BY LEE PFEIFFER
Casting young Robert Mitchum in a crime thriller opposite two
beautiful leading ladies would seem to be a recipe for a successful
film. However, "Foreign Intrigue" manages to snatch defeat from the jaws
of victory by saddling the actors with a cumbersome, confusing
screenplay. Mitchum is cast as Dave Bishop, an American personal
secretary/press agent in the employ of Victor Danemore (Jean Galland), a
mysterious rich man who lives lavishly on the French Riviera. When
Danemore dies from a heart attack, Bishop becomes intrigued by the
mysteries of the man's life and how little he actually knew about him.
Even Danemore's young trophy wife Dominique (Genevieve Page) claims to
have been a wife in name only and was, in fact, a "kept woman" intended
to give Danemore a respectable social status. When Bishop is approached
by an assortment of strange characters all of whom are concerned about
secrets Danemore may have kept pertaining to their lives, he begins to
investigate who his employer really was and why there is consternation
in some circles regarding his death. In the process, Bishop not only
becomes romantically involved with Dominique but also with Brita (Ingrid
Thulin, billed here as "Ingrid Tulean"), a vivacious young woman whose
father was being blackmailed by Danemore for reasons unknown. Bishop's
investigation turns deadly as he gets nearer the truth with attempts
made on his life by mysterious strangers. It turns out that Danemore had
been blackmailing prominent European men who had been secretly in
league with Hitler. Ultimately, Bishiop is kidnapped by intelligence
officials who ask him to volunteer to unmask the collaborators on a
mission that could cost him his life.
"Foreign Intrigue" was the brainchild of
producer/director/screenwriter Sheldon Reynolds, who had produced a
successful TV series of the same title. He saw potential in spinning off
the property to a feature film and shot the production on some exotic
European locations in color, though the bulk of the movie was filmed in a
studio. The story starts off on an intriguing note but soon becomes
confusing with the addition of seemingly countless minor characters and
red herrings. Even when the main mystery is solved, I found myself still
uncertain as to certain characters' relationship to the plot and each
other. Although the role of Bishop would seem tailor-made for Robert
Mitchum, director Reynolds doesn't showcase the actor's trademark
persona as a cynical wiseguy. He can handle himself well in the action
scenes and Reynolds makes sure Mitchum has the requisite opportunity to
parade around shirtless, but what is missing is the actor's "bad boy"
image. His leading ladies are well-cast and Frederick O'Brady is
marvelous as a Peter Lorre-like man of mystery but Mitchum and his
co-stars suffer from the film's often slow pace. The movie picks up
steam towards the finale but the climax is undermined by an absurd scene
that is unintentionally funny. It involves Bishop meeting the villain
one-on-one in the dead of night on a street in Vienna. Due to plot
contrivances, virtually every other character manages to show up, making
the secret meeting look like a convention. Adding to the absurdity is
the fact that although the scene is set in one of the world's bustling
cities, the landscape looks like the opening of "The Omega Man" with
nary a single living soul or moving vehicle seen anywhere. "Foreign
Intrigue" will mostly appeal to Mitchum enthusiasts who will be satisfied by his considerable screen presence even in a film that doesn't reach its potential.
(Incidentally, although the film's credits state that Genevieve Page
and Ingrid Thulin were "introduced" in this film, in fact, both
actresses had a number of screen credits prior to appearing in "Foreign
Intrigue". This was a common - if deceitful- marketing ploy frequently
used by movie studios during the era.)
The film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime free for subscribers.
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