Cloak and Dagger

Cooper, tho feeling miscast, mostly does his thing, looking stoic. Still it's a sufficient enough performance. Lily Palmer portrayal of strong down-to-earth resistance fighter who's torn between her down beaten outlook and romantic hopes is the best aspect of the movie. Her character is most exemplar of Lang's pessimistic political undertones. Best scene goes to a brutal struggle between Cooper and a Gestapo agent.

It feels a little too episodic to be truly engaging, with too many dry sections in between each stage of Cooper's adventure. That said, there's enough tension during the key moments and the fighting scenes are well-choreographed with a real sense of violence and danger. Cooper is pretty wooden, but Lilli Palmer is great as the machine-gun-toting heroine.

Palmer is very winning in her screen debut. The love story part seems tacked-on and forced, with an (understandable) attempt to hearken back to Casablanca for the finale. Coop looks a bit ill at ease at times, going against type by playing an eloquent character. The situation improves though toward the end, when things get grittier.

USA! USA! Fritz Lang set up a nice black and white WW2 espionage thriller with Gary Cooper inexplicably being a good secret agent despite his bookish intro. I had some Casablanca vibes near the end. Some of the middle parts of the film got boring but I powered through them by looking at the excellent shadows and scene composition. Fav scene: Maria's reveal.

Surprisingly mellow thriller. Considering it centered around the Atomic Bomb and espionage, it never really got exciting in the way one would expect from such movie. Instead it relies on Fritz Lang's eye for the visuals and Gary Cooper's unmissable charm. And honestly, that's a proven success, and holds Cloak and Dagger (1946) effectively as a treat for the duration.

Standard spy drama is notable for some elaborate directorial flourishes by Lang, and a blazing debut by Palmer, but hurt by a very wooden Cooper, who seems ill at ease and out of his depth.

More entertaining than I have remembered despite some surplus moments of romance and slow progression. Has multiple clever twists and details, too.