The Counterfeit Traitor (1962)

Too much of everything

One of my all time favorites.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

This really is a very superior film of its kind. The director and screenwriter was George Seaton, a highly talented man whose greatest cinematic achievement was to direct and write the screenplay for THE COUNTRY GIRL (1954). In Britain it is only possible to get the DVD of this film in a Spanish edition, where you turn off the Spanish subtitles. Part of the beginning of the film and the end credits are cut from that DVD issue, inexplicably, though that is only a minor irritation. William Holden is well chosen for the lead, for his droll gravitas perfectly fits the need for a first person narration and the role of an unwilling spy into which he is drawn. Lilli Palmer is also perfect for the soul-searching German idealist who wishes to oppose Hitler to the last ounce of her strength but cannot come to terms with the accidental deaths of children in an Allied bombing raid for which she gave the coordinates, in her role as spy. The film is based on a non-fiction book published in 1958 by Alexander Klein (1918-2002), a Hungarian Jew who lived in America from the age of 5. Klein's book recorded the real wartime adventures of a Swedish oil executive, Eric Erickson, who became a crucial spy against the Nazis while posing as a Nazi-sympathiser, and who is played in the film by Holden. The story is thus a true story, and that may explain the film's deeply compelling qualities. There is a great deal of difference between a film based on real events and one based on someone's imaginings. The grisly events portrayed in this film are more convincing than is normal in espionage films because they really happened. Indeed, no one who had not lived through them could have imagined such things, an example being the Jew attempting to flee to Sweden from Denmark who permits himself to choke to death on a handkerchief rather than betray his hiding place to the Gestapo and cost his companion his life. And then there is the bizarre detail that if you are being pursued by border guards with dogs, you can save your life by sprinkling dried blood mixed with cocaine powder on the trail. The dogs stop to sniff it and become immobilized and have fits. (We may have to keep this in mind as we move towards an increasingly totalitarian world. And it is the first sensible use of cocaine that I have ever heard of, that's for sure.) This is a big budget film, as it was shot on location in Sweden, Denmark, and Germany, at huge cost. The film runs for 2 hours and 20 minutes and is gripping for the entire time. An excellent performance as an oily British spy controller is given by Hugh Griffith, who for once kept his eyebrows partially under control and did not have a 'Groucho moment'. He must have had great fun being a creep for a change, for no actor likes to be laughed at all the time, especially one of ability. This excellent movie is more than just an entertaining film, it is a document and a record, and it is so well done that it does justice to the seriousness of its subject matter.

Wanted to set the record straight on 1 of the reviewer's retelling of one of the most important scenes. I call this scene the epiphanny scene, because William Holden's entire perspective changes after hearing Lilli Palmer's reasons why she has become a spy (Palmer)"He (Hitler) is the anti-Christ and I am a Christian". (Holden): But your religion also tells you to love your enemy!" (Palmer): I said I was a Christian, not a saint!. .... (Palmer again)"You businessmen are all alike, thinking this war is one grand chess match. Try to think of it as one small truck going off to a concentration camp and those who are shivering inside." (Holden) "I feel for those people" (Palmer)"Yes, but not WITH them, that's the difference. But someday you might. You'll see a man, a complete stranger being bullied and beaten and in that instant, he'll become your brother" (Holden)" I don't know if you are wise or just foolish, but your husband, (who cheated on her) must be an idiot"

I'm torn over this movie. I remembered seeing it years ago on TV and was blown away by it, so when I saw the DVD was available, I bought it. And despite remembering basically what happens through the movie, I still found myself engrossed in it. But it took some doing, that's for sure.To begin with, it now irritates the hell out of me to see a movie that is set in the forties having women dressed in modern clothes, even though I know it was common in the 50's and 60's for movies to do that (up to BONNIE & CLYDE, basically). The worst example of this is IN HARM'S WAY, that has one woman in a near mini skirt even though it's supposed to be taking place the night before Pearl Harbor. Well, you got that in this one -- Lillie Palmer decked out in the latest fashions of 1962, even though the movie's set twenty years earlier. It's a glaring fault that makes it hard to take the story seriously.Second is the incessant voice over that tells us what we're seeing and how we should be feeling about it. Hate that.Third is the complete lack of chemistry between Lilli Palmer and William Holden, both of whom have been bright and sexy in other roles. I don't know what the problem was, but they act more like they can barely stand each other than as the romantic leads.I think the fault lies mainly with George Seaton, the director. He is a GREAT writer...but as a director he does not understand his scripts and cannot seem to shape them into anything that approaches the hyper-reality of great cinema. I keep thinking of what Alfred Hitchcock could have done with this story, how sexy and scary it would have been.But that's wishful thinking, and even with these flaws, the truth of the story builds and captures you and intensifies and provide some powerful moments. I was engrossed, despite myself. Here's a good movie ripe for a remake with an international cast done by someone like Spielberg or Weir. No counterfeit directors, those two; the only one is the one who directed THIS movie.

This excellent movie makes you really feel like the characters are in your living room. It shows both the true horror and the rush to love as fast as possible during wartime. The more I watch it the more I pick up things I missed the last time. There is a lot of things to be learned by this movie. Both the Horrors and feelings of war and how people act under severe stress.