Excellent film noir thriller directed by Fritz Lang. Probably the closest Lang got to doing a Hitchcock movie. Ray Milland, in one of his best roles, plays a man just released from an asylum after two years. He wanders into a charity bazaar where a fortune teller and a cake (yes, a cake) put him smack dab in the middle of a plot involving a Nazi spy ring. It's a gripping movie stylishly directed by Lang with a good script and interesting characters. Some touches of brilliance throughout, such as the scene on the train with the blind man and the aftermath.As I said before, Ray Milland has one of his best roles here as a man trying to unravel the mystery and remain sane while dealing with the insane situation he's thrust into. Lovely Marjorie Reynolds plays the female lead and has terrific chemistry with Milland. The rest of the cast includes Alan Napier, Dan Duryea, Hillary Brooke, Carl Esmond, and Erskine Sanford. It's really a good cast overall. Some spectacular movies came out during the WW2 years and, in my opinion, the really great espionage thrillers like this have stood the test of time the best.

It's wartime England. Stephen Neale is released after two years in Lembridge Asylum. He had killed his wife in a mercy killing. He comes across a charity fair. There's a guess-the-weight-of-the-cake contest and also a mysterious fortune teller. He wins the cake but something strange is going on. A blind man gets on the train with him but he turns not to be blind. He tries to steal the cake but is killed during the bombing raid. Neale hires private eye George Rennit to help him investigate. He tracks down Mothers of Free Nations which ran the charity fair. Austrian refugees Willi and his sister Carla Hilfe run the charity.I love the start of the movie. The strangeness of the cake and the blind man. The guy had just gotten out of the asylum. The movie settles into a standard spy thriller. The rest isn't quite as interesting but it's workmanlike. It isn't the strange dark weird film that I thought at first. It's tamer and not as interesting.

Fritz Lang directed this film based on a Graham Greene novel that stars Ray Milland as Stephen Neale, who has just been released from an asylum after two years for the mercy-killing of his terminally ill wife. It is London during WWII, and Stephen stops at a country fête where he correctly guesses the weight of a cake, but after a misunderstanding with a "fortune teller", finds himself mixed up with a spy ring that leads to the fête organizers, one of whom(a beautiful woman played by Marjorie Reynolds) falls in love with Stephen, and helps him evade both the police and enemy agents to uncover the truth. Atmospheric and exciting film may defy credibility at times, but interesting characters and setting make all the difference.

In Lembridge, during World War II, the inmate Stephen Neale (Ray Milland) has just been released from the Lembridge Asylum after two years of compulsory confinement. While waiting for the train to London, Stephen visits a charity fair promoted by The Mothers of Free Nations and the clairvoyant Mrs. Bellane gives a tip to him and he receives a cake as a gift.In the train, Stephen shares his cabin with a blind man. Out of the blue, the man steals the cake and run through the field with Stephen chasing him. However, he hides in a house that is bombed by the airplanes and dies.In London, Stephen investigates The Mothers of Free Nations organization and he meets the siblings Carla Hilfe (Marjorie Reynolds) and Willi Hilfe (Carl Esmond) and Stephen goes with Willi to the house of Mrs. Bellane (Hillary Brooke), who is a different woman from the fair. She invites them to participate of a séance and a man is murdered. Stephen is accused and escapes, and Carla finds a hideout to him. Sooner Stephen finds that he is a pawn in a Nazi spy ring and he does not know who is trustworthy."Ministry of Fear" is film-noir of espionage by Fritz Lang with a man getting involved in a spy ring in London during World War II. The plot is only reasonable and the motivation for Stephen Neale to get further and further in his investigation is not clear since he had been advised to avoid problems with the police. Anyway the film is entertaining and for fans of Fritz Lang, it is worthwhile watching it. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Quando Desceram as Trevas" ("When the Darkness Has Fallen Down")