In keeping with his previous outings Anthony Mann has opted for the 'Noir' treatment and shot this in the style of an espionage thriller. The MacGuffin here is the 'Black Book' in which would-be dictator Robespierre has listed those for the chop.
The French Revolution must surely represent one of the peaks of human insanity and the claustrophobic interiors together with the extreme close ups, odd camera angles and atmospheric lighting by John Alton(he of the 'it's not what you light, it's what you don't light' philosophy) have captured brilliantly the darkness and danger of the world these characters inhabit and the sheer anarchy of the times. "No one goes to bed in Paris, it isn't safe" someone observes and audiences in the late 1940's could hardly fail to recognise similarities with the all-too recent and indeed existing dictatorships.
As for the cast we have the terrifying stillness of Richard Basehart as Maximilian("don't call me Max!") Robespierre and Arnold Moss as a wonderfully reptilian Fouché. The good guys are played by Robert Cummings whose look of innocence is belied by his sly, knowing smile and by Norman Lloyd. These two actors had previously been seen grappling on the Statue of Liberty in Hitchcock's 'Saboteur'. Scrumptious Arlene Dahl, on loan from MGM provides the eye candy.
The whole enterprise is of course Hollywood historical hokum and needless to say the North American accents are incongruous but these weaknesses are overcome to a degree by Mann's taut direction and excellent staging.
Historically it is a grim reminder than when something awful is overthrown it is invariably replaced by something infinitely worse.
The French Revolution must surely represent one of the peaks of human insanity and the claustrophobic interiors together with the extreme close ups, odd camera angles and atmospheric lighting by John Alton(he of the 'it's not what you light, it's what you don't light' philosophy) have captured brilliantly the darkness and danger of the world these characters inhabit and the sheer anarchy of the times. "No one goes to bed in Paris, it isn't safe" someone observes and audiences in the late 1940's could hardly fail to recognise similarities with the all-too recent and indeed existing dictatorships.
As for the cast we have the terrifying stillness of Richard Basehart as Maximilian("don't call me Max!") Robespierre and Arnold Moss as a wonderfully reptilian Fouché. The good guys are played by Robert Cummings whose look of innocence is belied by his sly, knowing smile and by Norman Lloyd. These two actors had previously been seen grappling on the Statue of Liberty in Hitchcock's 'Saboteur'. Scrumptious Arlene Dahl, on loan from MGM provides the eye candy.
The whole enterprise is of course Hollywood historical hokum and needless to say the North American accents are incongruous but these weaknesses are overcome to a degree by Mann's taut direction and excellent staging.
Historically it is a grim reminder than when something awful is overthrown it is invariably replaced by something infinitely worse.