That was an excellent one.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Richard Todd plays someone hired by an American millionaire to locate a partisan in Italy who saved his life during the war. He wants to give him a reward.The movie skims much too quickly over Todd's dubious provenance--too bad that would have made the movie so much more interesting than the straight shooter he is molded into.The movie is shot in Venice and as other reviewers have noted resembles both Bond and Hitchcock.... The very last scene with the body falling from onto Saint Mark's square was so Hitchcock like. Also the police chief's office with the vertical window blinds that turn into a map of Venice seemed so Bondish. As some one else noted there are talented people filming this ... moody shadows and cinematography that could not have been easy to do is carried off perfectly.The movie has a couple flaws it becomes too straight shooter and it is talky....we depend on long dialogues by the actors to carry the story... this taxes them to the max especially when the lines are unlikely. Some of the lines were fantastic though ---the one about telling a man nothing causes him to hit a blank wall and return while lying to him sends him down a path and he leaves you alone.RECOMMEND

This film, although not as well-crafted as THE THIRD MAN or THE MAN BETWEEN, is definitely in their league; it's a taut, post-war mystery in which a European city (in this case, Venice) is one of the most important characters. The main human character, Edward Mercer (Richard Todd), is a Hitchcockian protagonist: a man trying to prove his innocence in ever more dire circumstances.The plot does get convoluted at times, but director Ralph Thomas always keeps your eyes interested with wonderful location shots. The cast is solid, and Sid James is given a rare dramatic role. The ending, also with Hitchcockian overtones, is thrilling and a fine bit of camera work and direction. (May I recommend that after you finish the film, go back and watch the first few minutes again. You'll see how cleverly the motifs of the film are tied together.)

As another reviewer says this is something of an underrated film. More so since it was made in 1952. At that time exchange controls would have limited the amount of filming that could be done overseas and so much of it was studio filmed in England. The story is intricate and the full meaning is not revealed until the final 20 minutes. If Venice seems harsh and cold its very much in the recovery from war mode yet the back drop is excellently atmospheric. The absence of tourists is refreshing. The films high contrast back and white rendition is also noteworthy.Good cast....Not hard to see why some say Bond meets 3rd man! Even some classy looking femmes fa tales!

Many of these detective series had to be formulaic. That is the nature of a series. So if you want to differentiate, one strategy is to introduce exotic locations. When this was made, that was still rare. The location has to be highlighted in the name, so we have Charlie Chan, the Saint, the Falcon and so in such and such a city. The place here is Venice. Unfortunately it is not captured well. For some reason, the texture of the city escapes the usual camera. (I did like the color you got in the Clooney "The Job" and the Bond "XXX").So the setting is largely wasted by the clumsy camera, except for a visit to a Murano glassworks. The glass factories are located on an island near the city because of the ancient fear of fire. These for hundreds of years have been a wonder of the world, once secret, now a bit tired. When this film was made, Chihuly had not yet brought Murano to our attention and the polluting effect of tourism had not occluded its magic.It is only a few minutes in this otherwise ordinary adventure. And it is just background motion. But you might as I, hold it a dear experience to just see.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.