Moviecut—Escape in the Fog

The unusual part is the supernatural element (a nightmare comes to life), which gives "Escape In The Fog" an intriguing start; unfortunately, all of this is ignored after the midway point, and the movie ends up being a routine, by-the-numbers WWII spy programmer. ** out of 4.

No pun intended - I don't know how much one can feel or recreate what it must have been like in the last year of the second world war. It is not like anyone knew it would be the last year. Certainly not a movie production that had to have some preparation time before shooting and editing it together. But that never stopped anyone doing something they thought was vital. Or at least thrilling and suspensful enough to keep people on the edge of their seat. In this case a movie that was quite short too. Just over an hour - and a really packed one at that. The actors are really good and the movie gets right to the point. Dreams and what they mean ... not that we really ever understand certain things or get all the answers ... I think there is a lot more to discover if you are willing to watch this a few times ... and it warrants those viewings for sure, The director knows his stuff and you can tell when you see his bio.

That is the answer. The question is: What is the single reason to watch this movie? I loved her in "My Name Is Julia Ross." That is one of the best films noir of all time. Noir or whatever one may call it, it's a very unsettling movie. She is fun in one of the worst major studio releases of all time, too. That would be "The Guilt Of Janet Ames." This one has a spooky, promising title. It has a good cast. It has a fine director. I was expecting something dark. Maybe something a little tawdry. Instead, it's an uninspired, routine espionage movie. It's pretty much is a total bore. At least it was to me. Ms. Foch is captivating. And that is about it.

I'm surprised this film hasn't received a higher rating. Maybe old folks need to think back to when they were kids and rode their bikes downtown on Saturday afternoon to watch a string of second run "B" pictures at the cheap theater. Or perhaps some caught this in later decades when these old films were shown on TV late night on weekends. In any event, enjoy this for what it is. Don't expect Shakespeare and you won't be disappointed. As a typical WWII film this one will keep you entertained. As a bonus, Nina Foch has never looked lovelier. My son and I have never called these WWII Spy Thrillers, Propaganda Films, or whatever. To us they've always been and always will be, "Nazi Scum" Movies. We've amassed a large collection. This is one of them ... and one of our favorites. It reeks of the surrealistic cheapie back lot films that seem both unreal and real simultaneously.

An army nurse on leave has a premonition about witnessing a murder attempt on a bridge. She later meets that man, who is a G-man who is being targeted by Nazi agents. Escape in the Fog is a standard "B" spy film from Columbia. The film isn't cheap looking, and the cast is good. Nina Foch is good as the lead, while Clark Gable lookalike William Wright is good as the G-man. Top-billed Otto Kruger doesn't get much to do as Wright's boss, while Konstantin Shayne is entertaining as the lead Nazi? The plot is pretty silly, and the end scene where the two baddies accidentally shoot each other is pretty cheesy stuff. Overall, nothing special, but it's entertaining.

This wartime thriller follows conventional plot directions, but the framing of its story in a dream of murder makes it pretty interesting. Foch is excellent and very sexy. The suspense lags after the dream occurs in real time, and we have to see Foch tied up as Kruger (excellent as always) tries to find a missing envelope. Nicely photographed and directed; if only more thought had gone into its conception.

A woman dreams of a man being murdered, and later she experiences the scene in real life. Before he made his name with the Ranown series of Westerns, Boetticher churned out a skein of low-budget programmers for Columbia and Monogram, many of them well above average. This mystery, while no masterpiece, nicely illustrates what Andrew Sarris called "the beatitude of the Bs". With typical B movie non-logic, the intriguing dream-coming-true angle is taken at face value and never explained. There are a couple of clever escape scenes, and the stylish 40s wardrobe (wide lapels, pin-striped suits, floppy hats) rivals the sartorial splendor of a Hawks movie. Second-string stalwart Nina Foch, more alluring than usual, gives another intelligent performance despite the plot holes. An even finer second-feature from the same director, Behind Locked Doors, has recently received mainstream video release.

Escape in the Fog is directed by Oscar "Budd" Boetticher and written by Aubrey Wisberg. It stars Nina Foch, William Wright, Otto Kruger and Konstantin Shayne. Foch plays nurse Eileen Carr who dreams of a man being murdered only to wake and meet the man in real life... Solid programmer out of Columbia, Escape in the Fog runs at just over an hour and gets by on its nifty spy like premise and a good sense of atmosphere. Boetticher himself would say that this early period in his career was all about a learning curve, and he shows some nice economical touches to mask the low budget nature of the production. Film is at its best when Frisco is fog bound, while the war time shenanigans amount to race against time espionage intrigue. Noir darling Foch is good value and Wright decent hero/romantic foil, and the skulduggery dealing villains are a fun product of the time. 6/10