Ministry of Fear (1944)

Too much of everything

Expected more

Best movie ever!

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Excellent film noir thriller directed by Fritz Lang. Probably the closest Lang got to doing a Hitchcock movie. Ray Milland, in one of his best roles, plays a man just released from an asylum after two years. He wanders into a charity bazaar where a fortune teller and a cake (yes, a cake) put him smack dab in the middle of a plot involving a Nazi spy ring. It's a gripping movie stylishly directed by Lang with a good script and interesting characters. Some touches of brilliance throughout, such as the scene on the train with the blind man and the aftermath.As I said before, Ray Milland has one of his best roles here as a man trying to unravel the mystery and remain sane while dealing with the insane situation he's thrust into. Lovely Marjorie Reynolds plays the female lead and has terrific chemistry with Milland. The rest of the cast includes Alan Napier, Dan Duryea, Hillary Brooke, Carl Esmond, and Erskine Sanford. It's really a good cast overall. Some spectacular movies came out during the WW2 years and, in my opinion, the really great espionage thrillers like this have stood the test of time the best.

On the eve of World War II Ministry of Fear appeared as a great crime picture concentrating on a very hot topic at the time, namely the devious Nazi schemes and plots build up all around Europe. Its decent and somehow dizzying storyline places this movie in the great film noir category right on spot. Its gloomy aura and very climatic ambiance can be felt throughout the whole time. It starts with a great scene to set the tone. The clock is hanging on the wall. It is ticking inexorably. We see a man coming into a dark room and then a shot of Ray Milland sitting in a chair. It's 12 o'clock and he is finally free, after being stuck for two horrible years in one very peculiar place.Ray Milland gives a fine performance as a man named Stephen Neale, who just got released from an insane asylum and dreams about going to London to lead a peaceful and quiet life. Nothing further from the truth. After a visit to a very strange town fare he stumbles across a horrifying plan, which can have tragic consequences for his country. He needs to tell that to somebody. However, because of his unclear past he is unable to convince others that he is onto something very eerie. What's more, in the process someone wants to frame him for a crime he didn't commit. The main quality of this picture comes from the side of its fantastic cinematography. Every scene is shot perfectly, with the classic low-key white-and-black visual style. Some of the images are simply astounding: a gripping scene on the train with a seemingly blind man, explosive suitcase, bombing near the railroad tracks, etc. But the most stunning one for me was that of a group mind-reading session. Through its play on colors, light and visual sensations it brings a sort of nightmare-ish mood to the movie.Add a very fine and climatic music and all you get is a noir experience of the highest level. Apart from being an agitating thriller Ministry of Fear is also a proper take on the situation in Europe during the War. Nazi scams were omnipresent and every person could have been involved, no matter what nationality he or she was. That's definitely the point that makes it feel more realistic and dramatic at once.

In Lembridge, during World War II, the inmate Stephen Neale (Ray Milland) has just been released from the Lembridge Asylum after two years of compulsory confinement. While waiting for the train to London, Stephen visits a charity fair promoted by The Mothers of Free Nations and the clairvoyant Mrs. Bellane gives a tip to him and he receives a cake as a gift.In the train, Stephen shares his cabin with a blind man. Out of the blue, the man steals the cake and run through the field with Stephen chasing him. However, he hides in a house that is bombed by the airplanes and dies.In London, Stephen investigates The Mothers of Free Nations organization and he meets the siblings Carla Hilfe (Marjorie Reynolds) and Willi Hilfe (Carl Esmond) and Stephen goes with Willi to the house of Mrs. Bellane (Hillary Brooke), who is a different woman from the fair. She invites them to participate of a séance and a man is murdered. Stephen is accused and escapes, and Carla finds a hideout to him. Sooner Stephen finds that he is a pawn in a Nazi spy ring and he does not know who is trustworthy."Ministry of Fear" is film-noir of espionage by Fritz Lang with a man getting involved in a spy ring in London during World War II. The plot is only reasonable and the motivation for Stephen Neale to get further and further in his investigation is not clear since he had been advised to avoid problems with the police. Anyway the film is entertaining and for fans of Fritz Lang, it is worthwhile watching it. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Quando Desceram as Trevas" ("When the Darkness Has Fallen Down")

Suspicion lurks around every corner in London during the Blitz, where a helpless Ray Milland is pursued by Nazi spies intent on retrieving, by any means, the roll of microfilm hidden in a cake he innocently won while attending a small town charity fête. The scenario is strictly second-hand Hitchcock, and not worth recalling in detail afterward, but as with other Fritz Lang features the real star of the film is its persuasive mood. Rarely have the merits of black and white photography been used to such advantage, and the atmosphere of impending menace in this brooding wartime thriller (adapted from a novel by Graham Greene) goes a long way toward camouflaging the often pedestrian dialogue.