Purely Joyful Movie!

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

A perfect film noir with excellent acting from both the stars and the supporting cast. Mason is superb (when wasn't he?) and Carol Reed's many close-ups reminded us how beautiful "the Dark Young God" was in his 30s and 40s. The camera loved that face. Bloom is lovely and perfectly captures the innocence which is such a foil to the cynical, tormented Mason. Some reviewers have been critical of the rather long buildup to the love story, but I think it was necessary in order to flesh-out their respective characters and intentions. As for Mason's German accent, several commentators have remarked on its accuracy. For myself, I didn't much care for it because I love the original James Mason voice and don't much like any of his accents, except for the Irish lilt in ODD MAN OUT. The photography in this film cannot be praised enough and I loved the stark, haunting soundtrack. A pity that it hasn't been recorded. I have seen this film several times and it only improves with age (unlike Ivo Kern). A solid 10 for this one.

It's East and West (post war) Berlin (pre-wall). Stalin's huge Mug is Everywhere, a Big-Brother forever Looking over Your shoulder. It's not only the Cold War but it is Depressingly Cold Weather that also lends a Chill to the Atmosphere. Carol Reed's Icy Story of a Man Straddling the Line between His Occupation and His Scruples. He is a former Lawyer, a somewhat Reluctant former Nazi that is currently skating about Kidnapping for the Evil Communists.James Mason is Fine and Claire Bloom is Radiantly Confident and is Learning fast about the Complex Situation concerning the Politics of the Day and the coldness of the Bad Ruskies. Hildegard Neff is another Complex Character, the Wife of a British Officer and is remarkably Attractive.Speaking of attractive, except for Mason, all of the Commies are portrayed by Unattractive Actors, with Excess Weight, Mustaches, and Robotic Tendencies. This Stereotypical and frankly, Sophomoric Display is not worthy of Serious Consideration except in Pulp Fiction and is the Film's Weakest Element.The Strength comes from the fine Acting and the tilted Shots of Bombed Out Berlin draped with Hammer and Sickle and a Propagandized Atmosphere. The Movie is Long, sometimes Boring, and is Cumbersome with Clichés.Overall, Overrated but Worth a Watch for the Cold War Atmosphere and some Good Acting, but the Black Hat-White Hat Characters are far Less Intriguing than the Sets and Story They Move Through.

In the wake of the international acclaim for The Third Man, Carol Reed decided to try and repeat with another story about international intrigue with The Man Between. Though not as good as The Third Man, The Man Between can stand on its own merits quite nicely.Taking the place of occupied Vienna is occupied Berlin. The story itself is a more formal cold war espionage story whereas in The Third Man it was about the black market which knows no politics. The innocent who churns thing up is Claire Bloom who is also in Berlin to visit her brother Geoffrey Toone, a medical doctor on assignment in the Allied occupied west sector in the British Zone. Toone has a new wife that Bloom's never met in the person of Hildegarde Knef.And Knef's got a mysterious new friend in James Mason, someone who has known Knef from before the war. Of course we later find out just how well he knew her as the film progresses.Aspects of two of James Mason's previous successful roles come into play and blend quite nicely for him in The Man Between. He starts out as an international man of mystery (no Austin Powers cracks please) as he is in 5 Fingers a rather ruthless individual operating in the netherworld between the west and east. Later on he reveals a lot more of himself to Bloom and by the end of the film you're thinking he reminds you of his luckless Irish revolutionary in Odd Man Out. The transition is accomplished smoothly under Carol Reed's direction.The rest of the cast is mostly made up of German players who were active in the cinema during the Nazi days. What their politics were who of us could tell unless we'd made a serious study of the subject. I've often wondered myself what rated the blacklisting an Emil Jannings got as opposed to a lot of others who did appear in Nazi propaganda films. Look at the cast credits of both Ernst Schroeder who plays a western sympathizing agent and Aribert Wascher who's a gangster operating in the Eastern Zone for the Russians. Look at their credits, both appeared in propaganda films. Both also give good performances in The Man Between.Even the occupied Eastern Zone has been considerably built up since the reunification of Germany. The Man Between is a fine Cold War drama and it gives one a chance to look at the devastation of Berlin post World War II which hopefully will never happen again.

A drama involving political intrigue, smuggling, and general malfeasance in the Eastern and Western Zones of Berlin. James Mason is the smooth operator who smuggles such commodities as meat from the West into the needy Stalinist East. Claire Bloom is the innocent who is visiting her brother Geoffrey Toone, a British army officer, and his wife, Hildegarde Knef, who was once married to Mason.In order to trap a Western operative, the villains extraordinarily extradite Claire Bloom and hole her up in an East Berlin dump. She is rescued by Mason for selfish reasons. He's trying to flee to the West himself, with a good deed on his record, so that when he surrenders to the police they'll go easier on him. Mason and Bloom are pursued in a suspenseful chase through the Eastern Zone. By this time Bloom has fallen for Mason, despite his warnings about his own character and deeds, and they wind up spending the night together. The next day they make a break for the border. Bloom makes it. In an act of self sacrifice, Mason does not.The first thing I thought of, after missing the credits, was that the writers and director had surely seen "The Third Man" and learned from it. The plot is similar. And the director tilts his camera at the same angles and at the same times as in the original, and there are close ups of suspicious faces observing events out of the sides of their eyes. It was therefore no surprise to find that Carol Reed had directed both films.The location shooting is just fine, as is the photography by Desmond Dickenson. Mid-winter in a starving and rubble-strewn East Berlin. Everything burdened with a heavy snow blanket except the streets that are glazed with ice. Brrr.It's a good movie. The characters are well written. We're on one side, rather than the other, but the principal character is properly ambiguous. A plot for grown ups. Mason looks the part but he's simply not very good at a German accent. He was an embarrassment in another film as Irwin Rommel. And his death struck me as melodramatic. Claire Bloom, in only her fourth movie, does splendidly as the naive but righteous English girl. She's beautiful too, in a classic way. Her smile lights up the screen and makes her piercing black eyes almost disappear for a moment. Hildegarde Knef is equally attractive and just as good an actress but in a very different way. Her appearance, as well as her performance, suggests a good deal of experience and knowingness.It's not "The Third Man" though. (So few films can clear THAT bar.) And Carol Reed entered a slow decline after this, for some reason, winding up with the abysmal "The Public Eye" in the early 1970s. Yet his talent shows through all the murky shadows on the screen and we find ourselves enjoying a taut and exciting story, well worth seeing.