I saw Foreign Intrigue years ago and it was on a black and white set and I found the film then excruciatingly dull. Seeing it now I missed the beautiful color cinematography of French, Austrian, and Swedish locations that the film was done. They helped lift Foreign Intrigue a bit in my eyes.But not enough to raise it to some of the better films that Robert Mitchum did. At least he got a nice European tour in the making of this film.Mitchum plays a press agent who works for Jean Galland one of those international jet setters whose origins and money are a mystery. When Galland dies of a heart attack suddenly, Mitchum who was a press agent takes it on himself to investigate his former boss, especially after a variety of strange people keep asking him whether Galland had any dying last words.He's also got the late man's widow Genevieve Page who made it clear they were married in name only on his case, eying Mitchum like a rack of lamb done at the expensive steakhouse where I ate last night. The implication is quite clear that Galland was gay and Page is hot to gallop.Turns out that the late employer made his living as a blackmailer with a select clientèle of people who paid him annual tribute to keep their common dirty secret. All of them were potential fifth columnists in the USA, the UK, Switzerland, and Sweden. Mr. Galland was the Russian part of this elite group of quislings in their respective countries.Mitchum has another love interest in Ingrid Thulin the daughter of the potential Swedish collaborator who had committed suicide a few years back. And he's got one Frederick O'Brady who had orders to kill Mitchum but decides to go into business with him instead. He's a mysterious and malevolent sort.Seeing it again after decades I found Foreign Intrigue still didn't quite sustain my interest. I couldn't quite believe that the Soviets would have let this guy live and accumulate all his wealth. They were not squeamish in the slightest about eliminating Nazi collaborators.Ingrid Thulin made a few films in the English language, but mostly was queen of her native Swedish cinema. She never became the successor to Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman as an international star. During the making of The Four Horseman Of The Apocalypse with Glenn Ford with whom she co-starred with her Swedish accent was so thick that Angela Lansbury was called in Thulin's entire part was dubbed over. Now if it was that bad for that film, I'm wondering if this was her voice here?Nice photography attached to a not terribly convincing story is my assessment now of Foreign Intrigue.

The story for this film is lame and uninteresting. A bunch of Nazi double agents are going to be exposed 10 years after the war.. The writer(s) obviously didn't know much about neutral countries like Sweden and Switzerland...why would Hitler have picked one man to seize power in those countries? These countries were neutral and made no difference to the war. In any case how could one man per country seize power or make any difference at all...it is all so incredibly stupid.This film is bad... after about a half hour I was ready to pull the plug...but didn't. It is richly filmed and might make a good travelogue but what a bunch of lousy writing and directing.There is no intrigue in Foreign Intrigue...everything is listless with some sort of jazz sound track completely incongruent to the action... Even the Swedish girl falling in love with Michell is flat and unconvincing... maybe she is a bad actress or was badly directed? BOTH! Robert Mitchum cruises through the film on Valium with his eyes half shut.Avoid this movie!

Dave Bishop's job as assistant to Victor Danemore comes to an abrupt end when he finds his boss dying at the library of his well appointed house in the French Riviera. Dave cannot get over his surprise every time someone asks him whether the dead man said anything to him before he passed away. Even the dead man's wife does not appear to have been shocked by his sudden demise.Dave, following a hunch, goes on to Germany to meet with a lawyer who has a letter that was to be opened in case of foul play. Alas, someone gets to this man before he does, making Dave Bishop the suspect for the investigation that follows. The only other clue is in Stockholm, where the figure of a certain Mr. Lindquist is tied to the mystery that Dave is trying to uncover.Our only interest in watching this 1956 film was because of Robert Mitchum, the star. Basically, this film's plot makes not much sense with complications that will confuse viewers not paying attention to what is going on. Directed by Sheldon Reynolds, who was involved in television, so the acting is by the numbers. This was the era when Europe was a cheap way to get fantastic backgrounds to set their films. It can clearly be seen in this production.

This tale of intrigue concerns the American business manager (Robert Mitchum playing "David Bishop") of wealthy European Viktor Dannamore in post-WWII Europe. Without the barest introduction, the action draws the protagonist into a whirlpool of downward-spiraling intrigue surrounding the death of his boss. One learns first that there is something going on between Mitchum and the dead man's wife. The wife then turns out to be "in the game" as well, and from this point--with Mitchum fleeing the Austrian police only to fall into the arms of a beautiful girl (whose late father was an associate of Dannamore). A dizzying array of characters enters this swirling, yet understated drama, either singly or in pairs. And while seem drawn straight out of period spy and intrigue, not one is stereotypical or boring, but highly individualistic and perfect in his (or her) role. The spare, refined dialogue, set against the backdrop of great post-war capitals such as Vienna and Stockholm, is enticing and convincing. And despite the intrigue everywhere, the film's most striking undertone is romantic.A real surprise was that the film moved quickly without the help of modern gaudy action sequences, riveting the viewer to the screen. Not one step or one turn is predictable, and the perfect casting lends an intense attractiveness to this period film. Although not nearly as well-known as other spy-films of the era, "Foreign Intrigue" should rank with great espionage thrillers such as "The 39 Steps" and the far bleaker and more realistic "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold".I was not prepared at 2:30 in the afternoon for a film of this quality and have never seen a surprise ending of this caliber.