Simply A Masterpiece

How sad is this?

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Much of the action of this exotic Cold War adventure concerning the smuggling of atomic components from behind the Iron Curtain is set in various plush hotels in Istanbul, Sofia and Athens, but was actually shot at the Churubusco Studios in Mexico City. Two dudes in big suits (Gene Raymond and Mischa Auer) encounter two ladies in even bigger shoulders, comprising Raymond's wartime old flame Sigrid Gurie and shady lady Patricia Morison, who also gets to sing. The original Cinecolor for the most part now looks more like sepia, but something of the plushness of Alfred Ybarra's décor still survives, and William Clothier enhances the atmosphere with suitably noirish lighting.