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Foreign Intrigue (1956)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
7/26
7/26:
Wow, Sheldon Reynolds made a dramatic showing of his imprint as if he's Douglas Sirk during the opening
credits.
When I saw that, I was like, "Never heard of him." It's because Foreign Intrigue was his first
film and he never directed again until the mid 60's. His résumé is rather scant and filled with nothing
notable.
Robert Mitchum in a neo-noir picture? Yummy. Unfortunately, Foreign Intrigue rarely
delivers although the color is quite nice. It's been a mystery leading to more mystery that leads to
even more mystery, further exasperating me.
Worse, the closer I'm to the bottom of it, the more of a rip-off the tale is of
The Third Man. When Robert Mitchum was in the alley and
confronted with intelligence officials, I was ready for Orson Welles to show up as Harry Lime. The
anticlimactic ending sucks as well. How can Robert Mitchum's character verify anyone who says he is?
All in all, Foreign Intrigue looks like a winner because of Robert Mitchum in color and the
noir theme, but it's pretty much an average loser.