Review: State Secret

American surgeon Douglas Fairbanks Jr. winds up in the fictionalised Eastern European nation of Vosnia to perform a surgical demonstration. However, he finds that he has been hoodwinked into operating on the nation’s leader (Walter Rilla). When General Niva (Rilla) dies, the doctor knows he’s in trouble and needs to get the hell out of Vosnia. Glynis Johns plays a showgirl who aids Fairbanks in his escape, whilst an intimidating but urbane Jack Hawkins plays the sinister Colonel. Karel Stepanek plays the Colonel’s cohort Dr. Revo, whilst Herbert Lom turns up late as a shifty smuggler who may just be key to getting Fairbanks out of the country.

 

Although its fictional location is a touch silly and forced, this 1950 Sidney Gilliat (director of “Green for Danger”, co-writer of Hitchcock’s “The Lady Vanishes”) thriller is an easy watch. I’m a sucker for this Hitchcockian mystery-thrillers, and this is a pretty enjoyable one. If you enjoyed films like “Foreign Correspondent” or “The 39 Steps”, you’ll probably get something out of this one too, even if writer-director Gilliat (adapting a Roy Huggins novel) is no Master.

 

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. certainly wasn’t the equal of his father in terms of star quality (let alone a Cary Grant or Robert Donat), but he’s easy enough to take to in the lead. Everyone around him steals the film from him though, pretty much. Glynis Johns is immediately adorable as a showgirl who gets caught up in his mess. The real scene-stealers here however, are a surprisingly intimidating Jack Hawkins and a less surprisingly creepy Karel Stepanek in choice roles. Herbert Lom takes a while to turn up but once he does (in the exact role you expect) he’s pitch-perfect, too. Walter Rilla probably doesn’t get as much quality screen time as I would’ve liked, but he’s always a pleasure to see on screen anyway. Look out for Anton Diffring in a cameo as a sneering state police officer. It was one of his first roles. The film is perhaps 10 minutes long, and I think towards the end it slows down a bit when it really ought to be doing the opposite. However, the central plot is engaging and so are the performers.

 

A solid and entertaining B-movie, the sort of mystery-thriller that Hitchcock loved to make. I just wish it didn’t go the fictionalised setting route, which is just a touch silly for me. Other than that, good fun. Jack Hawkins, Herbert Lom, and Glynis Johns are especially good.

 

Rating: B-

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