Journey Into Fear

I was apparently one of the few people who saw this movie on its brief release in 1975. I knew about the 1942 Orson Welles film but had yet to see it. I went to see this version because of Vincent Price and he does not disappoint. Other big name cast members added to the fun. Zero Mostel recycles his PRODUCERS persona and Donald Pleasence adds another of his quirky characters to his resume'. Joseph Wiseman from DR NO is on hand along with Yvette Mimeux as a chanteuse who can't sing and a young Ian McShane who never says a word. The protagonist is Sam Waterston fresh from THE GREAT GATSBY and years before LAW & ORDER. Incidentally the Jackie Cooper listed in the cast is not the former child actor but the film's stunt coordinator.

The plot, which is updated from Eric Ambler's 1940 novel, concerns a petroleum engineer named Graham whose discovery of oil deposits in Turkey leads to several murder attempts to keep his discovery from becoming known. Most of the movie takes place aboard a tramp steamer where Graham tries to evade his pursuers without knowing who they really are. It eventually leads to a final and memorable confrontation in Genoa involving Waterston, McShane and Vincent Price. Waterston is very good as a man who knows that he's out of his depth but manages to stay one step ahead thanks to luck rather than skill.

Director Daniel Mann was a big name in the 1950s and 60s with COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA and BUTTERFIELD 8 but by 1975 he was basically a director for hire. He works well with the actors but seems unsure what to do when it comes to dealing with the story elements or pacing the film. There's also evidence of post-production intervention as the editing is a little ragged in places but that's mostly in the beginning. After years of being unavailable JOURNEY INTO FEAR has made it to Blu-Ray and while its good to see it again, the print used is an old one complete with a PG rating before the credits which evokes a certain nostalgia. It's also probably the only print available. However the picture is clear and the sound is good although subtitles would have been appreciated. My thanks to Dark Force Entertainment for resurrecting this forgotten title which, although flawed, is definitely worth revisiting...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

Swap a train for a boat, oil for some bullets and we have a rehash of the 1943 Orson Welles version of this story - only this is nowhere near as good. It doesn't really help that the casting lacks for any great clout. Sam Waterston is weak in the lead as "Graham" - the scientist who gets caught up in a Turkish conspiracy after he discovers that there might just be oil in them thar desert. This information is proving quite dangerous for the man and he needs to get out before he succumbs to one of the plentiful - but not very efficient - assassins out to kill him. He manages to make it onto a train on which he hopes to escape - but are the passengers all they seem to be? We know from fairly early on that "Banat" (Ian McShane) is his biggest danger and therein lay my first problem. He has all the menace of a cucumber sandwich. Zero Mostel's duplicitous "Kopelkin" fares little better and though the supporting cast boasts some A-list names, they feature too sparingly to make much difference with this rather far-fetched and procedural attempt at a thriller that's just, well, very light on thrills. I did quite like the last few scenes as things flare up, but otherwise this is a pretty unremarkable television movie that you'll very readily forget.

In this pretty crummy adventure flick, Sam Waterston stars as an American who becomes the target of an assassination when he discovers oil in Turkey. It's a remake of the 1943 Orson Welles movie, but you're far better off sticking with the original. Sam comes across as remarkably awkward as he runs for his life. He saunters around in wide open spaces, then seems surprised when bad guys start shooting at him. And worst of all, he trusts everyone! Someone around him has to be a bad guy, right? Either Yvette Mimieux, his beautiful and unlikely love interest who doesn't mind his ineptness; Zero Mostel, his guide from the Turkish embassy, Vincent Price, an art aficionado, Shelley Winters, who's basically playing a five-second stereotype of her character in The Poseidon Adventure, Donald Pleasance, Ian McShane, Stanley Holloway, or Jackie Cooper. Someone has to be out to get him, or else why is his life in danger?

If you're the type of person who likes to watch bad movies and chuckle, you might like this one. But if you're looking for a quality thriller or on-location adventure flick, stick with Death on the Nile. For me, the best part of the movie was seeing Vincent Price act out his real-life persona of appreciating great art.

I saw this movie when it first showed on TV in 1975 and watch it now and then. The story of the "man with endless lives" never gets old. Many people try and kill him but he just escapes every time. It tries hard to be a tense thriller but just ambles along with one exciting sequence after another. When I saw it for the first time, Jose tells Sam, as he is trying to PIMP her off to him, "Yvette Mimieux has smelt a lot of balls". I distinctly remember that line in the 1975 showing but it seems to have been cut from all the recent releases. Maybe the Blu-Ray, (yes, there is a Blu-Ray coming out), release will include that spicy line. During the end explosion at the gas station, the man in the front seat of the car is Nello Pazzafini, star of many Italian action movies in the 1960s. You name it, he was in it. Click on his name and be amazed by the list of credits he has raked up. Watch this great suspense movie if you get a chance. The ship captain keeps taunting Sam with his "bang bang, you're dead" line. Someone should have made him dead.

Quite a lot of movies on my wish-list are merely just there because of the impressive ensemble cast they have. "Journey into Fear", for example, has an amazing cast but I guess the lack of availability and solid fan base already suggests that the film isn't a hidden cult treasure. The plot is promising enough, adapted from an early 40's novel by Eric Ambler, and that same novel already got turned into a long-feature film in 1943. That film also has a terrific cast (like Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles and Agnes Moorehead) and presumably it's a lot better than this version, which suffers tremendously from lousy editing and an overall lack of tension and credibility. The opening minutes are downright terrific, with no less than two imaginative assassination attempts in a car and in a train. They're aimed at Howard Graham (Sam Waterston), an American engineer in Turkey who just made an important oil discovery in the mountains. Because of the information in his head, he becomes a walking bullseye, so the Turkish government subtly escorts him out of the country by boat. On board, he encounters a variety of individuals that might be allies, secret agents or hired killers. Once Sam Waterston board the ship, the excitement is exchanged for a dull and needlessly talkative middle-section and the only aspect to enjoy are the veteran actors in supportive roles. Appearing as the passengers are Shelley Winters, Yvette Mimieux, Ian McShane, Donald Pleasance and Vincent Price. Especially the last two names convinced me to obsessively track this film down, simply because you know one of them (or maybe even both) will depict a formidable villain. The opening and finale are more than entertaining, but the rest of "Journey into Fear" lacks pace, suspense and integrity. The main issue is that few of the characters appear to believe the roles they play. The hero, for instance, never truly seems to have the titular "fear" for his life. He remains rather calm even though murderers may lure behind every corner and he joyously socializes with everyone on board. This is definitely a disappointment, partially also because the copy I own has bad picture quality and the sound is nearly inaudible, but hey… I can scrap another Vincent & Donald movie off my list!