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Thanks for the memories!

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The acting in this movie is really good.

. . . "Ian F." was interviewed "off-the-record" by that ubiquitous Hollywood gadfly of the late 1900s, "Peter Fogbottom," about his second most famous creation--"James Bond"--Mr. F. confessed that "Secret Agent 007" was based upon JOURNEY INTO FEAR's U.S. traveling salesman character "Howard Graham" more than anything else. As Ian told Pete, "Howie isn't afraid to take on a quartet of heavily-armed Nazi thugs when he himself is equipped merely with an umbrella," referring to the JOURNEY INTO FEAR bit just BEFORE Mr. Graham drives the Gestapo staff car through a store front. "Seeing Howie charging the Third Reich assassin on a high-rise window ledge through a drenching rain bearing nothing more than a pocket comb got me to thinking," continued novelist Ian. "If an American could be so brave and foolhardy, surely an Englishman enjoying a large support bureaucracy backing him up with high tech gadgets might be able to pull off some of Graham's daring do stunts, if they were sufficiently down-sized." Of course, as they say, "the rest is hearsay."

....but his signature is all over it. Yes, I know he wrote and produced but I've seen enough of his films to know his trademarks, like the unwitting American who has stumbled into international intrigue with bumbling results (Cotten is perfectly cast here), the ridiculous laughter of the captain and his "boom-booms," and the many quirky supporting players. There's much more Welles going on here than simply the writer and supporting role.Despite the film's short length, it never felt rushed and I was not aware of any missing scenes that many have alluded to. However, we can only hope that one day an expanded edition might be released. This is a very entertaining film even in shortened form.

American ballistics expert Howard Graham is in Istanbul, Turkey. After being recalled home to the USA, he dim-wittingly stumbles hesitantly through an assassination plot from one dilemma to another in ever-decreasing circles while trapped on board a ship travelling to Batumi, a Soviet port. The snare he finds himself in, involving the differing military interests in Turkey, grows tighter by the minute, leaving him bewildered. Orson Welles contribution as Turkish secret police Colonel Haki is quite understated in this film, not allowing his presence to dominate the screen, so instead showcasing the lead actor's talent with the screen being hogged by Joseph Cotten. We follow his character Graham weaving along a dark path of distrust and treachery, that ultimately leads to a fatal confrontation between the competing conspirators in a nighttime, rain-soaked Turkish hotel. Ruth Warrick plays Graham's wife and sultry Dolores Del Rio (at the time of filming, Wells's current partner), a courtesan and traveling companion, are the feminine interests. Eustace Wyatt provides the meat of the Nazi lead villain - Muller, with Jack Moss as the creepy bespectacled assassin Banat. Directed by Norman Foster from an Orson Welles - Joseph Cotten screenplay; Journey Into Fear is anything but that and feels solely as a director-actor combination contrivance for the studio's (possibly contractual) need to provide the release of product. Even one as butchered as this, RKO failed to damage Welles's long term acceptability and credibility, though Welles did enough damage to his career himself. As wartime espionage, the plot though apparently convoluted, is simple and formulaic, with the proceedings plodding, the action minimal, the ending coming sooner than expected and unwelcomed. Contributed in part by harsh editing, to the rushed pace of the final reel. As a film noir, it also fails to grip the viewer due to lack of suspense & tension and little emotional connection with the protagonist. This makes it for me, one of Welles's least successful films - one to forget. Other reviewers have taken time to detail the film's failings in plot, execution and continuity, which most likely was due to the severing of connections between RKO and Welles's Mercury Productions prior to the film's release. I am not bothered and truthfully I have spent far longer in reviewing this than is necessary, but wanted to state why it disappointed me so much. I feel that later viewings may elicit a better psychological & emotional connection with the film, now the plot generally holds no significance. I watched the British released version, without as I have been advised elsewhere, the USA version's opening narration or final letter scene between Haki and Graham. The UK version presented by Talking Pictures TV recently, premiered on Freeview 81; prior to the end credits finished with Graham outside in the torrential rain on the (third-floor?) hotel ledge gripping the wall - when his wife Stephanie, unaware of much of the proceedings, calls to him emphatically to come down immediately as if he is a stupid boy.

JOURNEY INTO FEAR is not as good as it could have been, probably because the studio trimmed some segments. Granted, it was not as much of a butcher job as RKO did on Ambersons, but there are some abrupt transitions and slight continuity problems.The main issue I have with JOURNEY INTO FEAR is that there are too many characters. But even so, we are not given enough of a chance to sympathize with their problems or understand their motives. Mostly it's a big stew of chaos and convoluted plot twists without any clear direction or relatable elements.The film is brimming with atmospheric touches, that is one point in its favor (with an uncredited Welles overseeing the direction). But too much style and too little decipherable substance makes for what is basically a flat movie. In a way, it's a high-brow freak show that only Welles & Company can deliver.