There was a time growing up when this always seemed to be on TV. Its an unpretentious, entirely decent thriller from Nunnally Johnson, which was shot on location in Germany in CinemaScope but probably would have been better off in black and white on a small screen.
It's about what happens when an American soldier is kidnapped in Berlin. His father, wealthy Broderick Crawford, turns up demanding something must be done, but cool Gregory Peck is on the case.
There's some okay twists - it's all about the Russians wanting back an old English couple. At times I wish we'd meet the Russians more but I guess that adds to the spookiness of it. I think the Crawford role is wasted - he starts off great, being a typical rich American, then kind of fades away. Towards the end when he goes "I guess maybe I care about other people as much as my son" it doesn't mean anything because he's got no power to decide. I reckon they should have made this character a woman like Bette Davis or something and she could have had a romantic relationship with Peck. That would have been better than Rita Gam's secretary who just pines for Peck.
Anita Bjork isn't much as the femme fetale - the climax involves Peck punching her unconscious. I did like how Peck tried to trick her into drinking poison by taking it himself only she doesn't take it. That was good.
It does feel cheating somehow that the real baddies are actually Nazis working for the Communists instead of just communists. And maybe it could have done with an extra twist or two - using the soldier's girlfriend as a traitor, say, or the mother of the soldier more.
Still, a solid effort and I think Johnson does a good job as director.
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