20th Century Fox
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Diplomatic Courier
Number 1 target for 1,000 enemy agents... from Paris to Salzburg to Trieste..!
During the Cold War, diplomatic courier Mike Kells must retrieve a dispatch containing top-secret intelligence. But when he arrives at the meeting point, a train station in Salzburg, his contact turns up dead, and the message is nowhere to be found. With no clear suspect in sight, Kells must sort through his uncertain relationships with two women, while sidestepping the pitfalls of subterfuge, sabotage and spies in his search for the documents.
- Original title
- Diplomatic Courier
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- —
- Revenue
- —
CinemaSerf
Nov 11, 2023 · via TMDB
"Mike" (Tyrone Power) is a US State Department courier who is sent on a routine, but dangerous, mission to Trieste where he is to rendezvous with a passenger on a train then collect and repatriate an important document. Of course, the Soviets are also on the trail of this transaction and when it all goes wrong, "Mike" finds himself embroiled in something far more sinister than he has experienced before. He is now at the behest of his new military handler "Col. Cagle" (Stephen McNally) and his wily sergeant "Guelvada" (a lively effort from Karl Malden) as he must try to find which of two women - "Janine" (Hildegard Knef) or "Joan" (Patricia Neal) might be mixed up - or not - in this espionage drama with more crosses than a Papal mass. Now I found the mystery here a little lacking. Serendipity just takes too an implausible a role in a wine bar and from there on in I felt that the jeopardy was rather compromised. Still, Henry Hathaway uses this workmanlike cast to good effect helping to create an atmosphere of mistrust and peril with nobody quite sure who is trustworthy and who is just as likely to put a knife between the shoulder blades. Trains also usually serve well as vehicles for thrillers - the movement, dimly lit carriages and squeaky rails all contribute to the heightened sense of tension as we near the reveal. Perhaps if you don't spot the huge great clue early on, you might get more from this well paced thriller.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
Tyrone Power
Mike Kells
Patricia Neal
Joan Ross
Stephen McNally
Col. Cagle
Hildegard Knef
Janine Betki
Karl Malden
Sgt. Ernie Guelvada
James Millican
Sam F. Carew
Stefan Schnabel
Rasumny Platov
Herbert Berghof
Arnov
Helene Stanley
Airline Stewardess
Hugh Marlowe
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Charles Bronson
Russian Agent (uncredited)
E.G. Marshall
Military Police Jeep Driver (uncredited)
Lee Marvin
Military Policeman at Trieste (uncredited)
Pat Hogan
Russian Agent (uncredited)
John DeCuir
Art Direction
Lucien Ballard
Director of Photography
Henry Hathaway
Director
Casey Robinson
Producer
Casey Robinson
Screenplay
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Elevator to the Gallows
The Game Bag
The Lady Vanishes
Requiem for a Secret Agent
The 39 Steps
We'll Go to the City
The Professional
The Secret Agent
True Lies
Mission: Impossible
Dr. No
The Secret Life of Words
The Spy Who Loved Me
The Invisible Dr. Mabuse
A Performance of Hamlet in the Village of Mrdusa Donja
Mission: Impossible III
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Thunderball
Breach
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Across the Pacific
Shining Through
Wolf
Farewell
It Happened on This Very Day
Diamonds Are Forever
Swordfish
The Deadly Affair
Crows
Guitar Men: The Darkest Secret of Rock 'n Roll
Spartan
Say Why Have You Left Me?
Mission: Impossible II
Storm
Taiwan Canasta
The Little Drummer Girl
I-Man
Make Your Bets Ladies
Days to Remember
On Deadly Ground
Avalanche Express
Balearic Caper
The Donator
Double Down
Laser Mission
Dheiva Thaai
Target Domino
Bona festa!
The Mission is Complete, Angelique
Tatami
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Remember
Murder on the Orient Express
The Mask of Dimitrios
The Courier
Relay
Foreign Correspondent
Miss Marple: They Do It with Mirrors
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Murder on the Orient Express
Eye of the Needle
Eagle Eye
Kept Woman
The Seven-Ups
Force of Nature: The Dry 2
The Deadly Affair
Agatha and the Midnight Murders
The Mean Season
Overdrive
The Final Cut
Appointment with Death
Murder at the Embassy
The Eternal Daughter
The High and the Mighty
Deception
Closed Circuit
The Quiller Memorandum
The House on Carroll Street
Jun 13, 1952
