Powers - Czerny (uncredited)

Henry Hathaway is known for his "semi-documentary thrillers , narrated in the style of" real life "and using many actual events and details" ^[5] . Hathaway , “who had just successfully shot Tyrone Power in the adventure action Black Rose (1950), had by then achieved notable achievements with criticism and at the box office with semi-documentary thrillers House on 92nd Street (1945), Madeleine Street, 13 "(1947)," Kiss of Death "(1947) and" Call Northside 777 "(1948). The influence of these films on the Diplomatic Courier is noticeable, especially in the initial scenes in the State Department , where the process of receiving and decrypting messages is emphasized by realistic interiors and a demonstration of technical means ” ^[1] .

Known primarily as a hero of adventure and romantic films, Tyrone Power has played in several artistically significant films, among them the drama “ On the Edge of the Blade ” (1946) based on the novel by Somerset Maugham , the film noir “ Alley of Nightmares ” (1947) and the judicial drama by Agatha Christie, “The Witness of the Prosecution ” (1957) ^[6] . An actress of German origin, Hildegard Knef, became famous for a series of roles in post-war dramas, including “ Assassins Among Us ” (1946), “ Decision Before Dawn ” (1951) and “The Man in the Middle ” (1953) ^[7] . Patricia Neal starred in such significant films as the science fiction drama The Day the Earth Stopped (1951), the film Noir Tipping Point (1950), the social drama Face in the Crowd (1957) and the romance drama Breakfast at Tiffany’s "(1961) ^[8] .

Criticism praised the film as a whole positively, albeit with well-known reservations. Variety magazine called the picture “a first-class espionage story” ^[9] , and “ TimeOut ” - “an elegant, intense espionage thriller” ^[10] . According to Tana Hobart, “this is an unexpectedly fascinating espionage film ... with unexpected twists, plot surprises, with agents and double agents, false information and the like” ^[4] . Craig Butler notes that “despite his strengths, the Courier seems a little unfocused, the impression is that Hathaway did not know what to do with the material” ^[5] , summing up his opinion with the words: “For those who are not afraid of an unconvincing plot and the strangeness of the characters, Courier will be quite funny ” ^[5] . On the other hand, Bosley Crowther in The New York Times concluded that "the picture is nothing more than average appeal ^[2] , and Andrew Wycliff evaluated the film even more negatively, writing that it would be a" non-hazardous waste of time if not a weak ending ” ^[3] .

Most critics note the combination of a semi-documentary style in the film, which director Henry Hathaway successfully developed at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s, with the thriller genre, as well as strong camera work. So, “ TimeOut ” wrote that “the film was beautifully shot by Lucien Ballard as an international version of the semi-documentary style that Hathaway developed on the films“ House on 92nd Street ”,“ Madeleine Street 13 ”and“ Call Northside 777 ” ^[10] . Craig Butler points out that the film “contains all the elements of a good espionage thriller - probably even too many of them — and is distinguished by Lucien Ballard’s juicy camera work” ^[5] , continuing that “Deep Courier” “begins in a semi-documentary genre, but departs from this style almost at the very beginning that makes him not edovatelnym " ^[5] . Crowther said that" the film contains all the familiar ingredients continental Spyware detective - Secrets of the State Department , the European train, murderers, robbers, Soviet agents, beautiful and unpredictable lady, military police, the sound of harps and naturally driven into the angle is a man. ” ^[2] .“ TimeOut ”emphasizes that“ the plot taken from Peter Cheney’s novel (The Evil Mission ”) is reduced mainly to a rapidly developing action, mainly in Trieste ” ^[10] .

Paul Mavis characterizes the film with the words: “With a certain semi-documentary foundation and European atmosphere, ...“ Dipkuryer ”is a classic post-Hitchcock , pre-Bond thriller, it is quite pleasant compared to today's insanely exaggerated, furious spy intrigues” ^[1] , continuing, that "" Diplomatic Courier "brings nice perceptible Hitchcockian spirit and plot points, such as a meaningless MacGuffin (the thing for which all perish), cold, mysterious blonde who is ready to play on both sides for the sake of sobst ennogo rescue and intrigue the train " ^[1] . Wycliffe believes that the “Deep Courier” begins much stronger than it ends. For about half of the film, this is a post-war variation of Hitchcock’s works of the 1930s, where inexplicable, strange events that the hero tries to unravel take place ^[3] , but then, according to him, “the film changes its transmission, turning into a Hollywood attempt to make the Third of man . " He is successful in the first part and looks pathetic - in the second ” ^[3] . “ TimeOut ” draws attention to one more circumstance: “The simplification of the (era) of the Cold War rules here, as it always was in the (films) of the early 1950s” ^[10] .

Many experts note that the scenario is probably the weakest side of the picture. Crowther bluntly writes, “that the problem is the script. Casey Robinson and Liam O'Brien, who wrote the screenplay for the novel by Peter Cheney, put together an impressive array of melodramatic episodes such as the mysterious murder in a train, group attacks in Trieste , double play and, of course, the climax “pursuit race” ^[2] . However, according to Crowther, they were not able to create a “clear story with suspense,” and Mr. Hathaway was unable to put it like that ”in order to rise above the general level of other similar paintings ^[2] . Crowther is also embarrassed by the role that the authors of the film assigned to the ordinary diplomatic courier , and those matters to which he has nothing to do. And in these situations, he acts like a pretty dumb fool. ” The same can be said of “other powerful aspects in this fantastic cat and mouse game” ^[2] . Butler believes that “the script is neatly tailored and offers many exciting moments, although it is a bit banal and mechanistic, and the director did not find a way to hide these shortcomings” ^[5] . And according to Hobart, although “there are a lot of holes in the plot, they are hidden by a good acting and dense directorial work” ^[4] . Summing up the plot of the film, Crowther concludes that “you can’t even say that an important secret has been found and passed on to anyone, but long before that interest and patience (of the viewer) have already been torn to shreds” ^[2] .

Critics generally praised the acting. Butler writes that “the cast is pretty good ... Tyrone Power is in very good shape, and Hildegard Knef is captivating. Karl Molden’s energetic play is perhaps a little excessive, but it’s also interesting to see him play in such a manner ... but the very talented Patricia Neal is a little out of place - but not to the extent destructive for the film ” ^[5] . According to Wycliffe, the hero of Power is “much more interesting” when it is noticeable that (espionage) work is too much for him. But “in the end, he turns into a standard heroic protagonist and the film becomes much less interesting” ^[3] . He also believes that “ Patricia Neal is good, but her material fails” ^[3] . However, “part of the problem (the film) lies in Hildegard Knef , ... whose game, along with the infinity of the last thirty minutes, is overturned by Deepcrier ^[3] . One of the Russian agents who kill Sam is played by Charles Buchinsky, later known as Charles Bronson , another known in future actor Lee Marvin also plays a small role as a commandant’s officer ^[4] .

• Diplomatic Courier at Movie Review Query Engine