A rather fishy intrigue going at any lengths to cause as much confusion as possible, as it basically only consists of loose ends all over, but it all starts at sea in the second world war, then proceeds to a court martial where James Mason appears to be convicted and dismissed from service, whereupon he shaves his beard and tries to get hold of a girl 'Mary' who has some awful things to tell him, which she never gets a chance to, as the old lorn house she has made an appointment with him in is empty except for a dead girl with a mysterious paper note clutched in her hand, which body is discovered by another girl, leading them to some circle of spies disguised as an entertainment company with mind readers, harmonica players and another singing girl, while James Mason is more interested in one girl than another, or is it the other way around? Anyway, there is nothing wrong with the acting or the intrigue-making, James Mason is always worth enjoying, but that's about all in this film - the death mystery in the desert house provides the only excitement, which never is satisfied, as the body disappears and never is recovered... Is it a comedy, a satire, just an entertainment made for kicks, is it seriously meant at all, or was it just made to fill some gap? The film inspires as many questions as an almost total lack of answers, but it provides at least some momentary entertainment...

***SPOILERS*** We see an almost unidentifiable looking James Mason wearing what looks like a cheap clip-on beard as British Naval officer Richard Heritage get canned from the Royal Navy for having his ship with all aboard sunk by a Nazi U-Boat because of not following the instructions he was given. It turns out that the orders that Heritage was given was switched by a pro-German spy while he was having a few drinks at a local pub.It's when Heratige tracks down the mysterious but now dead bar girl at a sleazebag hotel in the country he runs into Canadian Laura Verity, Joyce Howard,who was visiting her sick uncle at the very same hotel room who feels that he in fact murdered her. This has Laura on the run feeling that she'll end up being Heritage's next victim. It doesn't take long for Heritage to convince Laura with his good looks and British manners, as well as puppy dog brown eyes, that he's on the up and up and not the cold blooded killer that she thinks he is. It's then that Laura with Heritage's urging who then gets a job as a singer and dancer at the place that the murdered bar girl last worked for "The Child Talent Agency" run by Christopher Child, Tom Well. It's Well who was using it as cover for his Nazi Liverpool spy ring!***SPOILERS**** Not much if any action for a film supporting the allied war effort at the height of WWII but more like a 1930's screwball comedy instead.It's later in the movie that were told, by the Royal Navy officials, that Heritage was in fact an innocent stooge made to look like he screwed things up so the Nazis won't take him seriously. The fact that Laura came into the picture or movie made things that much more complicated for the British who now had two people to save from the Nazis one-Richard Heritage- who had some idea of what was going on in the movie and another-Laura Verity-who was totally clueless!P.S Breath taking performance by the great Ronald Chesley who steals the show as he blows everyone away and off their feet as the film's show stopping main attraction "Max the Mouth" the wild & crazy harmonica player.

To begin, "They Met in the Dark" is a mystery that is seamlessly turned into a WWII espionage film, all the while remaining a film about two attractive and courageous people gradually falling in love. Analysts of recent vintage who try to watch the film, I suggest, routinely fail to understand its strengths and make too much of its very few weaknesses. It also confuses them because it is a film directed by a Czech, made with British actors, and yet its style is superior U.S. 1940s narrative of unusual clarity, swiftness of pace and occasional brilliance. The story involves a young naval officer who is cashiered from the service under suspicion of incompetence (James Mason) and who manages to become involved with a young woman (Joyce Howard) who finds a body and has cause to suspect him of having been the murderer. Following parallel paths--she to clear herself of suspicion in the case and he trying to find the truth about how his career came to grief over his botched assignment at sea--he tries to protect her while she is busy eluding him. The clues lead them both to a Dance Academy cum talent agency, which is really a nest of spies, wherein a quintet of villains has been manipulating innocents and finding a way to extract secret information from British naval officers, such as that knowledge those loss wreaked havoc on Mason's life. The last portion of the film, maintaining the light-hearted tone carried out throughout the proceedings, becomes an anti-espionage caper led by Mason and a fellow officer, leading to a very satisfying conclusion. Carl Lamac (as Karel Lamac) directed with a fluid and amazingly adept camera style, handling varying sorts of indoor and outdoor, group and chase, two-shot and nightclub scenes with extreme skill. Marcel Hellman produced, with music by Ben Frankel, outstanding cinematography by Otto Heller, art direction by Norma G. Arnold and period dance arrangements by Philip Bruchel. The screenplay was adapted from the oft-imitated novel "The Vanished Corpse" by Anthony Gilbert. Others involved in the screenplay included Basil Bartlett, Anatole de Grunwald, Victor MacLure, Miles Malleson, and James Seymour. Phyllis Stanley is outstanding as a singer, David Farrar and Edward Rigby are Mason's closest confederates. The evil quintet are portrayed by Ronald Ward, powerful Tom Walls as the leader, capable Karel Stepanek, Eric Mason, and Ronald Chesney, aided by Walter Crisham and Betty Warren. Brefni O'Rourke plays a police Inspector, with Kynaston Reeves, Terence de Marney, Robert Sansom, Patricia Medina and Peggy Dexter in supporting roles. As the young woman caught up in intrigue, Joyce Howard is far better here than she had been in the much darker "The Night Has Eyes"; though she lacks some voltage, she is attractive, and more than adequate. As the hero, James Mason gets to essay a great variety of interesting scenes, all of which he performs with convincing and skillful art throughout. He wins the girl in this one, but only after playing a variety of dramatic, comedic and challenging scenes; and as usual; he is able to sustain his character throughout the proceedings and make everyone around him look better than they do in the film at any other time. Comparing this delightful film to many routine program films of the war years, I suggest any critic worth his salt would have to applaud the success of this often brilliant entertainment. This is the sort of film people with a positive sense of life used to be able to make; I find it to be one within which complex story elements are made clear and scene follows scene with both logic and a continual sense of discovery. This is a very underrated noir adventure with most successful comedy used to advance the plot at every turn. Recommended.

I have just read Patricia Medina Cotten's book entitled "Laid Back In Hollywood" (1998)and was anxious to see the wife of the late Joseph Cotten when she was an actress, preferably in the 1940's when she was at her most glamorous.I chanced upon this title "They Met In the Dark" (1944) after searching through her titles for sale on Imdb.com.I have never seen this film on UK tv, so as I like all of James Mason's films, (his voice is so unique), I obtained a VHS video copy of this film from Blackstar.co.uk. Patricia plays Mary, a manacurist girlfriend of James Mason and appears at the beginning of the film but I was sorry to see her demise in the next reel! The plot sees Mason a naval commander found guilty of negligence in not acting under orders from the high command in the merchant Navy during WWII, and losing one of His Majesty's cargo ships as a result of enemy action.Mason claims he was acting under revised orders but cannot furnish the necessary proof to the court marshall tribunal.He is determined to prove his innocence and is told that if he wishes to see his girlfriend, to meet her at a nearby cottage.Once there, he meets the film's heroine, Joyce Howard, who thinks Mason is the killer as she too has seen the body of Mary upstairs.She rushes off to report the murder but when the police arrive at the cottage and investigate, no body! Joyce is accused of the very serious wartime crime of wasting police time.The plot then moves to Liverpool as there was a card with the inscription, "Child's Theatrical Agency", Liverpool, clutched in the deceased's hand. Mason "palms this off" at the cottage as it lies on the floor, so Joyce Howard cannot even show this as evidence to the police who get even more annoyed with her.The two principal actors have an off and on relationship throughout most of the film as there is mutual suspicion between them.They become involved with fifth columnists who are seeking to obtain vital information for Germany about the departure/destination and time of the next convoy, commanded by its flotilla leader played by David Farrar (who later played the squire, Jack Reddin, in "Gone to Earth" (1950)). I won't provide a spoiler but this is perfect Sunday afternoon watching for those like me who love classic 1940's films, especially James Mason fans who are unfamiliar with this title.I gave it 3/5 stars.