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      Ministry of Fear

      Released Oct 16, 1944 1 hr. 25 min. Mystery & Thriller List
      81% 27 Reviews Tomatometer 74% 1,000+ Ratings Audience Score Fresh from a two-year stint in a mental institution for the alleged "mercy killing" of his ailing wife, Stephen Neale (Ray Milland) visits a carnival where he wins a cake by guessing its weight. The cake, however, contains a microfilm sought after by Nazi spies, and Stephen soon finds himself a target. On the run and unsure of whom to trust, he enlists the help of a private detective (Erskine Sanford), a beautiful woman (Marjorie Reynolds) and an inspector from Scotland Yard (Percy Waram). Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      harwee h Another excellent film from the great Fritz Lang Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/23/24 Full Review Leaburn O As a standalone film it is ok but not too memorable. As a rendering of the Graham Greens novel it is a horribly edited, cut and entirely recreated version that is about as unfaithful as imaginable to the original novel. It loses all of the book's depth and value. It will pass the time at best. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/20/23 Full Review Matthew D A film noir classic spy story based on cake, intrigue, and paranoia. Austrian auteur Fritz Lang's film noir spy thriller Ministry of Fear (1944) is a fascinating tale of espionage and deceit. Lang weaves spies, false identities, bombings, shootings, romance, humor, and even cake all into one amazing picture. Lang's film noir sensibilities let him command shadows and darkness for one of cinema's most dazzling films full of innovative shots. I kept wondering how certain shots were even filmed with Lang's endlessly inventive direction that keeps this espionage thriller a constantly surprising spy narrative. You'll never guess where this is all going. Fritz Lang enlisted writer Seton I. Miller to Graham Green's WWII spy novel The Ministry of Fear (1943) with a nod to paranoia, humor, and spy networks during wartime. It's fascinating they read the novel and adapted the screenplay so quickly all during WWII. I love Green's spy narrative centered around a man getting something the Nazis want by mistake. The endless amount of betrayal and lies webbed around this spy network is enthralling. I did not predict the various twists and turns, nor how intimate each conversation feels between our unwitting hero and his reluctant encounters with deadly spies. It's quite similar to Alfred Hitchcock's spy classics North by Northwest or The 39 Steps as an unsuspecting man gets roped into an intriguing espionage narrative of spies and secrets alike. Editor Archie Marshek does astonishing slick cutting that keeps the story moving along briskly. I was never bored as Ministry of Fear has a fast pace with tons of storytelling events along its short and sweet 87 minutes. It's an entire book into one brief film full of spies and subterfuge. Ray Milland is fantastic as the unsuspecting everyman Stephen Neale with his past trauma, who gets caught up into a nefarious spy network of Nazis hiding out in London during World War II. Milland feels realistic in his sad drama, romantic with an easy charm, and compelling as he bumbles and runs around trying to seek out the secret spies hiding in plain sight. Marjorie Reynolds is lovely and charming as Austrian charity runner Carla Hilfe. She seems sweet and not suspicious with a pleasant personality. Her innocence makes for a nice love interest for Ray Milland in a naturally cute romantic pairing. Marjorie Reynolds is better as Carla than her nice performance in Holiday Inn. Carl Esmond is devilishly charming as the amiable Austrian charity runner and Carla's friendly brother Willi Hilfe. Hillary Brooke is drop dead gorgeous and alluring as the flirty soothsayer Mrs. Bellane, who holds seances and carries a gun. Brooke played my favorite villain The Woman in Green from Basil Rathbone's run as Sherlock Holmes, where she was also typecast as a mysterious fortune teller and hypnotist. It's neat that she could play a femme fatale with mystique and elegant charm so effortlessly. Percy Waram is fun as the calm and sarcastic Scotland Yard Inspector Prentice. Dan Duryea is so odd and intriguing as the mysterious Cost. Alan Napier's solemn Dr. Forrester makes you immediately question his presence. Erskine Sanford's frustrated and grumpy private enquirer George Rennit is funny in his scene. Mary Field screaming for the police as Martha Penteel is a blast to watch. Cinematographer Henry Sharp comes up with these fast camera movements and striking still frames for his black and white shots. Ministry of Fear looks incredible with pockets of light among the endless darkness. From floating heads surrounded by shadows during a seance to bombs bursting in the distance during an air raid, Ministry of Fear has it all. It is one of Fritz Lang's most visually creative pictures. Art directors Hal Pereira and Hans Dreier cast shadows in corners and around faces just for atmosphere, like the constant rainfall and nighttime shots. Set decorator Bertram C. Granger places old books and a fancy cake as notable props among all the other important props like the guns. Composer Victor Young's sweeping and sinister film score features neat classical music for Ministry of Fear. I love hearing these huge orchestrated scores that have a playful humor, tender romance, and mysterious suspense for any situation. Sound designers W.C. Smith and Don Johnson provide air raid sirens, gunshots in darkness to massive bombs explodes for a cool sonic palette. Costume designer Edith Head gives each guy cool tailored suits just like the mesmerizing psychic's gown for Hillary Brooke. Wally Westmore's makeup is dazzling on Hillary Brooke and Marjorie Reynolds with stunning looks. Majorie's curled blonde hair could have been Madonna's or Marilyn Monroe's with a graceful put up hairstyle on Hillary Brooke. In all, it is amazing how Lang runs through an entire novel in a sharp 87 minutes of fun spy encounters and unsettling suspense. Ministry of Fear is a spy thriller classic of the film noir era. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/05/23 Full Review Taylor L I don't know if it's because there still may be sensitivity around the event, but it would be nice to see more fictitious movie plots that take place during the Blitz. There's so much you can do with the need to force a bunch of characters down into an air raid shelter at a moment's notice. Ministry of Fear is a Fritz Lang spy thriller, not really film noir and too exotic to match the suspence of some of Lang's earlier classics; it's more Hitchcock-lite in its inventive twists, where a lack of either realism or grounded tone never get in the way of telling a story. This was made during the war, so people likely weren't looking to buy tickets to a chilling tale of low-profile backstabbers (plus John le Carré was still years away); but a cast of colorful characters that feel more at home in a whodunnit mystery than a clandestine ring of London spies would have probably seemed more appealing at the time anyway. The narrative gets slightly outlandish, but Ministry of Fear is still an entertaining film even if it doesn't have much of the domestic creep factor that would have made it a spine-tingler. But there are flashes of really good atmosphere between some of the loosely-linked events of the film, which at one point involves fighting some birds for a large hunk of cake that had been blown up into a nook by a German air raid. The film's spontaneity makes it entertaining, but the lack of real suspense or a set of gray morals holds it back from becoming a classic. (3/5) Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review peter w While Ministry of Fear has some great cinematic moments it doesn't have the compelling edge that one would expect with a writer like Graham Greene. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Ken R Fritz Lang was out of place in Hollywood, he never understood them, nor they him. Ministry of Fear looks good and features some of his stylish imagery. It begins with a lot of promise via a compelling and beautifully produced intro at an Asylum, then leads to an odd fairground situation that's peppered with many intriguing characters –although most of these, as with others throughout the action amount to little within the overall story. There's even a strange exciting chase through a misty landscape with attempted murder - but Graham Green's solid scenario gets watered down by a fiddling producer and screenplay writer who seem to lose the plot. Both Ray Milland and Marjory Reynolds look terrific and work very well together but weak situations let them down. Dan Duryea is interesting as usual but given little to do. Those wanting to follow the career of Lang's American years might find this worthwhile, where others could find it unrewarding. The Criterion Re-mastered DVD is clean, offering nice images and sound. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/01/21 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      Dave Kehr Chicago Reader Lang at his finest and purest. Oct 15, 2014 Full Review Variety Staff Variety Fritz Lang, a master at getting the most out of mystery, intrigue and melodrama, in his direction apparently didn't have his way from beginning to end on Ministry of Fear. Jul 22, 2008 Full Review Tom Milne Time Out This is a wonderfully atmospheric, almost expressionistic thriller, packed with memorable moments. Jun 24, 2006 Full Review Roger Moore Movie Nation Watching it now, “Ministry of Fear” seems more of a string of grand moments poorly-linked by blown opportunities. Rated: 2'/4 Sep 2, 2022 Full Review Cinelandia Staff Cinelandia Curious and mysterious. [Full review in Spanish] Sep 2, 2022 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...a progressively tiresome endeavor... Rated: 2/4 Jun 12, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Fresh from a two-year stint in a mental institution for the alleged "mercy killing" of his ailing wife, Stephen Neale (Ray Milland) visits a carnival where he wins a cake by guessing its weight. The cake, however, contains a microfilm sought after by Nazi spies, and Stephen soon finds himself a target. On the run and unsure of whom to trust, he enlists the help of a private detective (Erskine Sanford), a beautiful woman (Marjorie Reynolds) and an inspector from Scotland Yard (Percy Waram).
      Director
      Fritz Lang
      Screenwriter
      Graham Greene, Seton I. Miller
      Distributor
      Paramount Pictures
      Production Co
      Paramount Pictures
      Genre
      Mystery & Thriller
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Oct 16, 1944, Original
      Release Date (DVD)
      Mar 12, 2013
      Sound Mix
      Mono
      Aspect Ratio
      35mm