The Master Plan

More often than not there are minor obscure films without film stars but with long forgotten actors who act better than any established film star. This film is one of them, an early espionage thriller far ahead of its time including no dashing spies but some very beautiful young French ladies, one of them being sharper than anyone could suspect, least of all his fiancé who is about to marry her. How is it that the leading men in so many thrillers never think of the old cliché phrase "cherchez la femme", while they constantly get trapped in that notoriously common pitfall. Here an American veteran is engaged for a routine job in a security office with branches in Rome and Vienna, and all he has to do is to study some files, but one night in Vienna he gets into trouble which he can't get out of, as he is taken advantage of in a brutal way by foreign agents who are interested in the files he is investigating. He is surrounded by three beautiful young girls, one is his secretary who in spite of certain callousness proves reliable indeed, and then there is his employer's girl friend and her equally charming friend. When misfortune strikes they are honestly concerned, but it is a very tricky intrigue where nothing becomes evident until in the end, and the matter is dealt with delicately in spite of all. It is almost better than John le Carré. Norman Wooland makes an excellent performance as Wayne Morris' employer, and the girls are all wonderfully charming. The intrigue is surreptitiously clever in all its crafty deceitfulness, so you must admire the author of the play.