Classic Film Review: Cloak and Dagger (1946)

Cloak and Dagger stars Gary Cooper as Professor Alvah Jesper, a scientist who is recruited by the allied secret service to find out what stage the Germans are at with their development of a nuclear bomb. Jesper is sent to see Dr Lodor (Helene Thimig) in Switzerland after she has escaped from German control. However, she is then kidnapped and killed during a rescue attempt. Jesper's attention turns to a colleague of Lodor's, Dr Polda (Vladimir Sokoloff), who is trapped in Italy forced to help the Germans who have his daughter in detention. Jesper and the secret service set out to free both him and his daughter.

Now, if it sounds convoluted that's because it really is. The plot is haphazard and by the time you realise the point of the film is to rescue Polda and his daughter you've already got through most of the film. It goes to a lot of trouble to set up Dr Loder as the person in need of rescue then turns it upside down. While this could be considered a good twist, what it actually does is muddy what is already a disjointed film.

Jesper is an unusual hero for a film like this. He isn't in control of anything, he's the scientist constantly led by the secret service and their agents. Although there are a couple of 'exciting' moments, he is never the driving force behind the narrative. His conversion from scientist to helpful operative never really works for me. Neither does his romance with Gina (Lilli Palmer), an operative who helps him once he's in Italy. Palmer herself is as sublime as ever in one of her early roles but proves to be one of the only things I liked about the film.

Hammy death scenes, convoluted plot and an unheroic hero - not the best WWII film I've seen by far.

Classic Film Review: Conspiracy of Hearts (1960)

Nuns, Nazis and children - you'd be forgiven for mistaking this for one of my favourite films. What Conspiracy of Hearts is, however, is a painful reminder of wartime interspersed with some heart-warming moments and a dash of sentimentality.

A convent has been helping to smuggle children out of a nearby concentration camp in Italy. German officers have been brought in to control the situation, making the work more difficult and dangerous. Despite advice, Mother Katharine (Lilli Palmer) refuses to accept that God intends them to leave the children in the camp and continues to put herself and her convent at risk. She is supported by most of the nuns with the exception of Sister Gerta (Yvonne Mitchell) who feels the lying to hide the children is a weight on her conscience. When a nun is shot during an escape attempt, the German officer brought in begins to become more suspicious and the film builds to a suspenseful conclusion with the nuns at risk of being executed and the latest batch of children in serious trouble.

Beginning with a news bulletin recap of events in Italy was perhaps useful but distracting to the film as a whole. The wider context didn't need to be understood; just the fact of Mussolini falling would've been information enough. However, from then on we are pushed straight into the endeavours of the nuns. There's very little dialogue at the beginning and this works to accentuate the danger. Later, as the nuns smuggle a rabbi into the convent (literally over the walls) to perform a ceremony for the children, the viewer is aware that the secret is out and the soldiers are on the way to retrieve the children. It builds the tension up to unbearable levels and leaves you seriously wondering whether the nuns will survive.

Lilli Palmer is wonderful as Mother Katharine. Her innate warmth and humour that I've noticed in other roles shone through perfectly in this one. Yvonne Mitchell demonstrated Sister Gerta's conflicts well from the beginning and her change of heart is one of the film's more endearing moments. Novice nun, Sister Mitya (Sylvia Syms), wants to devote her life to the convent but her heart had been captured by Major Spoletti (Ronald Lewis). Spoletti is the 'careless' Italian major who has turned a blind eye to the escape plots. He is forced to comply with the new strict rules until he's faced with watching Sister Mitya be attacked on German orders. The film paints a good picture of the Italian soldiers, though the Nazis are mostly framed as just that - Nazis.

Some of the scenes with the children do get a little sentimental but that would be difficult to avoid. Perhaps the most important thing about this film is that it builds ever gently to a suspenseful climax without resorting to too much melodrama. Definitely worth a watch if you want to see war from a different angle and if you're a Lilli Palmer fan.