''The Secret Ways'' is a 1961 American neo noir

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

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 ...

based on

Alistair MacLean Alistair Stuart MacLean ( gd, Alasdair MacGill-Eain; 21 April 1922 – 2 February 1987) was a 20th-century Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers and adventure stories. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, most notably '' The G ...

's 1959 novel '' The Last Frontier''. It was directed by

Phil Karlson Phil Karlson (born Philip N. Karlstein; July 2, 1908 – December 12, 1982) was an American film director. Karlson directed '' 99 River Street'', ''Kansas City Confidential'' and ''Hell's Island'', all with actor John Payne, in the early 1950s ...

and stars

Richard Widmark Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914March 24, 2008) was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, '' Kiss of Death'' (1947) ...

Plot

In 1960 Vienna, after Soviet tanks crush the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

, American adventurer Michael Reynolds (

) is hired by an international espionage ring to smuggle a noted scholar and resistance leader, Professor Jansci (

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 appe ...

), out of Communist-ruled Hungary. Reynolds goes to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to see the professor's daughter, Julia (

Sonja Ziemann Sonja Alice Selma Toni Ziemann (; 8 February 1926 – 17 February 2020) was a German film and television actress. In the 1950s, she was among Germany's most prominent actresses, awarded the 1950 Bambi for appearing, together with Rudolf Prack, ...

), and he persuades her to accompany him to

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. Once there, Reynolds is kidnapped by "freedom fighters" who take him to the professor's secret headquarters. Meanwhile, one of Jansci's trusted aides is captured by the Hungarian Secret Police and forced to reveal the professor's hiding place. Reynolds, Julia, and Jansci are quickly rounded up and taken to Szarhaza Prison, where they are tortured by the sadistic Colonel Hidas (

Howard Vernon Howard Vernon (15 July 1908 – 25 July 1996) was a Swiss actor. In 1961, he became a favorite actor of Spanish film director Jesús Franco and began starring in many low-budget horror and erotic films produced in Spain and France. After po ...

). They are rescued by a resistance fighter known as The Count (

Charles Régnier Karl Friedrich Anton Hermann 'Charles' Regnier (Régnier)"Wedekind aus Horst Kreis Neustadt am Rübenberge in Niedersachsen". In: ''Niedersächsisches Geschlechterbuch''. (Genealogical studies). Limburg an der Lahn: Verlag C. A. Starke Volume 1 ...

), who tricks the Communists into placing the prisoners in his custody. At the last moment the ruse is discovered. The Count is killed as the other three race to the airport where a chartered plane is waiting. Hidas pursues them but is killed in an accident on the runway. Safe at last, Reynolds, Julia, and the professor leave Hungary.

Cast

as Michael Reynolds *

as Julia *

as The Count *

as Jancsi *

Senta Berger Senta Verhoeven (née Berger; ''Austrian German:'' , ; born 13 May 1941) is an Austrian-German actress. She received many award nominations for her acting in theatre, film and television; her awards include three Bambi Awards, two Romys, an Ad ...

as Elsa *

as Colonel Hidas * Heinz Moog as Minister Sakenov *

Hubert von Meyerinck Hubert "Hubsi" von Meyerinck (23 August 1896 – 13 May 1971) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 280 films between 1921 and 1970. Biography Meyerinck was born in Potsdam, Brandenburg, the son of Friedrich von Meyerinck (1858� ...

as Sheffler * Oskar Wegrostek as The Fat man *

Stefan Schnabel Stefan Artur Schnabel (February 2, 1912 – March 11, 1999) was a German-born American actor who worked in theatre, radio, films and television. After moving to the United States in 1937 he became one of the original members of Orson Welles's M ...

as Border official *

Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel (5 April 1900 – 24 December 1994) was an Austrian actress who started her career in Germany during the 1920s. Under the Nazi regime she emigrated to the United States, where she appeared on the Broadway and in a few H ...

as Olga * Helmut Janatsch as Janos * John Horsley as Jon Brainbridge * Walter Wilz as Peter * Raoul Retzer as Special Agent * Georg Köváry as Language Professor *

Ady Berber Ady Berber (4 February 1913 – 3 January 1966) was an Austrian film actor, professional wrestler and café owner. He appeared in more than 40 films between 1936 and 1966. He was born and died in Vienna, Austria. Selected filmography * '' C ...

as Sandor * Jochen Brockmann as The Commandant * Brigitte Brunmüller as Waitress *

Reinhard Kolldehoff Reinhard Kolldehoff (29 April 1914 – 18 November 1995) was a German film actor. He appeared in 140 films between 1941 and 1988. He was born and died in Berlin, Germany. Selected filmography * '' The Gasman'' (1941) - Polizeibeamter (uncr ...

as The Count's Men * Rudolf Rösner as The Count's Men

Production

The film was based on Alistair MacLean's novel ''The Last Frontier'' which was published in the US as ''The Secret Ways''. Actor Richard Widmark moved into producing in the 1950s while making ''Time Limit''. His production company, Heath Films, bought the screen rights in March 1959. Widmark called it "an anti-Communist thing" which "had nothing to do with my ersonalpolitics." In August 1959 Heath Films signed a two-picture deal with Universal, the first of which was to be ''The Secret Ways''. Other books Widmark wanted to film were ''The Wounds of Hunder'' and ''The Seven File''. Widmark visited Austria with his wife Jean Hazlewood, who would write the script. They did considerable research and made a significant number of changes to the novel. In May 1960 Phil Karlson signed to direct. Karlson went to Vienna on June 1, and filming began in August. Many local Austrian actors were cast in support roles.

Shooting

According to an interview in

Cinema Retro ''Cinema Retro'' is an English magazine devoted to "celebrating films of the 1960s & 1970s". Founded in 2005 by Lee Pfeiffer and Dave Worrall, it is subtitled "the Essential Guide to Cult and Classic Movies". The 64-page full-colour magazine is p ...

, associate producer

Euan Lloyd Euan Lloyd (6 December 1923 – 2 July 2016) was a British film producer. Biography He began his career directing short travelogue documentaries, starting with '' April in Portugal'' in 1954 (not released until 1956). He worked in publicity ...

stated that producer and star

did not like director

's proposed

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scott ...

direction of the screenplay written by Widmark's wife

Jean Hazlewood Ora Jean Hazlewood (August 4, 1916 – March 2, 1997) was an American screenwriter, and wife of actor Richard Widmark for 55 years. They met while they were both attending Lake Forest College. She adapted the Alistair MacLean novel ''The Secr ...

. Widmark took over the direction of the film in September without credit. Karlson says Widmark hired him on the basis of ''

The Phenix City Story ''The Phenix City Story'' is a 1955 American film noir crime film directed by Phil Karlson for Allied Artists, written by Daniel Mainwaring and Crane Wilbur and starring John McIntire, Richard Kiley, and Kathryn Grant. It had an unusual "triple ...

'' because "he wanted to try to get realism in it" and the director told him "I wanted to do it as a

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

. But he hadn't heard of James Bond. I said, "If we do this tongue in cheek, we'll be the first ones." He said, "No, I don't want to do it that way"." Karlson says he left for the last week of filming. Years later, after Karlson made ''The Silencers'', a Bond-style spoof, he says Widmark tried to get him to do three more pictures. The director said, "He realized we'd have had, maybe, the first picture that would have taken him out of the role of the guy who kicks the old lady down the steps."Todd McCarthy and Richard Thompson. “Phil Karlson: Interview, November 19, 1973” Kings of the Bs; Working Within the Hollywood System, eds. Todd McCarthy and Charles Flynn (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1975), pp. 327-345. Rpt. Cine Resort, Oct. 7 2014
/ref> Widmark had a series of movies in development as a proposed follow-up.WIDMARK'S FIRM ADDS TO AGENDA: Heath Plans Films in Japan and in England After Star Makes 'Seven File' Here By HOWARD THOMPSON. New York Times 4 Feb 1961: 14.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Secret Ways, The 1961 films 1960s adventure thriller films 1961 adventure films American black-and-white films Cold War films Films scored by John Williams Films based on British novels Films based on works by Alistair MacLean Films set in 1960 Films set in Austria Films set in Budapest Films set in Hungary Films set in Vienna Universal Pictures films Films directed by Phil Karlson American adventure thriller films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films