Ministry of Fear (1944)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Seton I. Miller (screenplay)
Graham Greene (novel)

Release Date:

16 October 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Plot:

Stephen Neale is released into WWII England after two years in an asylum, but it doesn't seem so sane outside either...

Plot Keywords:

Asylum | WWII | England | Spy | Agent

Cast

Ray Milland	...	Stephen Neale
Marjorie Reynolds	...	Carla Hilfe
Carl Esmond	...	Willi Hilfe
Hillary Brooke	...	Mrs. Bellane #2, spiritualist
Percy Waram	...	Inspector Prentice
Dan Duryea	...	Cost aka Travers the tailor
Alan Napier	...	Dr. Forrester
Erskine Sanford	...	George Rennit, private investigator

Also Known As:

Graham Greene's Ministry of Fear (Australia)

Runtime:

86 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG | New Zealand:PG | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #9511) | Sweden:15

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Quotes:

Willi Hilfe: We thought you'd been killed.
Stephen Neale: Not quite.

Movie Connections:

Version of "Quinta colonna" (1966)

Good Wartime Film Noir

With an interesting story and good atmospheric settings, "Ministry of Fear" is a good film noir that most fans of the genre should find worth watching. Ray Milland is very good as a man battling a recent personal tragedy, who must then also try to sort out a series of mysterious and hazardous events in which he has suddenly become involved.

There are a lot of characters, and the story gets a bit complicated at times, making use of the W.W.II setting while introducing some quirky elements which generally come across pretty well. There are also a couple of good surprises, and for most of the way you have to guess along with Milland's character as to what will happen next. As with most such films, you must occasionally suspend disbelief, but that does not really detract from the atmosphere and tension.

If you enjoy film noir and/or thrillers, give this one a try. It's not one of the best of its genre, but it moves quickly and works well, at least as light entertainment.