La belle espionne

According to Bryan Forbes in his autobiography Notes For A Life, Raoul Walsh considered the original script to be a load of horse droppings, and engaged him to do a rewrite, not least for his own part which had originally been intended for, of all people, Barry Fitzgerald. Even so I guess he would have been rather embarrassed at his own performance had he caught it at a later date on TV. No doubt Rock Hudson pleased his fans, though saddled with playing a bit of a dimwit whose misunderstandings soon become tedious. Maxwell Reed is more convincing than usual as a villain and should have become more central to the action. There's glamorous Yvonne de Carlo, some glorious colour photography from Wilkie Cooper and Walsh keeps it all moving, but the story, despite the rewrites, remains too thin.