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Hidden Fear
A U.S. lawman busts Copenhagen counterfeiters to help his sister, falsely accused of murder.
Release : | 1957 |
Rating : | 5.5 |
Studio : | St. Aubrey-Kohn, |
Crew : | Art Direction, Camera Operator, |
Cast : | John Payne Alexander Knox Conrad Nagel Natalie Norwick Anne Neyland |
Genre : | Drama Action Thriller Crime |
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Must See Movie...
Good concept, poorly executed.
It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
Filmed in Copenhagen, "Hidden Fear" is a 1957 film starring John Payne, Conrad Nagel, and Alexander Knox. It was directed by Andre de Toth, who had seen better days.Payne loved playing tough guys and did a few of this type of film. This was his last before going into television work.He plays Mike Brent, who comes to Copenhagen because his sister is in prison for murdering her boyfriend Tony Martinelli. She swears she didn't do it.In trying to find the killer, Mike stumbles across a counterfeit currency ring. I was a little confused as to where this money ended up. I also don't actually know who killed Martinelli. We do know they were looking for something as Mike's hotel room and Martinelli's apartment were both trashed.There was a lot of punching and knocking people over the head - I'm surprised no one wound up with brain damage.It's sad in a way to see people in this who were former stars in other eras - Nagel way back in the '20s and early '30s, Payne, of course, and Knox who wasn't a huge star but played leads in films. I suppose back then it was a natural progression, particularly in the case of Knox and Nagel, to turn to character roles. Nowadays it seems as though male stars stay on top longer.Really didn't care for it and there's some poetry or some sort of recitation at the end that seemed out of place.
John Payne plays a rough and tough American detective in Andre de Toth's atmospheric thriller "Hidden Fear" who struggles to clear his sister of murder in Denmark with the help of the Danish authorities. No matter what you think about this gritty crime melodrama about counterfeiters, this black & white epic doesn't wear out its welcome with its trim 80-minute length. Moreover, de Toth keeps things going at such a breakneck pace that you wonder if they weren't consistently several days behind schedule. Speaking about its concise running time, "Hidden Fear" moves along at such a rapid clip that you may have trouble keeping up with it. Despite the scenic Copenhagen locales, this movie makes a point of showing off a Mercedes sedan that features wing-tip doors as well as actress Ann Neyland's abundant cleavage. Alexander Knox is on hand as the mastermind behind the counterfeiting scheme and he has no qualms about double-crossing his own partners if it will enable him to escape from the clutches of justice. Payne wears the same suit and tie through and swaps blows with a variety of Danes. Unfortunately, all the characters are strictly one-dimensional. Everything about this modest melodrama reeks of professionalism, but the whole package lacks the ingenuity of Payne's best crime thrillers "The Crooked Way" and "Kansas City Confidential."
Before deciding that television was a good career move and leaving feature films, John Payne did this last one Hidden Fear for which he got a trip to Copenhagen. I've heard of worse reasons for a movie and worse films that came from them. Hidden Fear will never be ranked in his top 10 nor of the top ten of Andre DeToth the director.Payne plays a homicide cop who's in Copenhagen because his sister Natalie Norwick's got herself in a nice jackpot with the Danish police. She's accused of murdering her boyfriend who was a dancer/musician and something of a lowlife. Payne starts running his own investigation and it turns out that the boyfriend was trying to horn in on a counterfeiting scheme that Alexander Knox and Conrad Nagel are running.Truth be told Payne's truculent attitude probably cut a few corners, but the Danish cops probably were well on the way toward learning the truth. For that reason I can't really rate this noir film very high. In fact it could have gotten another notch in the ratings had we some color cinematography of Copenhagen and the Danish countryside.These kind of films were disappearing and Payne probably made a right choice when he left feature films.
I haver never seen an American film noir shot in Danemark before. That's really the first time.The story itself offers no great surprises. Payne plays an American cop who tries to clear his sister of a murder charge. He has to fight against counterfeiters. I must admit that we have already seen this before, a thousand times. Especially Payne who is as hard boiled as ever.But it's a tough thriller, no boring at all with, at the end, a good chase through the country side around Copenhagen.A rare Andre de Toth movie that deserves to be discovered.