Paratrooper (Ford) returns to France after the war to return a valuable glove to its rightful place. But first he has to out-maneuver the bad guys (Macready) with help from girl tour guide (Brooks).
I get the impression Hitchcock saw this romantic adventure and took notes, especially for To Catch a Thief (1955) and North by Northwest (1959). Certainly, the scenarist Charles Bennett was also a Hitch favorite. However, I expect the rotund director would have insisted on a better script than the muddled one here that leaves too many holes, making plot developments hard to follow. As a result, the suspense never really gels until the final thrilling chase up the rocky precipice. Then too, that farcical inn sequence about who sleeps where comes across as more silly than amusing, and also interrupts the narrative by going on much too long.
What the movie does have going for it are the picturesque French locations and a lively Geraldine Brooks in the feminine lead. I hope they paid her double for all the running she had to do. Ditto Ford, for that athletic climb up the slope. I also like the way the story circles back on itself. That way we're hooked by a mysterious beginning that then reveals itself through one long flashback. However, I suspect the movie's showcase adventures would have benefited from Technicolor filming instead of the rather dour b&w. Anyway, it's the kind of material Hitch would soon do to the polished and proverbial "T".
I get the impression Hitchcock saw this romantic adventure and took notes, especially for To Catch a Thief (1955) and North by Northwest (1959). Certainly, the scenarist Charles Bennett was also a Hitch favorite. However, I expect the rotund director would have insisted on a better script than the muddled one here that leaves too many holes, making plot developments hard to follow. As a result, the suspense never really gels until the final thrilling chase up the rocky precipice. Then too, that farcical inn sequence about who sleeps where comes across as more silly than amusing, and also interrupts the narrative by going on much too long.
What the movie does have going for it are the picturesque French locations and a lively Geraldine Brooks in the feminine lead. I hope they paid her double for all the running she had to do. Ditto Ford, for that athletic climb up the slope. I also like the way the story circles back on itself. That way we're hooked by a mysterious beginning that then reveals itself through one long flashback. However, I suspect the movie's showcase adventures would have benefited from Technicolor filming instead of the rather dour b&w. Anyway, it's the kind of material Hitch would soon do to the polished and proverbial "T".