The Counterfeit Traitor

This is a good spy thriller that suffers from a couple of faults of big prestige films of it's era. It's 2 1/2 hours long, and the middle hour is slow and bloated. It picks up in the last half hour with a fairly thrilling escape from German territory, but there's no reason for the film to be so long. It also has an odd voice over that seems like an artifact carried over from the novel that provides no real information and simply shouldn't be there.

Intelligent spy thriller, telling the true story of a Swedish-American oil executive (William Holden) who pretends to be pro-Nazi in order to gather information for the Allies. Kind of dry and slow-paced at times (George Seaton's direction is undistinguished), but the final third is quite suspenseful and powerful--it boasts coked-out search dogs and a bit part for Klaus Kinski. Well-written (by Seaton), the overuse of narration notwithstanding; fine performances; nicely effective low-key ending.

Wise choice to film on-location --adds poignancy to the story to see it re-enacted on the grounds in which it originally transpired.