The Secret Ways
| The Secret Ways | |
|---|---|
 Original film poster | |
| Directed by |
Phil Karlson Richard Widmark |
| Produced by |
Richard Widmark Euan Lloyd |
| Written by | Jean Hazlewood |
| Starring |
Richard Widmark Sonja Ziemann |
| Music by | John Williams |
| Cinematography | Max Greene |
| Editing by | Aaron Stell |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release dates | April 24, 1961 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 112 min. |
| Language | English |
The Secret Ways is a 1961 American thriller film based on Alistair McLean's novel The Last Frontier. It stars Richard Widmark.
Plot
American adventurer Michael Reynolds is hired by an international espionage ring to smuggle a noted scholar and resistance leader, Professor Jansci, out of Communist-ruled Hungary. Reynolds goes to Vienna to see the professor's daughter, Julia, and he persuades her to accompany him to Budapest. Once there, Reynolds is kidnapped by freedom fighters who take him to the professor's secret headquarters.
Meanwhile, one of Jansci's trusted aides is captured by the Hungarian Secret Police and forced to reveal the professor's hiding place. Reynolds, Julia, and Jansci are quickly rounded up and taken to Szarhaza Prison, where they are tortured by the sadistic Colonel Hidas.
They are rescued by a resistance fighter known as The Count, who tricks the Communists into placing the prisoners in his custody. At the last moment the ruse is discovered. The Count is killed as the other three race to the airport where a chartered plane is waiting. Hidas pursues them but is killed in an accident on the runway. Safe at last, Reynolds, Julia, and the professor leave Hungary.
Cast
- Richard Widmark as Michael Reynolds
- Sonja Ziemann as Julia
- Charles Régnier as The Count
- Walter Rilla as Jancsi
- Senta Berger as Elsa
- Howard Vernon as Colonel Hidas
- Heinz Moog as Minister Sakenov
- Hubert von Meyerinc as Hermann Sheffler
- Oskar Wegrostek as The fat man
- Stefan Schnabel as Border official
- Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel as Olga
- Helmut Janatsch as János
- John Horsley as Jon Brainbridge
- Walter Wilz as Peter Monar
Production
According to an interview in Cinema Retro, associate producer Euan Lloyd stated that producer and star Richard Widmark did not like director Phil Karlson's proposed tongue in cheek direction of the screenplay written by Widmark's wife Jean Hazlewood. Widmark took over the direction of the film without credit.[1]
References
- ↑ Cinema Retro Issue #1 Euan Lloyd Interview
External links
| |||||