Gefährlicher Urlaub (1953)

Gefährlicher Urlaub: Directed by Carol Reed. With James Mason, Claire Bloom, Hildegard Knef, Geoffrey Toone. In post-WW2 Berlin, when travel to the East was still possible, the sister of a British officer from West Berlin is abducted by Communist agents and taken into the Soviet sector where her eventual rescue is arranged by a German smuggler.

“Vintage Reed with all the elements from his films of the period. The innocent (Bloom) whose view needs to be muddied. The world weary, complex hero/villain. The confusion and ambiguities veering between love and hate, trust and betrayal, weakness and strength. Humans pulled from their comfortable lives and twisted by circumstance. The worn surroundings of war torn Berlin an extra character in the plot. All this in typical stark angled Reed view, with an atmospheric signature tune used noticeably towards the end, and a scene sequence mirroring the ambiguities of the characters.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhilst the film doesnu0026#39;t flow as fluently and seamlessly as The Third Man, Mason and Bloom create eminently watchable if not entirely rounded characters.”