A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

The plot to "Journey Into Fear" is not a complicated one...but it seems to make the most of it. When the story begins, Howard Graham (Joseph Cotten) is in Istanbul on business and anticipates leaving the country in the morning. However, a simple night out with a man who also works for Graham's company turns into a murder...and the intended victim appears to have been Graham but as luck has it he was spared. But the local secret police chief (Orson Welles) insists that to protect Graham he'll send him out of the country by slow boat instead of the train in order to avoid Nazi agents. Unfortunately, the Nazi agents anticipated this and soon Graham finds himself aboard a boat filled with murderers. Can he possibly survive?The story is rather simple but with a rousing ending and nice camera work it makes the absolute most of what it's got. Well worth seeing and a nice example of simplicity making for a nice picture.

May 2016:Reading IMDb's Film Noir board,I found an excellent post about an Orson Welles-starring Noir.Looking for more info on the title,I found out that there were two cuts of the movie,with the "Euro" cut being vastly different to the US one. Finding more details on Welles sites about recent screenings,I was disappointed to learn that the "US cut" (whose presentation is on a long deleted French remastered DVD) was the only one around on US and UK DVD.Trying to find out more about the Euro cut,I spotted a post which revealed that the Euro cut has come out on DVD(as Estambul) …in Mexico!July 2016:Crossing my fingers when the disc hit the landing that it was the Euro cut,it hit me that I had not picked up a disc of the US cut to compare it to. Glancing at downloads in order to do a quick comparison,the very first link I clicked on was for…the long out of print French remastered version,which led to me getting set for two journeys into fear.The plot-WWII-Turkey.Entering the hotel,US ballistics expert Howard Graham (who wants to help re-arm Turkish ships) and his wife Stephanie are met by Kopeikin,who works for Howard's company.Wanting to talk business,Kopekin takes Howard alone to a night club.Unknown to the guys,a mysterious man looking across the streets follows them.During their chat,Howard joins a magician for his big set-piece.Dimming the lights,a loud gun shot is heard.Aiming for Howard,the stranger discovers that he killed the magician instead. Pulled from the club to the secret police headquarters,Howard is told of a Nazi plot designed to send a shiver of fear down his spine.View on the film:-Note:Due to how different they are,I will give both cuts separate reviews.Reuniting with two fellow stars of Citizen Kane,co-writer/(along with Richard Collins/ Crime Without Passion director Ben Hecht & Orson Welles) Joseph Cotten gives a striking performance as Howard via skilfully blending Howard's wide-eyed, fish out of water Film Noir loner with a quick-wit, that gives Howard's battle against the underworld an espionage atmosphere. Hightailing in a year before she would break up with her co-star (and uncredited co-director) Dolores del Rio shakes the movie with a sassy purr as dancer Josette Martel,whilst Agnes Moorehead (who loses the most in the US cut) gives Howard's escape plans a frosty bite as Mrs.Matthews. Stomping round as Jack Moss's Peter Banat hisses in the corner, Orson Welles gives an excellent performance as Colonel Haki. Displaying a real relish in chomping out orders, Welles keeps a playful Noir cunning just under the surface of Haki's military march,which reveals itself on the murky dealings of the ships floor.The US cut: 6/10.Solely credited to Cotten,this adaptation of Eric Ambler's novel moves at a quick pace,partly caused by studio enforced dissolves.Going for a lighter.more comedic mood,the addition of a narration completely changes the perspective of the movie,due to it being made clear that Howard is talking about events from the past,which clips the Film Noir dread that setting it in the "present" allows the Euro cut to grip on. Emphasizing the comedic elements with chainsaw editing,the relationship between the Graham's is limited to just two scenes.This leads to the movie being transformed into a cheerful man on the run caper, complete with large jumps in plot, (where does Howard get the gun from?) a lack of psychological depth into Howard's Film Noir nightmare,and an ending that is chopped off, with a misshaped happy coda that brings a character back from the dead.The Euro cut:8/10Pulling the narration,happy coda and focus on the comedic side,the screenplay by Welles/Cotten/Collins and Hecht open up the raw war time Film Noir paranoia,by smartly making Howard's attempt to escape from Banat on a ship,to sail onto fragile relationships,where doubt and mistrust is lit by the Film Noir troubled times. Taking place in the "present" the writers make Howard's relationship with Stephanie a beacon of light shining in the darkness,as Howard has to grasp at the smallest hope to send Stephanie a sign of life. Catching Banat lingering silently in the background,the writers bask the title in Film Noir dread,via giving Howard a raging fear over Banat's tune whirling down a brittle Film Noir street pelted with a haunting ending that leaves Howard melting in the Film Noir rain.Turning the volume down on Roy Webb's energetic score, co-directors Norman Foster & uncredited Orson Welles and cinematographer Karl Struss ship Howard to a murky Film Noir world,diced via unbreakable shadows allowing Howard's fear of Banat appearing to fester. Running out of the gunfire,the directors give Howard's escape from Turkey a warm,dusty shine spun by stylish tracking shots which are looped onto the claustrophobic corridors of the ship,as Howard goes on a journey into fear.

With Orson Welles' attention torn between "The Magnificent Ambersons" and "Journey Into Fear", and a three year affair with Dolores del Rio about to come to an end, the movie winds up pretty much a chaotic mess. Based on a novel by writer Eric Ambler, the task of writing the screenplay was handed off to Joseph Cotten who had never done one before, which goes a long way to explain why he had such a confused look on his face for a good part of the story.Which is not to say the picture is all bad. Viewing it, one might have the same reaction as watching the proverbial train wreck. The set up with Cotten's character is interesting enough, and the murder attempt on his life that's foiled by a magician's act hinted at an intriguing story, but most of what follows just doesn't flow very well. Naval engineer Howard Graham (Cotten) didn't seem to be particularly troubled by the idea that his life was in danger, and if Peter Banat (Jack Moss) was supposed to be an effective assassin, his prior victims must have been pretty dumb.In a way, this movie reminded me of well regarded Hitchcock films that many fans find praiseworthy but simply leave me baffled. "Shadow of a Doubt" immediately comes to mind, perhaps because Joseph Cotten happened to be the killer in that one, and conveniently fell off a train at the moment he was going to make his own niece his fourth victim. The ledge scene had me wondering if the gimmick was going to be used here, and sure enough, Banat loses his balance and takes a header into the pavement. What puzzles me even more though is why Graham thought it a good idea to pursue Banat out on that ledge in a torrential downpour, what sense did that make on any level? So it's not surprising then that novelist Ambler, after seeing the movie, remarked to Joseph Cotten that the picture so little resembled his book that he would be able to sell it as a movie all over again. In that event, I'd probably be willing to give the story another try, provided they keep the odd filming angles and claustrophobic atmosphere intact.

Considering the turmoil in the aftermath of Kane one could suppose that we're lucky to have even a truncated second/third film from old Awesome. It was, of course, always going to be a problem following Kane even if everything was running smoothly, as it was, Welles was here, there, and everywhere initially trying to decide on a project, then leaving a second masterpiece in the hands of the abattoir known as RKO whilst off in Rio on an aborted project and somewhere in the middle of all this deciding on an Eric Ambler novel - all his life Welles was a sucker for espionage thrillers - rounding up his Mercury players, assigning Jo Cotton - who had never written anything more ambitious than a Christmas card - to adapt the novel, playing only his second ever acting role on screen, albeit a brief one, coming up with another collection of 'signature' shots and handing the directing credit to Norman Foster. Okay, it's less than perfect - in one sense it resembles a blueprint for Mr. Arkadin - but even imperfect Welles is light years better than, for example, overrated 'pure' Hitchcock. If ultimately disappointing it is at the same time fascinating.