Abwehr greift ein (1956)

Abwehr greift ein: Directed by Henry S. Kesler. With Ruth Roman, Sterling Hayden, Werner Klemperer, Richard Gaines. During the 1950s, a man’s car trip from L.A. to Texas turns into a Cold-War espionage drama when his car breaks down and he accepts a lift from a stranger.

“This is a clever directing job to make a film noir mystery into a good film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFilm noir often stumbled from being too Hollywood, with heroes and heroines automatically acting creepy just for the sake of acting creepy.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHere, we get the opposite. The best mysteries have the woman being the u0026quot;woman of mysteryu0026quot;, because that is part of being a woman, while being a man means having your mystery come out of your very straight forward approach.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSterling Hayden often acted gruff for the sake of acting gruff. A modern day guy who thought there was always a camera on him.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut here he acts more like a believable man from the fifties, or any era before the twenty first century.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHe becomes the u0026quot;everymanu0026quot; who is introduced to a mysterious world, which involves espionage.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe CIA and FBI are put in a likable light, which doesnu0026#39;t go over well with those who like the post 1965 cliché. Being 1957, this goes under the old cliché, which really wasnu0026#39;t around long enough to be a cliché. Thatu0026#39;s why such CIA and FBI characters are still fresh, and in the long run, more believable than the silly assassins of today.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat helps here is a great atmosphere. We get some road, and not too much of the cars. We have a few pit stops, and changing scenery, which makes this flow very well.”