Complete credited cast: | |||
Gary Cooper | ... | ||
Lilli Palmer | ... | ||
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Robert Alda | ... | |
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Vladimir Sokoloff | ... |
Polda
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J. Edward Bromberg | ... |
Trenk
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Marjorie Hoshelle | ... | |
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Ludwig Stössel | ... |
The German
(as Ludwig Stossel)
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Helene Thimig | ... |
Katerin Lodor
(as Helen Thimig)
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Dan Seymour | ... |
Marsoli
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Marc Lawrence | ... |
Luigi
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James Flavin | ... |
Col. Walsh
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Patrick O'Moore | ... |
The Englishman
(as Pat O'Moore)
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Charles Marsh | ... |
Erich
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Toward the end of World War II, the allied secret service receives a partial message indicating that the Germans are researching nuclear energy to build atomic bombs. In Midwestern University, the scientist Alvah Jesper is called up by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) to meet his former colleague Dr. Katerin Lodor in Switzerland and bring her to North America. However, his mission fails and Dr. Lodor is killed by the Nazis but first she informs that Alvah's acquaintance Dr. Giovanni Polda is working for the Nazis in Italy. Dr. Jesper travels to Italy and with the support of the Italian partisans leaded by Pinkie and Gina, he has a meeting with Dr. Polda that is under the surveillance of the Gestapo. The scientist tells him that his daughter Maria had been abducted by the Gestapo and Alvah makes a deal with Dr. Polda, promising to release Maria first and bringing them to North America. While Pinkie travels to rescue Maria, Alvah stays with Gina and they fall in love for each ... Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Mike Burke eventually ran Ringling Brothers and then the New York Yankees. He eventually moved to his beloved Ireland where he died as I recall. Whether or not his character was in some way a model for Charlton Heston in "The Greatest Show on Earth" I know not, but he WAS the advisor for this film having been an OSS secret agent during World War Two, and this is supposedly based on his experiences. He is mentioned in the credits. Gary Cooper is his usual fine self as a professor recruited to infiltrate Europe and convince a nuclear physicist friend to defect. His adventures are a little hard to take for a mere professor but with Cooper it always works. NOTE: Marc Lawrence is fabulous as the Ovra (Italian Gestapo) agent Luigi. The hand to hand fight he has with Cooper is one of the best, most vicious, and most realistic ever filmed. It's too bad Lawrence got blacklisted during the Fifties. But catch this movie when you can.