Expected more

Charming and brutal

Absolutely Fantastic

For having a relatively low budget, the film's style and overall art direction are immensely impressive.

In the opening credits for "Betrayed," MGM states clearly that the movie is fictitious, with the standard disclaimer. That being the case, the writers did a marvelous job of tying it to some real history. First, the Dutch resistance and underground, including incidents of traitors. Second, the rescue of the 2,500 plus men of the British First Airborne division who had been surrounded and cut off near Remagen in Operation Market Garden. The movie, "A Bridge Too Far," gives a fairly detailed and accurate portrayal of that operation, including the rescue of the men who were cut off. In this film, of course, the incidents that lead to the rescue are fiction, but the movie does a good job of linking the fictitious story to real events of the time and place during World War II. That lends it that much more of a sense of reality. Along with that, most of the film was shot at locations in The Netherlands. Some scenes show the unmistakable lowland countryside. One very poignant scene shows Carla and The Scarf driving to his mother's home. They are on a long Holland dike that separates the open sea from an inland body of water. The cast for this film is excellent. The main leads have about the same amount of film time. Clark Gable is Col. Pieter Deventer, a member of the Dutch army in exile and the head of Dutch intelligence working with British intelligence. Lana Turner is Carla Van Oven, a notorious black-market operator in Holland whom the British recruit and Deventer trains for espionage work. Victor Mature is The Scarf, a free- wheeling leader of a resistance faction. He resists coordination with the British and seems to enjoy the killing and destruction of German facilities. A fine supporting cast includes well-known British actors, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Louis Calhern and Ian Carmichael. Other reviewers note that this is the last film Gable made with MGM, ending a 24-year contract under which he was its prime male star for much of the time. He made nine more films before his death from a heart attack in 1960. All of them were box office successes, and some are excellent films and highly regarded. Turner was active in films into the early 1970s, after which she turned to TV series until finally retiring in 1985 at age 64. This film has some good action scenes along with the espionage intrigue. And, of course, the Gable and Turner characters fall in love for the Hollywood romantic aspect. While the story and movie are very good and interesting, this isn't a model production. The direction seems to be weak. The film editing is not what it could be. The movie is choppy in places, and at times, some of the actors seem a little wooden. Still, it's an interesting wartime espionage and action thriller that most people should enjoy.

Clark Gable and Lana Turner were great together -- at least in their previous pairings. Perhaps here, Gable was getting just a bit too old play a spy, although in WWII, any such thing was possible. And then, this is Turner as a brunette, which I found very distracting (not to mention her unconvincing lip syncing). It's not a bad film, but it's also not of the caliber of "Honkey Tonk", "Homecoming", or "Somewhere I'll Find You".The supporting cast is strong -- Victor Mature, Louis Calhern, Wilfrid Hyde-White, and Theodore Bikel -- though none of them have strong parts. This film is all about Gable and Turner.So, while this is not my favorite Gable film -- and I do prefer him as he matured -- it's not bad...I usually don't enjoy war films at all, and this did hold my attention reasonable well...although Turner was perhaps not the most logical female spy. Ah well...perhaps that makes it a bit more interesting. But, if three Gable-Turner films worked well, a fourth would also. Right? Well...not quite.

"Betrayed" stars Clark Gable in his last film for MGM, after which his contract was not renewed. I love the way these studios managed to forget the very people who made them great and kept them solvent during some hard years, but there you go. Gable deserved better for his last film - though it is beautifully photographed in color on location and has a star cast, he doesn't really have much of a role.With Gable is another star on unsure footing at MGM - Lana Turner, who by 1954 had committed the unforgivable sin of being over 30 and therefore on her way out as far as Dore Schary was concerned. Victor Mature and Louis Calhern round out the all-star cast. Turner, as the widowed Carla van Oven, is sent into Holland as a liaison between a resistance fighter, The Scarf (Mature) and the British. When it becomes apparent that someone is betraying the resistance, Deventer (Gable), who trained Carla and fell in love with her, begins to suspect she's spying for the Nazis.The story gets a little confusing but all in all, it's fairly routine stuff, and all these actors have appeared in stronger vehicles. It is lovely to look at, however. And Turner, as a brunette, looks beautiful and, though it's wartime, has some glamor moments as well. Gable at 53 was probably a little past it for his role, but he has a commanding presence. Mature does a good job as the wild resistance fighter.Clark Gable and Turner both gave MGM their best years. "Betrayed" turned out to be an apt title for both of them.

As a huge Gable fan Betrayed is by no means the King's greatest movie. However, as with all of his films, it is certainly not bad and I was interested in the characters and the development of the plot right up until the end. Acting-wise, the three stars, Gable, Lana Turner and Victor Mature do a fine job with Turner looking almost unrecognisable from earlier roles. If you're a Turner or Gable fan I'm sure you would enjoy this movie but the film has enough drama, tension and intrigue to keep you interested anyway!