That was an excellent one.

So much average

Boring

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Directed by Anthony Mann, with a screenplay by Aeneas MacKenzie and Philip Yordan, this noirish fictionalized historical drama focuses on the time period just after the French Revolution dubbed the 'reign of terror, when silver-tongued Maximilian Robespierre (played by Richard Basehart) used the people's confusion and nearly became France's new dictator.Robert Cummings plays Charles D'Aubigny, who impersonates a foreign executioner named Duval that was summoned to do some necessary dirty work by Robespierre. D'Aubigny must navigate the cloak and dagger environment to help François Barras (Richard Hart) and the people avoid the travesty of Robespierre's plans. Arlene Dahl plays Madelon, a Barras ally who knew D'Aubigny previously (and romantically), which is (at times) both an asset and a liability for the country's 'savior'.Arnold Moss play Fouché, the untrustworthy head of Robespierre's secret police, who has his own agenda and desire for a power grab. Norman Lloyd plays Tallien, Madelon's protector; Charles McGraw plays Sergeant. Jess Barker plays Saint Just, who faithfully carries out Robespierre's wishes and rightfully suspects that D'Aubigny isn't who he says he is. Beulah Bondi plays Grandma Blanchard, the matriarch at the farm where D'Aubigny and Madelon temporarily receive refuge while hiding from St. Just; a very young Russ Tamblyn appears uncredited as one of the Blanchard children.The film begins with Robespierre having his previously trusted friend Danton (Wade Crosby, uncredited) sentenced and convicted as an enemy of the people, to give one a sense of how crazy the post- revolution environment has become (and the power of Maximilien as accuser). Shortly thereafter, Duval (Charles Gordon, uncredited) is killed by a mysterious man that turns out to be D'Aubigny, who'd received a ring from the exiled General, the Marquis de Lafayette (Wilton Graff, uncredited) to prove his true loyalty to the people, and Barras.Near the end of the film, a brief reference is made to France's future when Fouché speaks to a soldier claiming to be Napoleon Bonaparte.

The Black Book (AKA: Reign of Terror) is directed by Anthony Mann and written by Aeneas MacKenzie and Phillip Yordan. It stars Robert Cummings, Richard Basehart, Richard Hart, Arlene Dahl, Charles McGraw and Arnold Moss. Sol Kaplan scores the music and John Alton is the cinematographer.Late 18th century France and the republic is in chaos as the French Revolution continues to rage. Scheming bad boy Maximillian Robespierre (Basehart) spies an opportunity for a dictatorship, within 48 hours he will seize control and rule France with a rod of iron. But there is hope in the form of a resistance freedom fighter named Charles D'Aubigny (Cummings), if only he can locate the secret Black Book belonging to Robespire then he can curtail the tyrant's plan.Before he would make his name in Adult Westerns and Period Epics, Anthony Mann made a considerable mark on film noir. From the mid 1940's to the beginning of the 50's, he made a number of film noir movies that marked him out as a considerable talent. Of that cluster the most odd one is The Black Book, an historical period thriller done out in film noir clobber. Forget history and approach the film as a piece of entertainment only, a film rich in film noir visuals and no small amount of quality drama. It has problems, namely it has a fakeness about it that's hard to shake off, while Cummings is weak and Dahl serves only to be a plot point in the final reel. But Alton and Mann's stunning sense of mood and visual atmospherics save the day, while there's value to be had in the performances of Basehart (dastardly), McGraw (menacing) and Moss (slimey). 7/10 Footnote: Sadly the only DVD available for the film is an appalling transfer, both in picture and sound. It's advised to watch it during daylight hours and with the headphones on.

Slice into Arnold Moss's Inspector Fouche and you'd get an oily spill bigger than BP's. It's a great tongue-in-cheek performance, about as charmingly slimy as they come. Now, I've read several books on the French Revolution, but there are a bunch of things I learned from this supremely stylish film (Anthony Mann). Mainly, that The Terror occurred at night in noirish lighting (John Alton) with a great supporting cast of Basehart, Moss, Lloyd and McGraw; that the art guy who designed Paris (Cameron Menzies) cast all sorts of nightmarish shadows over the city; and that not even a well-meaning lightweight like Robert Cummings could spoil these inspired events. As a result, the movie is a visual Terror that really fires up the imagination, history books or no.But I especially love it when that bewigged fop Robespierre is led into the Assembly near the end, and this raucous wall of faces fills the screen. Right away you know somebody's in big trouble. Now I also know why the real Assembly was nicknamed "the mountain", though "volcano" might be more accurate here. And catch that great silhouetted shot of the farmhouse during the chase, like nothing I've seen since the equally unique Night of the Hunter (1955). In fact, almost every frame features a compelling visual of one kind or another. Without doubt, the 90-minutes is one of the weird glories of B-movie noir; at the same time, ace producer Walter Wanger should be congratulated for assembling such an outstanding production crew and supporting cast, (I'm assuming the two leads Cummings and Dahl were concessions to Hollywood commercialism).Anyhow the movie scared the daylights out of me as a kid, and now, impresses the heck out of me as a geezer.

The film is about a little black book that is in Citizen Robespierre's possession. This leader during the so-called "Reign of Terror" was a cold fish who consigned many--including his good friend, Danton, to the guillotine all in the name of patriotism. It seems in this movie that the Citizen actually has a master plan to wipe out everyone around him--it's hidden in this book and it is important to find the book and reveal to everyone the evil hit list. It's up to secret agent Bob Cummings to find it and convince everyone of the danger the nation faces.There have been some exceptional films about the French Reign of Terror (in the 1790s), such as THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL, A TALE OF TWO CITIES and DANTON. Because these films were so good, it made it much tougher to watch and enjoy REIGN OF TERROR. Sure, it was a good film, but compared to these great films it pales in comparison. Much of it is because there really isn't much in the way of character development and the actors could have just as likely been in a movie set in an entirely different time period. Overall, it's pretty much just a time-passer and an actor I usually love in films (Richard Basehart) is pretty bland as is the lead, Bob Cummings.