Journey Into Fear (1942)

82% of critics liked it
(11 reviews)
63% of users liked it
(354 ratings)

Orson Welles had planned to produce, direct and star in RKO's Journey Into Fear, but prior commitments compelled him to vacate the director's chair in favor of Norman Foster. Joseph Cotten, who starred as an American gunnery engineer up to his armpits in international intrigue, adapted the… More Orson Welles had planned to produce, direct and star in RKO's Journey Into Fear, but prior commitments compelled him to vacate the director's chair in favor of Norman Foster. Joseph Cotten, who starred as an American gunnery engineer up to his armpits in international intrigue, adapted the screenplay from the novel by Eric Ambler. Targeted for extermination by the Gestapo, Cotten secretly books passage on a steamer bound from Turkey to Batumi. His fellow passengers include dancer Dolores Del Rio and her gigolo partner Jack Durant; talkative Frenchwoman Agnes Moorehead and her browbeaten husband Frank Readick; German archaeologist Eustace Wyatt; and a secretive, obese, thick-spectacled gent, played by Orson Welles' business partner Jack Moss. From the outset, it is no secret that Moss is a Nazi assassin. The question: who are his contacts, and how long will it be before Cotten is forced into a showdown? The very complex storyline was made even more so by RKO's decision to pare the film down to 69 minutes; several resultant plot gaps had to be bridged by an ongoing offscreen narration, presented in the form of a letter written by Cotten to his worried wife Ruth Warrick. As one can see, virtually the entire roster of Welles' Mercury Theatre troupe is involved in Journey into Fear. Welles himself plays colorful Turkish police officer Colonel Haki, while Everett Sloane, Hans Conried and Edgar Barrier essay significant smaller roles. Director Norman Foster so slavishly imitates the patented Wellesian visual style (following Welles' pre-production "storyboards" dictating choice of camera angle, lighting etc.) that many historians have assumed that Welles himself directed the picture. Remade for Canadian TV in 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 11 min.
Directed By: Norman Foster
Written By: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Drama

In Theaters: Feb 12, 1943 Wide
Studio: RKO Radio Pictures

Critic Reviews

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Unfortunately, RKO cut it almost as badly as The Magnificent Ambersons, which was in production at the same time, and what survives is basically a lot of claustrophobic atmosphere and some fair-to-middling suspense.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
A visually arresting film with a nod to the quirky that just can't be beat in terms of the bizarre.
Michael E. Grost, Classic Film and Television
Visually inventive thriller.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
First-rate noir thriller that was somewhat compromised by post-production tampering.
, Film4
Almost too casually, it is a classic.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
An exciting wartime spy film with film noir overtones.

Read all 6 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Cindy I

I thought this film about a Naval Engineer being chased by an assassin in Turkey would be better than it turned out to be. It had all kinds of opportunities to be suspenseful, but it just didn't pull it off very well. I normally like Joseph Cotten, but here he came across as more… More
I thought this film about a Naval Engineer being chased by an assassin in Turkey would be better than it turned out to be. It had all kinds of opportunities to be suspenseful, but it just didn't pull it off very well. I normally like Joseph Cotten, but here he came across as more ornery than sympathetic. And he allowed himself to be hauled away by his "protectors" far too easily, without putting up much of a fight, even though his wife was being left behind without a word from him. There was far too many "coincidences" of people being in the right place at just the right time. A good try, but....try harder next time. One note: In a scene on the boat between Cotten and Dolores Del Rio, she makes the observation that she is opening up to him, but all she knows about him is that he's an engineer and has "a nice..." and then the ship's horn blares as she finishes her sentence. Surely she wasn't saying that he had a nice ass -- not in 1943? But what else could it be? Addendum: After reading the other reviews on this film, it appears that the film was re-edited post-production a la The Magnificent Ambersons. Perhaps it was similarly butchered by some inept clod with no sense of timing or suspense. Could a re-issue be in its future?
Stella D

a decent thriller from mercury theater with joseph cotten caught up in a ring of spies. orson has a small part as head of turkish secret police with an awesome astrakhan!
cody f

Not a bad film produce by the Mercury Theater right after Ambersons. This is not directed by Welles, but does have some of his influence. It's about a engineer (played and screenplay co-written by Cotton) who the Nazi's want dead. After a attempt on his life he sneaks out… More
Not a bad film produce by the Mercury Theater right after Ambersons. This is not directed by Welles, but does have some of his influence. It's about a engineer (played and screenplay co-written by Cotton) who the Nazi's want dead. After a attempt on his life he sneaks out of Turkey on a boat and meets some interesting characters. It's a short film that RKO cut down, and after the cut of Amberson's and the debacle of It's all True this was the last film Welles and his Mercury Theater did with RKO.It's a fun film and had some potential, but doesn't have the zest of the rest of the Mercury Theater Productions.