17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Clever Addendum To Orson Welles' Career, October 25, 2001
Although credited to Norman Foster, and co-written by Joseph Cotton, Welles infact "supervised" (i.e. controlled) most of this production. What we get is a tight and very compact (barely over an hour in length) thriller.
Joseph Cotton plays an Engineer who someone is trying to assasinate. Trapped on a steamship crosing the black sea, he avoids attempts on his life (several of them by Welle's real life business manager, Jack Moss).
Think of "Journey..." as a practice run for "Touch Of Evil" and "The Third Man" (I know he didn't direct it but you'll see the similarities). The humour is broader, the dialogue not quite as sophisticated, but it is still Welles at work. While not a major work of Art, it is still a masterpiece of craft.
The Camera-work, as usual, is brilliant -- partucularly the interiors of the steam-ship. Welle's always worked his cameramen hard, forcing them to new heights; lighting rooms "without light", and building sets with ceilings (not a popular practice in the forties). It pays off -- the clautrophobia on board the ship is extreme, and Cotton is excellent as it's primary sufferer. Naturally the camera angles have Welles' innovative stamp all over them.
If you're a Welles fan, "Journey Into Fear" is an absolute must see; a nice precurser (thematically, chronologically, and cinematically) to "The Stranger".
And if you're not a Welle's fan, then you should give your corneas to someone more deserving.
PS:
Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any plan for releasing this lost gem on DVD any time soon. A shame, since "Journey Into Fear" (with it's short running time) would make an excellent double bill DVD with another Welles film (The Stranger, for example).
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Shortened Journey Disappoints, May 6, 2010
Orson Welles created some of the very best theatre, radio, and films in history, and is credited by almost everyone for making the #1 film of all time - "Citizen Kane" ( 1941). But somewhere along the line, early on, he started having problems with producers and studios, left projects unfinished, went over budget, and a whole host of problems that ultimately resulted in fewer and fewer films of lesser and lesser quality. By 1943, when this film was made, Welles was already in trouble and exhibiting many of the problems that would unhinge his career. Though his brilliance would always shine through even the shabbiest of projects he undertook, it became harder and harder to find. "Journey into Fear" is an example of this.
Several members of Welles' stock company appear in the film, including Joseph Cotton, Agnes Morehead, Everett Sloan,
Cotton was a close friend of Welles and appeared in "Citizen Kane" (1941), "Journey into Fear" (1943), "The Third Man" (1949) and "Touch of Evil (1958). He went on to star in such memorable films as "Gaslight" (1944), "Duel in the Sun" (1946) and "Portrait of Jennie" (1948), for which he won the Best Actor award at the Venice Film festival. Cotton does a great job as the munitions representative caught up in something he doesn't understand. His final remarks made sense for the 1940 novel from which it was taken, but for the 1943 film they seem strange.
Agnes Morehead earned 4 Academy Award nominations as Best Supporting Actress ("Magnificent Ambersons", "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte", "Johnny Belinda", "Mrs Parkington"), along with 6 Emmy nominations for her role in "Bewitched" and a win for a role in "Wild Wild West" (1965). She won two Golden Globes. She appeared with Welles in her film debut in "Citizen Kane" (1941), and then in "The Magnificent Ambersons" (1942), and "Jane Eyre" (1944). Morehead's accent in this film is disturbing. It isn't necessary, and the one she produces is really poor. Only Welles' accent in "Lady from Shanghai" is worse. In any event, Morehead isn't in the film long enough to make much of a difference.
Everett Sloane appeared in more than 100 films and TV programs and was part of the Orson Welles stock company. In fact his film debut was in "Citizen Kane" (1941) as Mr. Bernstein and he appeared in this film and "Lady from Shanghai" (1948). He transitioned to TV in the early 50s and was nominated for an Emmy in 1956 for his role in the "Kraft Television Theatre". Sloane is over the top in this film, as he was in all his Welles' films. But Sloan was able to be over the top and still turn in a great performance, as he did elsewhere and as he does here.
Richard Bennett was well known in the silent era. He played Major Amberson in Welles' "The Magnificent Ambersons" (1942) and "Journey" was his last film. He died in 1944 at the age of 74. Bennett has a brief but memorable role as the laughing Captain.
Ruth Warrick made her film debut in "Citizen Kane" (1941) as Kane's first wife. She went on to make more than a dozen films (although "Journey" was her last film with Welles) and then transitioned to TV where she had recurring roles in "All My Children" (1999 - 2005) as Phoebe and "Peyton Place" (1967-9) as Hannah Cord. She was nominated for an Emmy several times, but never won.
Dolores del Rio was a famous Mexican movie star who also made a mark in the U.S. Between 1946 and 1954 she won the Mexican Silver Ariel 3 times and was nominated twice more. She started in the silent era in 1925, and began a romance with Welles in 1940 when he moved to Hollywood to begin his film career. She does a good job in this film, making us wonder what exactly her agenda is.
The marvelous Hans Conried appears as a Magician (Welles himself was quite an accomplished Magician). He appeared in more than 200 films and TV shows. We know him best for his recurring roles as Uncle Tonoose in "Make Room for Daddy" (1956-63) and as the voice of Snidely Whiplash in the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons.
The villain of the piece is fat Jack Moss. He seems an unlikely villain as he listens to opera and worries about his appearance. But when he crushes a cracker in front of Cotton as they have dinner aboard the ship, and then devourers the soup, we know that Moss is up to the task. Moss was not an actor but a business associate of Welles and other actors.
The film is directed by Norman Foster, but Welles was also involved, although he was in a hurry to finish up and go to Brazil where he worked on the ill-fated "It's All True". In addition, he was trying to put the finishing touches on "The Magnificent Ambersons" which he never did. Rumor has it that he was responsible for the first few minutes of the film, which are certainly interesting, and which, for the first time, offer action before the credits.
Foster was a friend of Welles, a sometimes actor, and director of more than 50 films including several Charlie Chan and several Mr. Moto films in the 30s. He transitioned to TV in the 50s where he was active in various Disney projects (Davy Crockett, Zorro, Hans Brinker)
Welles is generally credited as producer, although the film was released by RKO to fulfill his 4 film contract. The screenplay is credited to Joseph Cotton but he was assisted by Welles and Ben Hecht. The prodigious Hecht worked on more than 150 screenplays, was nominated 7 times, and won twice ("Underworld" in 1927 and "The Scoundrel" in 1935). Other notable films he worked on include "Scarface" (1932), "Front Page" (1934), "Stagecoach" (1939), "Gunga Din" (1939) and "Notorious" (1946). Hecht was known as "The Shakespeare of the movies" and rightly so.
The film was made in 1942 (based on a 1940 novel) when war time films were being churned out by the dozens - "Casablanca", "In Which we Serve", "To Be or Not to Be", "Watch on the Rhine", "Lifeboat", "Forever and a Day", "Since You Went Away", "Hail the Conquering Hero", etc. When they weren't specifically addressed to WW 2, they served a patriotic purpose, such as "Yankee Doodle Dandy", "The Pride of the Yankees", and "Meet me in St Louis." In this context, "Journey into Fear" doesn't make a lot of sense, because its treatment of the war is tangential. Of course, Welles argued that the final film had little to do with his script and the editing by RKO changed it considerably. All things considered, this is probably true. During the editing of the film, Welles was fired by RKO.
The film is often identified as "film noir" but this is a mistake. While there are some noir elements (e.g., low lighting, unusual film angles, intricate plot, questions of betrayal, presence of rain and night shots) present, we are lacking the doomed hero and the femme fatale, both of which are essential to film noir.
Welles was interested in betrayal, especially male betrayal. We see this is "Citizen Kane" (Kane vs. Leland), in "Macbeth" (Macbeth vs. MacDuff), "Othello" (Iago vs. Othello), "Touch of Evil" (Quinlan vs. Menzies),"Lady from Shanghai" (O'Hara vs. Bannister vs. Grisby), etc. Superimposed on this is a homoerotic element that is often subtle, but nonetheless present. Some suggest it can be seen in this film too.
The acting is OK. Certainly the main actors were all capable of far better performances, but they perform adequately (if not admirably) in this film. The story has several holes, probably due to the deletion by the studio of more than 20 minutes.
The film will appeal to fans of Welles, for historical if no other reasons. Fans of film noir will find it disappointing, although the camera work is interesting.
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