JOURNEY INTO FEAR (1942) B/W 69m dir: Norman Foster

w/Joseph Cotten, Dolores Del Rio, Ruth Warrick, Orson Welles, Agnes Moorehead, Jack Durant, Everett Sloane, Eustace Wyatt, Frank Readick, Edgar Barrier, Jack Moss

Adaptation of the Eric Ambler thriller set in WWII Turkey as a U.S. armaments expert is sought by Nazi agents.

From The Movie Guide: "Sure it says 'directed by Norman Foster,' but don't let that fool you, this is an Orson Welles film all the way. Welles is listed as producer, his Mercury Players fill the cast, his then-companion Del Rio is in the lead, and he cowrote the screenplay with Joseph Cotten. The result is a strange, obsessive and often brilliant film, much of which takes place aboard a dilapidated freighter. ...

"JOURNEY INTO FEAR is a wonderfully murky study of espionage, realistically portrayed in all its mayhem and confusion, one spy not really knowing what the other spy is up to, but operating on instinct to get results. Cotten's quiet, unassuming part is so well played that the viewer gets frustrated at his inability to either act or even think clearly. A visually arresting film with a nod to the quirky that just can't be beat in terms of the bizarre."