Adventure

Mystery

Thriller

The Secret Ways

Heath Productions

Universal International Pictures

United States of America

English

Richard Widmark

Sonja Ziemann

Charles Regnier

Walter Rilla

Senta Berger

Howard Vernon

Heinz Moog

Hubert von Meyerinck

Oskar Wegrostek

Stefan Schnabel

Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel

Helmut Janatsch

John Horsley

Walter Wilz

Raoul Retzer

Georg Köváry

Ady Berber

Jochen Brockmann

Brigitte Brunmüller

Reinhard Kolldehoff

Rudolf Rössner

Alistair MacLean

John Williams

Mutz Greenbaum

Phil Karlson

Aaron Stell

Euan Lloyd

Werner Schlichting

Georg von Block

Herbert E. Mendelson

Jean Hazlewood

Rudolf Ohlschmidt

Kurt Schwarz

Isabella Schlichting

André Farsch

Herta Friedl

Erich von Stroheim Jr.

Joseph Gershenson

Bob Simmons

Margarete Pitter

Edward Muhl

Peter Allwork

Leo Bei

Tibor Simanyi

Ken Buckle

CinemaSerf

Richard Widmark was quite good in these wartime gun-for-hire stories. In this one, he features well as the slightly smug American "Reynolds" who is drafted in by the Hungarian resistance to try and smuggle a renowned scientist from Soviet-occupied territory to the safety of Vienna. Upon arrival - posing as a journalist - his best laid plans hit one pretty unexpected snag - the old fella "Jansci" (Walter Rilla) doesn't actually want to go. Luckily, the man's daughter "Julia" (Sonja Zieman) is on board but they are still going to have one heck of a job staying one step ahead of the suspicious authorities whilst they persuade the old chap to flee with them. There is quite a decent plot here, a certain degree of chemistry between Widmark and the lively Zieman but some of the escapades are truly far-fetched (especially towards the conclusion with a brave but implausible prison break featuring the "Count" (Charles Regnier)). That said, most of this is a quickly paced and lively action thriller with sparing use of dialogue and a fair degree of menace from the pen of established writer Alistair MacLean. Apparently John Williams was behind some of the effective score, and the photography is suitably dark and grainy adding quite a bit of atmosphere to this decent cold war thriller.

The Secret Ways (1961) Original Trailer [HD]

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The Secret Ways

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Cast

Richard Widmark

Sonja Ziemann

Charles Regnier

Walter Rilla

Senta Berger

Howard Vernon

Heinz Moog

Hubert von Meyerinck

Oskar Wegrostek

Stefan Schnabel

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