TotalTelly.co.uk

Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV

The Counterfeit Traitor [1962] (REGION 1) (NTSC)


Our Price: £5.98 (subject to change)

A sprawling, satisfying WWII espionage thriller. William Holden's performance keeps it together
Review date: 2008-08-30 Rating: 8 out of 10

Think of The Counterfeit Traitor as a sprawling but engrossing three-part espionage novel with a daunting number of pages to get through. If you're like me, you'll have a good time. In fact, I think The Counterfeit Traitor, even with all its subsections and all of its 240 minutes, is one of the best of the WWII sagas. The hero is an adult, and director-writer George Seaton treats the audience as adults, too.

It's the story of Eric Erickson (William Holden), a Swede who is a successful oil trader. Sweden is neutral and Erickson makes money trading with the allies as well as with Germany. In a bit of ruthless manipulation, a British intelligence agent named Collins (Hugh Griffith) begins to ruin Erickson's reputation, then offers to clear him if Erickson, who is able to easily travel between Stockholm and Germany, gathers information on Germany's war effort and delivers it back to him. Erickson has little choice. Even so, to be effective he has to fool the Gestapo into believing he's genuine. Soon, in Sweden, he's convincing friends that he believes in Nazi Germany. In Germany, he uses blackmail to gather inside information from his German business friends. He has few illusions. He resents being forced into this double game. He loses a lot of self-esteem as he disappoints his Swedish friends and manipulates his German friends. Not only is he at risk every time he steps foot in Germany, he is putting in the shadow of the hangman's noose the Germans he has been working with. The only thing that changes his mind is an act of random brutality he witnesses at a German factory that uses Polish laborers. A man picked at random from a crowd is strung up on a hoist and strangles to death while his co-workers watch. Says a colleague of Erickson's, "You can read about a hundred atrocities, hear about a thousand, but you only have to see one."

Erickson's contact in Berlin is Marianne Mollendorf (Lilli Palmer), a well-connected wife of an Army colonel. The game they play gets riskier with every visit Erickson makes. She knows the worth of what she is doing. When Erikson realizes the importance, too, it's not long before love follows.

The movie is too long and could easily lose 30 minutes here and there. A lot of those minutes involve the inner angst of Erickson and Mollendorf. Their growing love is believable; their dialogue often has `Hollywood' written all over it. There's some preaching, but not too much, and since most of it is delivered by Palmer it's at least bearable. She was not only a beautiful woman, she was a fine actress whose intelligence was much of her attractiveness. To my knowledge, she never played a dumb woman in a long career. On the other hand, watching an 11-year-old boy try to destroy Holden as Erickson is unnerving. Watching Holden try to destroy an 11-year-old boy is satisfying.

The strength of the movie, from my point of view, is in its portrayal of blackmail, the application of leverage and the corruption by both sides to achieve their goals. This isn't a case of moral equivalency, just the way wars work, There are no armed battles, shoot `em ups or breakouts, just a lot of slowly building tension, the accumulation of small mistakes and emotional exhaustion, and a terrible moment of betrayed faith and the consequences that arise from it. That leaves us with the last half of the movie and one exciting moment after another. Erickson goes back to Germany one last time to retrieve a critical document. This time he finds himself picked up by the Gestapo. His escape isn't pretty or easy, but it's a great ride...not for the derring do but for the tension and the intricacies of his escape, made possible by the many people who help him. If you never thought you'd become emotional about bicycles, you might surprise yourself.

So we have Erickson's recruitment and first missions, Erickson and Mollendorf's work, their relationship and the consequences, and Erickson's complicated escape. The Counterfeit Traitor sprawls, but it's held together by William Holden's performance. He's a reluctant hero, then a committed one, but without bravado. The movie is an intelligent espionage thriller that owes a lot to Holden's contained, intelligent portrayal.

Similar Products

Reviews


ONE FOR THE TOP SHELF
Review date: 2007-09-20 Rating: 10 out of 10

If ever there was a well acted and well directed movie,devoid of present day hype,this one is surely it.Set during the second world war,the story is honest and straightforward,and apparently based on true events.Both William Holden and Lilli Palmer give excellent performances and this movie is typical of the many high quality productions of the 1960's.If you are looking for a movie that will keep you enthralled from beginning to end,this one is surely it.Every actor plays their part well,every situation is totally believable. If it was a book,it'd be one you could'nt put down.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Hugh Griffith
William Holden
Carl Raddatz
Lilli Palmer
Ernst Schröder

Creators:
William Holden (Primary Contributor)
Lilli Palmer (Primary Contributor)
Jean Bourgoin (Cinematographer)
George Seaton (Producer)
George Seaton (Writer)
Alma Macrorie (Editor)
William Perlberg (Producer)
Alexander Klein (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: Paramount
Manufacturer: Paramount
EAN: 9780792198741
Binding: DVD
ISBN: 0792198743
Number of items: 1
Format: Closed-captioned, Colour, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC,
Release date: 2004-07-13
Universal product code (UPC): 097360611342
Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
Region code: 1
Running time: 140 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1962
Language: Danish (Original Language)
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitled)

Add to Cart

© 2006 Darren Hester, DesignsByDarren.com, Some Rights Reserved.
Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional