David Harding, Counterspy

I am sure you have too much of the five fingers of your hand to count how many non western films Ray Nazarro directed. He made nearly ONLY westerns, as Lesley Selander. Nazarro also made CHINA CORSAIR and FLAME OF STAMBOUL; adventure flicks. So this one is very surprising for a western more than specialist, because we talk here of a spy intrigue, and very well done. Well paced, superb photography, excellent cast, i would have neevr guessed that Nazarro made this film. But the producer was not the awful Sam Katzman either - after all this is a Columbia movie. But the biggest problem is that it is predictable, as you can guess. But it's worth watching.

If you can get past the rather oppressive opening commentary, then this turns out to be not a bad adventure story that warns of the dangers of fifth columnists operating in the United States during the recently ended WWII. Fortunately for all concerned, they had "David Harding" (Howard St. John). Now he is a shrewd and visionary man who co-ordinates a network of counter-espionage operatives the world over with a view to thwarting the cunning plans of the Nazis to steal valuable industrial secrets and sabotage vital munitions production. Willard Parker ("Baldwin") is a naval officer drafted into help the investigation when it seems that valuable information is leaking from a large torpedo-making factory. It turns out that his predecessor (quite literally) died after his cigarette set his bed alight, and being a bit suspicious he and the man's widow "Betty" (Audrey Long) decide to look into things. There are no shortage of ostensibly upstanding and honest suspects and the one thing "Baldwin" can be sure of his, they will not surrender quietly. There are a few quite effective red herrings here at the start, but as the story progresses the jigsaw puzzle starts to take shape just a little too readily leaving little room for jeopardy at the end. Still, it does move along well for seventy minutes and though maybe not a film I will remember, I quite enjoyed watching it.

I am not a fan of Ray Nazarro, well known for his numerous B and C Westerns. In DAVID HARDING, COUNTERSPY he tackles an altogether diverse genre: film noir with a needless voiceover intro and occasional commentary that kind of brings it into the realm of docunoir.

At any rate, it probes a sensitive area at the time: the Cold War that already prompted Senator McCarthy and the House Unamerican Activities Committee (HUAC) to launch an anti-communist witch hunt in Hollywood and society at large, leading to an abiding atmosphere of distrust and suspicion incisively depicted in the film.

In addition, it shows how bugging and camera technology evolved rapidly and in multifaceted ways (interestingly, Harding discloses the presence of 55 cameras constantly filming the workers of a weapon-manufacturing plant). But for the fact that, as I write, the events in DAVID HARDING occurred 75 years ago, counterespionage police investigation was laying the foundations for the investigative procedures we see today in CSI and other police-related TV programs.

I would not write home about the screenplay by Clint Johnston, but perhaps the abovementioned needless voiceover was studio-imposed. Other than that, the script presents some interesting twists and turns, and an unusual love relationship whereby the best friend (Willard Parker) of a just deceased colleague promptly tells the just widowed beautiful Audrey Long that he loves her.

I dock a star for Parker failing to impress as the lead. In addition to little expression, let alone nuance, in his craggy mug, he keeps getting beaten up and very nearly smoked to death (now, that amounts to an amateurish miscalculation by the supposedly sharp and professional foreign agents, as they had disposed of Long's hubby in precisely the same manner and repeating it would surely attract unwanted attention).

Long and Greenleaf, as the unsuspected spy ring head, provide the eye-catching performances, Howard St John the anchor to all the action as the intelligent, calm and on the ball chief counterspy.

Highly competent B&W cinematography by George Diskant.

At 71 minutes long, DAVD is definitely no waste of time and a bonus to any film noir lover. 7/10.

Tough luck if you are a woman to happen to this: you have no life of your own, it is entirely controlled and manipulated by others, your destiny is not in your own hands, and if you are ordered to marry someone in a position just to further the espionage interest, you just have to do it and be completely powerless when your husband has to be murdered for having discovered or even suspected your double play. It's a grim and fast thriller about the facts of espionage, how it works, how relentlessly efficient every move must be to curtail the actions of the robbers of state secrets, and how every detail of the technique must work perfectly to get everything in order. This was a successful radio series for 15 years which was transferred for a film like this, it is not easy to follow all the sudden turns of the actions, but it sure is efficient. Howard St. John as Howard Parker is the chief actor and character, while Willard Parker and Audrey Long just have to follow along. The plot becomes quite plausible and reasonable when it appears that Audrey Long is the daughter of her doctor (Raymond Greenleaf), which no one could suspect. A kind old gentlemanly doctor is always absolutely above any suspicion. Only his motives are never explained.

Chief of counterintelligence Howard St. John calls in broadcaster Alex Gerry. Gerry has been complaining on his radio that America has been letting nuclear secrets get through to foreign nations; none is specified, but he mentions a mustache. St. John tells him about a wartime case in which he sent Navy Lt. Commander Willard Parker to a plant manufacturing submarine torpedoes after his friend, who had been doing the work previously, had been killed under suspicious circumstances.

It's derived from COUNTERSPY, a long-running (1942-1957) radio drama devised by Phillips Lord, who also produced the better known GANGBUSTERS. This has everything a lover of cheap drama could wish for : spies, people with machine guns shooting up airports, romance in the person of Audrey Long, and a Murphy Bed. Obviously shot cheaply, it's typical of the second features that Columbia was turning out in the dying days of B series. Look for John Dehner in a small role.