Ministry of Fear
Reviews
John Chard
Innocent? Prove it! *Warning: Spoilers* Ministry Of Fear is directed by Fritz Lang & is adapted for the screen by Seton I. Miller from the Graham Greene novel "The Ministry Of Fear." It stars Ray Milland as Stephen Neale, an ex-insane asylum inmate who is released after a two year sentence for what was allegedly the "mercy" killing of his incurably ill wife. Upon his release Neale buys his train ticket to London but is drawn to a fête being held near the rail station. From here, after a bizarre encounter with a fortune teller and a go at a "guess the weight of the cake" booth, he is thrust into a world of espionage; a world that sees him now have the Nazis on his tail. The film opens with a ticking clock, the seconds counting down to midnight. Germanesque credits arrive on the screen, telling us of our principal players and film makers. A rear shot of a man sitting in a chair staring up at said clock, that man is Ray Milland as Stephen Neale and we immediately know that atmosphere will play a big part in this story. Things are further made interesting when a trio of interesting points suddenly leap out and force us the viewer to notice. Just what sort of film has its protagonist be released from a mental asylum at midnight? How come the rail station is open after midnight? And more importantly, what sort of fête is held at this time of night? You could easily be forgiven for thinking you have just stepped into The Twilight Zone some 14 years before it sprang from Rod Serling's brain! Of course this being a Fritz Lang film one shouldn't be surprised to find the piece heavy on atmosphere. Yet Lang apparently didn't have it all his own way on the movie, issues about the script and other technical matters apparently blighted the production. But be that as it may, this is undeniably a Lang movie, even if one or two itches stop it from becoming a genuine film noir classic to rival that other well known Greene adaptation that followed four years later. It's a fair point critics saying that the cheap studio sets don't harm the movie, because they don't really. But genre fans surely can't help thinking just how great this could have been with actual location work involved. The main issue is the ending which, without providing spoilers for the readers, is poor in relation to what had preceded it in terms of mood and intelligence. It's all too elementary and a resort to what they obviously deemed was a crowd pleasing formula. Tightness of plot gives way to action-packeroo, and it doesn't sit quite right. I like to think it's here where Lang had the most objection? Still, there's so much to admire and enjoy here, not least Milland's excellent performance as the innocent man having a hard time convincing any officials that he's done nothing wrong. He in turn is backed up by the pretty and hard looking Hilary Brooke, who along with Dan Duryea in a small but pivotal role, puts a bit of a sinister film noir sheen on things. Then there is the near expressionistic feel to the piece, with a number of scenes being truly memorable. The whole fête sequence, with snatches of silence, is a classy bit of disquieting cinema. Or a blind mans walking stick tapping its way thru the rail station steam that carries a sense of foreboding that harks to the Universal Monster classics from the previous decade. There's even real beauty too, check out the camera work at the asylum, sumptuous! With mystery, intrigue, melodrama, Nazis, a cake and a huge pair of scissors, Ministry Of Fear is not to be missed by the classic movie fan. 8/10
CinemaSerf
Ray Milland is "Stephen Neale" who has recently been released from a psychiatric hospital. On his way back to London he stops off at a village fête where he guesses the weight of a cake correctly - and so has to lug it back on the train with him. When he shares it with a fellow passenger who proceeds to steal the thing, he guesses that there is more to it than just sponge and jam! His subsequent investigations lead him into the midst of a Nazi spy ring which he tries to thwart. Fritz Lang delivers quite a gripping story which Milland holds largely en seul - with a little help from Marjorie Reynolds as "Carla" - and there is just about enough suspense, and guesswork from us required, to sustain it for an hour and a half.
Movie Recommendation
Fellini's Casanova1976-12-10Imprisoned for practicing black magic, writer and adventurer Giacomo Casanova escapes and wanders Europe, using his fluid sexuality to find his place in life amid a variety of eccentric and strange characters.More...
The Spiral Staircase1946-01-26On a stormy night, the mute servant to an ailing matriarch is stalked by a serial killer.More...
Houseboat1958-11-19An Italian socialite on the run signs on as housekeeper for a widower with three children.More...
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms1953-06-13The controlled explosion of an atomic bomb in the Arctic Circle awakens a frozen dinosaur that will wreak havoc in New York City.More...
Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural1973-05-01A notorious bank robber kills his wife and flees the police, only to be captured by a mysterious group of figures in an abandoned town. His beautiful daughter, Lila Lee, receives a letter stating that her father is near death and that he needs to see her. Sneaking away at night from her minister guardian, Lila embarks on a terrifying journey...More...
The Initiation1984-12-07An amnesiac sorority member who has been plagued by a recurring nightmare is stalked alongside other coeds by a killer in a deserted department store where they are completing a hazing ritual.More...
Don't Bother to Knock1952-07-18An airline pilot pursues a live-in babysitter at his hotel and gradually realizes she is not as stable as perhaps she should be.More...
Lebanon2009-09-24During the First Lebanon War in 1982, a lone tank and a paratroopers platoon are dispatched to search a hostile town.More...
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten2007-05-18As the front man of the Clash from 1977 onwards, Joe Strummer changed people's lives forever. Four years after his death, his influence reaches out around the world, more strongly now than ever before. In "The Future Is Unwritten", from British film director Julien Temple, Joe Strummer is revealed not just as a legend or musician, but as a true communicator of our times. Drawing on both a shared punk history and the close personal friendship which developed over the last years of Joe's life, Julien Temple's film is a celebration of Joe Strummer - before, during and after the Clash.More...
Hotel Reserve1944-06-01A hunt for a spy, in a hotel in the South of France just before World War Two.More...
The Murder Farm2009-11-19Bavaria, Germany, 1950s. The sudden return of the young Kathrin to the small village where she was born stirs up the feelings of guilt and personal ghosts of its inhabitants, haunted by dark memories related to a multiple murder that happened two years earlier at the Tannöd farm, a hideous crime that remains unsolved.More...
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse1991-11-27A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.More...
How Green Was My Valley1941-10-28A man in his fifties reminisces about his childhood growing up in a Welsh mining village at the turn of the 20th century.More...
Meet Me in St. Louis1944-11-28A year in the life of a turn-of-the-century middle class family, leading up to the opening of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.More...
Birth2004-10-29It took Anna 10 years to recover from the death of her husband, Sean, but now she's on the verge of marrying her boyfriend, Joseph, and finally moving on. However, on the night of her engagement party, a young boy named Sean turns up, saying he is her dead husband reincarnated. At first she ignores the child, but his knowledge of her former husband's life is uncanny, leading her to believe that he might be telling the truth.More...
Dreams1990-05-11Eight visually rich vignettes drawn from Kurosawa’s own dreams—fox weddings and vanished orchards, a soldier’s ghosts, a walk through Van Gogh’s canvases, nuclear nightmares, and a water-mill utopia—meditate on childhood, art, mortality, and humanity’s uneasy bond with nature.More...
Arctic2018-11-21A man stranded in the Arctic is finally about to receive his long awaited rescue. However, after a tragic accident, his opportunity is lost and he must then decide whether to remain in the relative safety of his camp or embark on a deadly trek through the unknown for potential salvation.More...
Clerks1994-10-19Convenience and video store clerks Dante and Randal are sharp-witted, potty-mouthed and bored out of their minds. So in between needling customers, the counter jockeys play hockey on the roof, visit a funeral home and deal with their love lives.More...
M1931-05-11In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.More...
A Rainy Day in New York2019-07-26Two young people arrive in New York to spend a weekend, but once they arrive they're met with bad weather and a series of adventures.More...
Similar Movies
The Big Sleep
1946-08-23Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.Rififi
1955-04-13Out of prison after a five-year stretch, jewel thief Tony turns down a quick job his friend Jo offers him, until he discovers that his old girlfriend Mado has become the lover of local gangster Pierre Grutter during Tony's absence. Expanding a minor smash-and-grab into a full-scale jewel heist, Tony and his crew appear to get away clean, but their actions after the job is completed threaten the lives of everyone involved.The Lady Vanishes
1938-10-07On a train headed for England a group of travelers is delayed by an avalanche. Holed up in a hotel in a fictional European country, young Iris befriends elderly Miss Froy. When the train resumes, Iris suffers a bout of unconsciousness and wakes to find the old woman has disappeared. The other passengers ominously deny Miss Froy ever existed, so Iris begins to investigate with another traveler and, as the pair sleuth, romantic sparks fly.Mission: Impossible
1996-05-22When Ethan Hunt, the leader of a crack espionage team whose perilous operation has gone awry with no explanation, discovers that a mole has penetrated the CIA, he's surprised to learn that he's the prime suspect. To clear his name, Hunt now must ferret out the real double agent and, in the process, even the score.Mission: Impossible I...
2000-05-24With computer genius Luther Stickell at his side and a beautiful thief on his mind, agent Ethan Hunt races across Australia and Spain to stop a former IMF agent from unleashing a genetically engineered biological weapon called Chimera. This mission, should Hunt choose to accept it, plunges him into the center of an international crisis of terrifying magnitude.Mission: Impossible I...
2006-04-25Retired from active duty, and training recruits for the Impossible Mission Force, agent Ethan Hunt faces the toughest foe of his career: Owen Davian, an international broker of arms and information, who's as cunning as he is ruthless. Davian emerges to threaten Hunt and all that he holds dear – including the woman Hunt loves.The Maltese Falcon
1941-10-18A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a beautiful liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.The Manchurian Candid...
1962-10-24Near the end of the Korean War, a platoon of U.S. soldiers is captured by communists and brainwashed. Following the war, the platoon is returned home, and Sergeant Raymond Shaw is lauded as a hero by the rest of his platoon. However, the platoon commander, Captain Bennett Marco, finds himself plagued by strange nightmares and soon races to uncover a terrible plot.Vampyr
1932-05-06A superstitious drifter stumbles upon an inn where a severely ill adolescent girl is slowly becoming a vampire.Diabolique
1955-01-29The cruel and abusive headmaster of a boarding school, Michel Delassalle, is murdered by an unlikely duo -- his meek wife and the mistress he brazenly flaunts. The women become increasingly unhinged by a series of odd occurrences after Delassalle's corpse mysteriously disappears.The Day the Earth Sto...
1951-09-28An alien and a robot land on Earth after World War II and tell mankind to be peaceful or face destruction.M
1931-05-11In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.Strangers on a Train
1951-06-27A charming psychopath tries to coerce a tennis star into his theory that two strangers can commit the perfect crime by exchanging murders—each killing the other’s most-hated person.Live and Let Die
1973-06-27James Bond must investigate a mysterious murder case of a British agent in New Orleans. Soon he finds himself up against a gangster boss named Mr. Big.A Lady's Shadow
2022-10-16An oniric trip into the mind of a detective, in which we witness a story fabricated to cover up a heinous crime.Special Task
1963-03-21Tomori has managed to infiltrate a foreign agency and is trying to discover their secret documents, bases, and means of communication.Murder, My Sweet
1944-12-14After being hired to find an ex-con's former girlfriend, Philip Marlowe is drawn into a deeply complex web of mystery and deceit.Jael's Tale
No data for this movieA seemingly brutalised woman struggles to escape her emotional paralysis. The state of her marriage to her presumed-to-be violent husband feeds her urge to pursue a violent redemption.Deported
1950-11-01The real-life deportation of gangster Lucky Luciano was the inspiration for this romanticized and slightly crackbrained crime drama. Jeff Chandler plays the Luciano counterpart, who once he arrives in Italy renews his criminal activities.Cry Danger
1951-02-23After serving five years of a life sentence, Rocky Mulloy hopes to clear his friend who's still in prison for the same crime.