Based upon Eric Ambler’s 1940 novel of the same name, Journey into Fear (1943) is a Mercury Production directed by Norman Foster and starring Joseph Cotten, who structures the script like a film version of an epistolary novel as Howard Graham (Cotten) writes a letter to his wife Stephanie (Ruth Warrick) due to his becoming a target of a Nazi assassin in this entertaining WWII thriller.
Buy Journey into Fear Blu-rayHoward is an agent from an armament manufacturer that supplies the Turkish navy, which is assisting the Allies. While visiting Istanbul with his wife, his company’s local agent, Kopeikin (Everett Sloane), takes Howard to a nightclub show where a magician is shot. After informing Howard the assassin’s bullet was meant for him, Colonel Haki (Orson Welles), the head of the Secret Police, makes Howard take a boat out of Turkey for his protection. Howard is unable to tell his wife he’s leaving, but Haki assures he will see to her safe transport to the Soviet port of Batumi.
While on board the ship, Howard encounters a intriguing cast of characters whose true identities and varied interests are slowly revealed. This ratchets up the suspense as Howard and the audience don’t know who to trust, especially after the assassin Banat boards the ship. It’s a cat-and-mouse game between Howard and the Nazis, leading to some great plot twists and a compelling, slow pursuit on a building’s ledges in a hard-driving rain.
After a 4K scan of safety preservation master positives, the video has been given a 1080p/encoded transfer displayed at the original aspect ratio of 1.37:1. Cinematographer Karl Struss shoots the film like a noir picture. The inky blacks display the captured shadows well and don’t crush. The shots feature a good amount of depth, which in some scenes is affected by a soft focus of background objects, such as when the Grahams first get to their hotel. Other times, the whole scene may have a soft focus, like Kopeikin and the Grahams are chatting in their room. There is light film grain present and the image looks clean.
The audio is available DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Dialogue is clear, although some of the dubbing sounds hollow, such as when Howard kisses his wife goodbye. Composer Roy Webb’s score plays with good clarity. There’s a faint hiss. Otherwise, the track sounds free from age or defect.
The Special Features aren’t related to film directly. They are three radio broadcasts of Mercury Theater On the Air:
- Dracula (60 min) – Originally broadcast on 7/11/1938
- Treasure Island (65 min) – Originally broadcast on 7/18/1938
- A Tale of Two Cities (60 min) – Originally broadcast on 7/25/1938
Running 68 minutes, Journey into Night is a briskly paced, espionage thriller. Cotten is very good in his role of a man responding to the various changes in his circumstances, including when death is on the line. For fans of other Mercury Productions, it’s fun to see the acting troupe pop up in different roles. The Warner Archive Blu-ray delivers a pleasing high-definition presentation that does a very good job considering the source materials. Would have liked an extra or two related to the film.
