''State Secret'' is a 1950 British

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr.,

Jack Hawkins John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mil ...

Glynis Johns Glynis Margaret Payne Johns (born 5 October 1923) is a South African-born British former actress, dancer, musician and singer. Recognised as a film and Broadway icon, Johns has a career spanning eight decades, in which she appeared in more than ...

Olga Lowe Olga Lowe (14 September 1919 – 2 September 2013) was a British film, stage and television actress. She made her film debut in an uncredited role in the 1949 film ''Trottie True''. Described by '' The Stage'' as "an actress of extraordinary vers ...

and

Herbert Lom Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru (11 September 1917 – 27 September 2012), known professionally as Herbert Lom (), was a Czech-British actor who moved to the United Kingdom in 1939. In a career lasting more than 60 ye ...

. It was made at

Isleworth Studios Isleworth Studios is the common name of two former film studios in Great Britain. __TOC__ Worton Hall Studios 1913–1952 Worton Hall Studios were based on Worton Hall, in Isleworth. This house was built in 1783 and rebuilt and extended in the ea ...

with Italian location shooting in

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ce ...

and the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form pa ...

. It was released in the United States under the title ''The Great Manhunt''.

Plot

John Marlowe is an American surgeon visiting England when he is invited to Vosnia (a fictitious East-European country) to receive the "Kepler Gold Medal" for his contributions to medical science, and, coincidentally, to demonstrate his new techniques on a patient. Midway through the operation, he discovers that he is operating on the Vosnian dictator, General Niva. Niva dies during the recovery period. From talking beforehand with Colonel Galcon, the Minister of Health, Minister of Public Services and Minister for State Security, Marlowe is certain he is doomed—he knows too much—so he makes his escape while Galcon is distracted by Niva's death. With elections coming soon, the general is replaced by a double, and Marlowe is hunted by the state police. Marlowe's attempts to telephone and reach the American embassy nearly get him captured. While hiding in a theater during a show, he notices a woman singing in English. He goes backstage and enlists the help of the reluctant, half-English Lisa. Marlowe has an idea: inside the coat he was accidentally given in a barber shop, by the barber, they find a wallet containing the ID of a Karl Theodor, and foreign currency, the possession of which is a capital offense in Vosnia. They blackmail the smuggler Theodor into helping them. They are pursued across the country and are on the point of escaping across the border when one of Karl's men, who is leading them across the mountains, is shot by a border guard and killed, and Lisa is wounded. Marlowe refuses to abandon her, and is captured by Galcon's men. Galcon arranges a "shooting accident" for Marlowe, but as he is about to walk outside to his fate, the substitute for dictator Niva makes a live speech on the radio, and shots are heard. Galcon confirms by telephone that the stand-in has been assassinated. As the people have witnessed the death of Niva, albeit the fake Niva, it is no longer necessary to maintain the cover-up, nor to eliminate Marlowe and Robinson, who are subsequently released and fly to freedom in the West, and ultimately to their new life together in America.

Cast

* Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as Dr. John Marlowe *

as Lisa Robinson *

as Baba (the taller "Sister Robinson") * Therese van Kye as Teresa (the shorter "Sister Robinson") *

as Colonel Galcon *

Walter Rilla Walter Rilla (22 August 1894 – 21 November 1980) was a German film actor of Jewish descent.Siegbert Salomon Prawer, ''Between Two Worlds: The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910-1933'', Berghahn Books (2007), pg. 213 He appea ...

as General Niva *

Karel Stepanek Karel may refer to: People * Karel (given name) * Karel (surname) * Charles Karel Bouley, talk radio personality known on air as Karel * Christiaan Karel Appel, Dutch painter Business * Karel Electronics, a Turkish electronics manufacturer * Gr ...

as Dr. Revo *

Leonard Sachs Leonard Meyer Sachs (26 September 1909 – 15 June 1990) was a South African-born British actor. Life and career Sachs was born in the town of Roodepoort, in the then Transvaal Colony, present day South Africa. He was Jewish. He emigrated t ...

as Dr. Poldoi *

as Theodor * Robert Ayres as Buckman * Howard Douglas as Clubman *

Martin Boddey Albert Martin Boddey (16 April 1907 – 24 October 1975) was a British film and television actor. He was a founder member of the Lord's Taverners charity. Boddey started acting when he was nearly 40, often portraying irritable authority fig ...

as Clubman *

Russell Waters Russell Waters (born 10 June 1908, Glasgow, Lanarkshire – died 19 August 1982, Richmond, Surrey) was a Scottish film actor. Waters was educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School, Glasgow and the University of Glasgow. He began acting with the ...

as Clubman *

Arthur Howard Arthur Howard (born Arthur John Steiner; 18 January 1910 – 18 June 1995) was an English stage, film and television actor. Life and career Born in Camberwell, London, Howard was the younger son of Lilian (née Blumberg) and Ferdinand "Frank" ...

as Clubman * Carl Jaffé as Prada *

Gerard Heinz Gerard Heinz (born Gerhard Hinze; 2 January 1904 – 20 November 1972) was a German actor. Heinz was born in Hamburg, Germany and later moved to Britain, where he changed his name. He appeared in almost 60 films (including ''Caravan''), and a n ...

as Bendel * Leo Bieber as Man at Telephone Box *

Nelly Arno Nelly Aronowsky (15 July 1892 – September 1966), known professionally as Nelly Arno, was a German-born British theatre, film and radio actress. Aronowsky was born in Karlsruhe to Abraham Aronowsky and Fanny (''née'' Maysel). She had a you ...

as Shop Woman *

Paul Demel Paul Demel (4 May 1903 – 31 August 1951) was an actor born in Brno, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He is most notable for his cameo appearances in films, particularly the British Ealing comedies ''Hue and Cry'' (1947), ''Passport to ...

as Barber * Danny Green as Taxi Driver * Anton Diffring as State Policeman *

Peter Illing Peter Illing (4 March 1899 – 29 October 1966) was an Austrian-born British film and television actor. Selected TV series * '' Deadline Midnight'' (1961) as Captain Dnieprovsky * '' The Saint'' (1962) as Inspector Buono Filmography * '' The S ...

as Macco * Arthur Reynolds as Compere *

Richard Molinas Richard Molinas (17 November 1911 – 1975) was a British stage and film actor. A character actor, he appeared in a number of supporting role A supporting character is a character in a narrative that is not the focus of the primary storylin ...

as Red Nose *

Eric Pohlmann Eric Pohlmann (german: Erich Pohlmann; born Erich Pollak; 18 July 1913 – 25 July 1979) was an Austrian theatre, film and television character actor who worked mostly in the United Kingdom. He is known for voicing Ernst Stavro Blofeld, th ...

as Cable Car Conductor * Hans Moser as Sigrist * Louis Wiechert as Christian * Gerik Schjelderup as Bartorek * Henrik Jacobsen as Mountain Soldier *

Guido Lorraine Guido Lorraine (2 September 1912 – 31 December 2009) was a Polish-born actor, musician and singer, known primarily for his roles in war films. He was also sometimes known by the stage name Guy Borucki. Lorraine appeared in twenty-eight films ...

as Lieutenant Prachi

Production

Development

Gilliat got the idea for making the film from a newspaper article he read shortly before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He decided it would make a "chase thriller" in the style of films he had written for Alfred Hitchcock and

Carol Reed Sir Carol Reed (30 December 1906 – 25 April 1976) was an English film director and producer, best known for '' Odd Man Out'' (1947), '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), ''The Third Man'' (1949), and ''Oliver!'' (1968), for which he was awarded the ...

, notably ''

The Lady Vanishes ''The Lady Vanishes'' is a 1938 British mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave. Written by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, based on the 1936 novel ''The Wheel Spins'' by Ethel L ...

'' and ''

Night Train to Munich ''Night Train to Munich'' is a 1940 British-American thriller film directed by Carol Reed and starring Margaret Lockwood and Rex Harrison. Written by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, based on the 1939 short story ''Report on a Fugitive'' by Go ...

''.FILM IN THE MAKING: "State Secret" Enley, Frank. Sight and Sound; London Vol. 18, Iss. 71, (Fall 1949): 10. The fictitious "Vosnian" language was constructed for the film by a linguistics expert, combining Latin, Hungarian and Slavic. The star role went to Douglas Fairbanks Jr., who had made a number of British films in the 1930s and was keen to work in the country again. His casting was announced in May 1949. Fairbanks later said "We have definitely reached a One World status in pictures. British comedy and character acting do not seem remote to us any more." In July it was announced that another Hollywood star would play the female lead but by August, actress

got the role.

Filming

Filming began in August 1949. Although there was some filming done at Isleworth Studios in London, Gilliat wanted to make as much of the film on location. There was eight weeks on location filming, in

and the

. Trento stood in for the fictitious capital. Filming finished by November 1949. Fairbanks later said filming was difficult as some in Italy thought the film was anti-communist while others said it was pro-communist, and the film unit had to avoid riots.

Reception

Critical reception

In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'',

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

wrote, "... this picture is just about as lively as they come, and under Mr. Gilliat's direction, it moves like an auto gaining speed ... Beautifully photographed in Italian cities and in the Italian

, the whole adventure has the eminent advantage of a sparkling Continental atmosphere. And it also has the advantage of good performance by all concerned—by Mr. Fairbanks as the kidnapped surgeon, looking a little like

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Literature, literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama tech ...

; by Miss Johns, very saucy and explosive, as the music-hall girl; by Jack Hawkins as the Vosnian premier ic with an Oxford accent and a Nazi attitude; by Herbert Lom as the Balkan shyster and any number of others in small roles."

Box office

Trade papers called the film a "notable box office attraction" in British cinemas in 1950. It was one of five successful movies from London Films that year, the others being ''

The Wooden Horse ''The Wooden Horse'' is a 1950 British Second World War war film directed by Jack Lee and starring Leo Genn, David Tomlinson and Anthony Steel. It is based on the book of the same name by Eric Williams, who also wrote the screenplay. The f ...

'', '' The Happiest Days of Your Life'', ''Odette'' and ''

Seven Days to Noon ''Seven Days to Noon'' is a 1950 British drama/thriller film directed by John and Roy Boulting. Paul Dehn and James Bernard won the Academy Award for Best Story for their work on the film. Plot In 1950, the British Prime Minister receives ...

''. According to ''Kinematograph Weekly'' the 'biggest winners' at the box office in 1950 Britain were ''The Blue Lamp'', ''The Happiest Days of Your Life'', ''Annie Get Your Gun'', ''The Wooden Horse'', ''Treasure Island'' and ''Odette'', with "runners up" being ''Stage Fright'', ''White Heat'', ''They Were Not Divided'', ''Trio'', ''Morning Departure'', ''Destination Moon'', ''Sands of Iwo Jima'', ''Little Women'', ''The Forsythe Saga'', ''Father of the Bride'', ''Neptune's Daughter'', ''The Dancing Years'', ''The Red Light'', ''Rogues of Sherwood Forest'', ''Fancy Pants'', ''Copper Canyon'', ''State Secret'', ''The Cure for Love'', ''My Foolish Heart'', ''Stromboli'', ''Cheaper by the Dozen'', ''Pinky'', ''Three Came Home'', ''Broken Arrow'' and ''Black Rose''. ''State Secret'' was less popular in the US but Fairbanks Jr. said "I thought I did my best work ever; Sidney really kept the pot boiling."Bawden and Mille
2016, p. 104
at Google Books

References

Bibliography

* Bawden, James and Ron Miller. ''Conversations with Classic Film Stars: Interviews from Hollywood's Golden Era''. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2016. . * Murphy, Robert. ''Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939-48''. London: Routledge, 2003, First edition 1992. .

External links

*
''State Secret''
at BFI

at

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

{{Launder and Gilliat 1950 films 1950s thriller films British thriller films British black-and-white films Films set in 1950 Films set in Europe Films set in London London Films films Films directed by Sidney Gilliat Films scored by William Alwyn Films set in a fictional country Films shot at Isleworth Studios Films shot in Italy 1950s English-language films 1950s British films