....but his signature is all over it. Yes, I know he wrote and produced but I've seen enough of his films to know his trademarks, like the unwitting American who has stumbled into international intrigue with bumbling results (Cotten is perfectly cast here), the ridiculous laughter of the captain and his "boom-booms," and the many quirky supporting players. There's much more Welles going on here than simply the writer and supporting role.Despite the film's short length, it never felt rushed and I was not aware of any missing scenes that many have alluded to. However, we can only hope that one day an expanded edition might be released. This is a very entertaining film even in shortened form.

American ballistics expert Howard Graham is in Istanbul, Turkey. After being recalled home to the USA, he dim-wittingly stumbles hesitantly through an assassination plot from one dilemma to another in ever-decreasing circles while trapped on board a ship travelling to Batumi, a Soviet port. The snare he finds himself in, involving the differing military interests in Turkey, grows tighter by the minute, leaving him bewildered. Orson Welles contribution as Turkish secret police Colonel Haki is quite understated in this film, not allowing his presence to dominate the screen, so instead showcasing the lead actor's talent with the screen being hogged by Joseph Cotten. We follow his character Graham weaving along a dark path of distrust and treachery, that ultimately leads to a fatal confrontation between the competing conspirators in a nighttime, rain-soaked Turkish hotel. Ruth Warrick plays Graham's wife and sultry Dolores Del Rio (at the time of filming, Wells's current partner), a courtesan and traveling companion, are the feminine interests. Eustace Wyatt provides the meat of the Nazi lead villain - Muller, with Jack Moss as the creepy bespectacled assassin Banat. Directed by Norman Foster from an Orson Welles - Joseph Cotten screenplay; Journey Into Fear is anything but that and feels solely as a director-actor combination contrivance for the studio's (possibly contractual) need to provide the release of product. Even one as butchered as this, RKO failed to damage Welles's long term acceptability and credibility, though Welles did enough damage to his career himself. As wartime espionage, the plot though apparently convoluted, is simple and formulaic, with the proceedings plodding, the action minimal, the ending coming sooner than expected and unwelcomed. Contributed in part by harsh editing, to the rushed pace of the final reel. As a film noir, it also fails to grip the viewer due to lack of suspense & tension and little emotional connection with the protagonist. This makes it for me, one of Welles's least successful films - one to forget. Other reviewers have taken time to detail the film's failings in plot, execution and continuity, which most likely was due to the severing of connections between RKO and Welles's Mercury Productions prior to the film's release. I am not bothered and truthfully I have spent far longer in reviewing this than is necessary, but wanted to state why it disappointed me so much. I feel that later viewings may elicit a better psychological & emotional connection with the film, now the plot generally holds no significance. I watched the British released version, without as I have been advised elsewhere, the USA version's opening narration or final letter scene between Haki and Graham. The UK version presented by Talking Pictures TV recently, premiered on Freeview 81; prior to the end credits finished with Graham outside in the torrential rain on the (third-floor?) hotel ledge gripping the wall - when his wife Stephanie, unaware of much of the proceedings, calls to him emphatically to come down immediately as if he is a stupid boy.

A fun noir thriller, teaming Joseph Cotten (SHADOW OF A DOUBT) and Orson Welles (CITIZEN KANE). An arms dealer in Turkey finds himself the subject of an assassination plot by Nazi agents who are determined to stop him helping the alliance. The story begins proper during a magic show when a magician is accidentally shot; the intended victim (Cotten) must then flee on a ship back to America, but all on board may not have kindly intents towards him.Oddly, the film this most reminded me of is the fun Sherlock Holmes story PURSUIT TO ALGIERS, which has a very similar storyline. In any case, JOURNEY INTO FEAR is a fun film to watch for the visuals, featuring plenty of moody black-and-white photography and menacing shadows from which an assassin could spring at any moment. The story picks up when the setting moves to the ship, the director making the best of the claustrophobic confines.Cotten has always been a reliable star and that's no different here. Welles himself plays the larger-than-life supporting role of a Turkish ally, while the villains pitted against the pair are a lot of fun. The high rise climax is a hoot.

This movie has plot holes you could fly a jumbo jet through. And it has absurdities that will drive you crazy. To say that this movie is totally incoherent would be an understatement. I was just lucky that I'd read the book before so I kind of knew what was supposed to be going on. I also didn't understand the reason for most of the changes from the book: Why would an American in Istanbul travel to the Georgian port of Batumi in Eastern Black Sea, part of the USSR, to get back to the US?! Why is his wife with him in Istanbul? She disappears in the beginning and reappears in the end. Why he's not delivered his coat and suitcase from the hotel before the boat leaves? Etc. etc. These changes don't make any sense, either plot-wise (tighter) or production-wise (cheaper). Silly.Cotten plays like a robot. Except for him, there is some promising casting but the actors have neither the time nor the lines to do anything with their characters.Maybe somebody shot a proper full-length version of this movie and then a mad joker cut out the crucial 1/3. Then somebody edited it while trying to land a plane in a hurricane. I don't know. It certainly has not aged well at all. If you're looking for another "The Mask of Dimitrios," this isn't it. This accident of a movie reminds me of some shorts from the 1920s. Pity.PS: I saw the version with the horrible voice-over and the terrible ending..