Cloak and Dagger (1946)

hyped garbage

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Oftenly overlooked and seemingly forgotten Fritz Lang's WWII espionage thriller. Although passable by Lang's standards, but entertaining enough for die hard noir and spy genre enthusiasts. This film is most notable because of being one of the first mainstream movies with anti-nuclear attitude. Lot of that was cut out from final film of course.'Cloak and Dagger' is war time melodrama in dark espionage sauce - there is romance, there action, there are thrills. Still the film feels little uneven at places. Gary Cooper's performance as professor Jesper was cool and charming, but at places he seemed too skilled and experienced as an secret agent opposed that he supposed to be just scientist inexperienced at secret agent field. That kind of gives the film James Bond like fairy tale super agent feel. Not that is a bad thing itself.Fritz Lang is one of those directors whom every film I want to see, and 'Cloak and Dagger' didn't disappoint me at all. Entertaining flick with enough juice to nail the viewer to the screen from beginning to end.

first of all, the screenplay is so stupid and so shallow. a professor without any field training could become involved and acted like double o seven, flew first into swiss, then infiltrated into Italy, it's just such a naive screenplay. the sound track of the music synchronized with every gesture and movement of the actors, so over-the-top dramatic and exaggerated like Walt Disney's cartoons, sometimes very patriotic, sometimes sentimental, Christ on a crutch, givemeabreak. then when the guy sneaked into Italy, all the morons started smoking in the rear of the truck, when met Italian army's road block, the car was stopped, then easily let go, but then another stupid scenario put into play, the truck stuttered and couldn't drive away, then the Italian soldier lifted the canvas, used flashlight to check the back. the soldier must got a flu so serious that he couldn't even smell the cigarettes smoke those morons (including the high i.q. American physicist) just lit up and snuffed out a moment ago. then the stupid music accompanied the movie's actions and tempos going on and on. i don't want to mentioned the stupid arrangement of a beautiful Italian woman, Gina, the change her wet clothes in front of those men. the woman did another clothes changing in front of the American professor again, and warned him not to stare at her. the whole screenplay was just so stupidly drafted with contrived dialog, and the directing was also primitive. but the most annoying thing is the music. Jesus, sometimes even with so romantic violin score. stupid romance during the war, what a drag.

This WW2 espionage yarn gets off to a slow start but picks up steam after the action shifts to Italy and Palmer enters the picture as Cooper's love interest. Cooper acts with his usual awkwardness but in this case his uneasiness is well suited to the role of a scientist out of his element. As an Italian resistance fighter, Palmer gives a wonderfully natural performance. Although the opening credits oddly indicate that this is her film debut, she had been acting for a decade. The best parts of the film are her scenes with Cooper. The fight scene between Cooper and Lawrence is reminiscent of Hitchcock. Lang made this at the time when he was at the peak of his creative powers.

Despite this being a film directed by the great German Director, Fritz Lang as well as starring Gary Cooper, this is an amazingly ordinary film. It just seems that the movie lacks so much energy, as the actors limp through the film as if half-asleep. There are also MANY parts of the film that make no sense (such as Cooper's blundering into Switzerland at the beginning of the film--even though it is supposed to be a secret mission). Plus, the romance that developed between Cooper and Palmer just seemed contrived. One minute, Ms. Palmer despises Cooper (for no good reason) and the next they were in love!? This seemed much more like a plot device and less like a real attraction.As for the movie itself, it actually bears a close resemblance to the excruciatingly bad FIRST YANK IN TOKYO--with a very similar plot about smuggling out a scientist out from under Fascist noses to assist the Allied effort to make the atomic bomb. Additionally, the film also is reminiscent of OSS and 13 RUE MADELEINE, though these two films were a bit better--particularly 13 RUE MADELEINE.It's not a bad film (FIRST YANK IN TOKYO was just terrible, though), but isn't one I'd rush out to see. I just expected so much more! Plus, starring Gary Cooper, you'd expect more.