User reviews

The bleak war-torn settings of East and West Germany during the post-war years of WWII provide a suitable backdrop for a rather cold tale involving complex characters and moral ambiguities.

The story's first half takes time to set up the murky relationships between CLAIRE BLOOM, HILDEGARD KNEF and JAMES MASON before settling down to some quieter moments and romantic overtones when the chemistry between the young girl (Bloom) and the dangerous criminal (Mason) becomes evident. It's their relationship in the second half of the story that heats up some of the cold war atmosphere of the tale.

Suspense mounts as they hide out from the German authorities, but all the while one gets the feeling that all will not end well for the ill-fated pair who have fallen deeply in love.

If you liked the somber atmosphere of films like ODD MAN OUT and THE THIRD MAN, you'll definitely enjoy the atmospheric effects achieved in the crisp B&W photography on display here. Outstanding photography in scene after scene, although the story itself never quite achieves the same degree of finesse as the previously mentioned Carol Reed films.

Nevertheless, it's all extremely well acted. Mason has never been more effective as a complex man full of moral ambiguities and Bloom is given a wonderful chance to display her charm and sensitivity in a well-written role.

Definitely worth watching.

In 1947,James Mason worked with Carol REED,in "Odd man out" (in Belfast).This work was influenced by Marcel Carné's "realisme poétique" and cast Mason as a fugitive.Both "odd man out" and "the man between " have similar endings,except for the female part.

Berlin atmosphere (like Vienna in 'the third man') is well rendering,with the claustrophobia you used to feel during the Wall days. There are plotholes,but the cast easily makes up for that.The couple Mason /Bloom is very endearing:Mason 's character is a man whose ideals have been betrayed and his love for the beautiful English woman he tries to save is touching .Actually ,at the beginning,Mason was not friendly,he was even disturbing,but his moral stature ceaselessly grows towards the end.The two stars get good support from German thespian Hildegarde Kneff,whom we miss in the second part.

This movie might have influenced two sixties work:"the spy who came in from the cold"(Martin Ritt,1965) which featured Claire Bloom again,and "torn curtain" (1966),one of Hitchcock's minor movies in which we find a theater again!FF Coppola in "godfather III" ,like Carol Reed,took advantage of this by using opera music to enhance particular scenes.

Although inferior to 'the third man" (neither Welles nor Karas) "odd man out' or even "fallen idol" (1948),"the man between " deserves to be seen.

James Mason is "The Man Between" in this 1953 Carol Reed film, shot on location in post-war Berlin. The film also stars Claire Bloom and Hildegarde Neff. Bloom plays Susanne, a young American woman who comes to Berlin to visit her brother Martin. Martin is stationed there and married to Bettina (Neff). Bettina is clearly unhappy about something, and Susanne soon realizes that her discomfiture has to do with a mysterious man, Iwo (Mason), described as an old friend. When Iwo offers to show her the sights, Susanne accepts, and, believing him to be having an affair with her sister-in-law, advises him to leave her alone. Iwo says he is trying to leave the area, and a friend of Martin's can help by getting him the required documents and introductions. When Susanne asks her brother to help Iwo by contacting the man, Bettina loses her temper, and the truth about Iwo and his true relationship to Bettina emerges.

This is an odd, moody, dark film with some haunting images of the destroyed Berlin, and some beautiful shots, particularly the very last one in the film which stays in one's memory. The serenely beautiful Claire Bloom and the enigmatic Mason are magic together and make this a poignant love story, and very typical Reed - the innocent who has her eyes opened, the man tainted by sin going to meet his fate. The whole last half of the film focuses on only the two of them, and we sense their isolation, an odd couple in a changing world.

The German supporting cast is excellent, particularly Neff, whose career in Hollywood was brief. She wrote a wonderful best-selling autobiography, The Gift Horse, in 1970, which leaves no doubt of her feelings about the place. She went on to star in Silk Stockings on Broadway and eventually returned to Germany.

Quite a beautiful film, not up to "The Third Man," but still has the touch of the master.

Claire Bloom has just arrived in post-war Berlin to vacation with her brother who is in the British Army and his new German wife (played by Hildegard Knef). Knef shows Bloom all about Berlin--both the Allied and the Russian sectors. In the east, the meet James Mason--a mysterious man who soon begins dating Bloom. However, there's obviously much more to the man than this and he and Knef share some secret. Later, through a strange series of events, Bloom is accidentally kidnapped and it's up to dashing Mason to help her sneak back to West Berlin--all the while pursued with Communists bent on their capture.

The film has a look very similar to director Reed's more famous preceding film, THE THIRD MAN--which was shot in post-war Vienna. However, the camera work in THE THIRD MAN was more daring and novel and the Berlin took far worse damage during the war--and the sheer volume of rubble in 1953 is still very significant and adds to the atmosphere.

Overall, while not a great spy film, it is very good and keeps your interest. I would say, overall, that the second half is a bit more exciting than the first. I especially liked the ending, though some might have preferred something a bit more upbeat.

By the way, James Mason seemed to do a fairly good job with speaking German. I could tell he wasn't exactly a native speaker, but he was pretty adept.

This taut film noir when compared to Carol Reed's masterpieces of that genre, Odd Man Out and The Third Man, is a flawed gem, but still that - a gem.

Filmed in Berlin just eight years after WWII ended, and eight years before the Wall went up, it stars James Mason and Claire Bloom as star-crossed lovers in a city still digging itself out of the rubble made by Allied bombs, and still taking refugees from the east of Europe. The story tells of Susanne Mallison, a young Englishwoman who has arrived in Berlin to visit her older brother Martin, an army physician in the British sector of the city, and his German wife Bettina. It is while Susanne and Bettina are spending a day in the eastern sector, that Bettina finds herself reluctantly introducing Susanne to an old friend, the suave and handsome Ivo Kern. Susanne doesn't like Ivo at first -the audience isn't supposed to either - and she immediately becomes suspicious that he and Bettina are having a clandestine affair. She is curious though about the man, but will she learn the truth about Ivo and his mysterious background?

Meanwhile off the set of the film there was more going on behind the scenes between the two stars. From the book 'James Mason - A Personal Biography', by Mason's former sister-in-law and life long friend, Diana de Rosso: "I was to observe another side of his character, rarely disclosed, when he came to London to finish filming The Man Between. He was a frequent visitor to our London home and he began to bring with him increasingly, his ethereally lovely co-star Claire Bloom...He showed a marked interest in the young actress. There was a quality about her, a stillness and tranquillity which set her apart from most artists her age, yet she had a pointed wit and a fine intelligence, virtues which appealed to James - and it was quite apparent that he was in danger of losing his heart. In truth I believe his heart was lost...His attachment to Claire was purely romantic. They used to sit on the floor together in our house, hand in hand, plainly adoring each other..."

But as with Ivo and Susanne, it was the same with James and Claire. Mason did not divorce his estranged wife Pamela Kellino, and de Rosso was surprised that he didn't, but she has some theories. When he finally did get his divorce a few years later, Claire had moved on to other things in her career and private life. Still, when they met again several years later, it was clear that Mason still was very fond of her and she likewise.

When I first saw this film I questioned whether Mason's German accent was very good, but when I lent it to a pair of friends who are German, they said that he did a good job. As for the German supporting cast, it is the best, especially the lovely Hildegard Neff, and the hauntingly beautiful musical score catches the bleak feeling of the city during a cold winter. They are also reasons I list this as one of my favourite film noir productions.

I enjoyed this, it is not great, nor very serious, which I like. I'm a bit adverse to serious spy drama, where I have to take all the political shenanigans too seriously, so this was fine for me, being more about the people involved and showing the city. I don't ever recall seeing such pictures of the devastation of Berlin or those simple border controls, many years before the wall. So, here we have Claire Bloom in one of the best performances I have seen from her, the possibly even lovelier but more one note turn from Hildegarde Neff and the more or less ever faithful James Mason. I was a bit concerned about his accent at first but soon got used to it and now understand that it is considered fine in Germany, so thats OK. The tale is fairly simple and predictable but the performances entrance and those streets with and without snow, a revelation. The cinematography and sharp direction make for a visual treat, especially those street scenes, the rooftops and stairwells and a decent level of suspense towards the end.

Vintage Reed with all the elements from his films of the period. The innocent (Bloom) whose view needs to be muddied. The world weary, complex hero/villain. The confusion and ambiguities veering between love and hate, trust and betrayal, weakness and strength. Humans pulled from their comfortable lives and twisted by circumstance. The worn surroundings of war torn Berlin an extra character in the plot. All this in typical stark angled Reed view, with an atmospheric signature tune used noticeably towards the end, and a scene sequence mirroring the ambiguities of the characters.

Whilst the film doesn't flow as fluently and seamlessly as The Third Man, Mason and Bloom create eminently watchable if not entirely rounded characters.

Reed directs another anti-hero in a war-torn country film. Fairly complex, adult, suspenseful.

This moody, atmospheric piece holds up extremely well (maybe even better than when it was first released). The two stars, James Mason and Claire Bloom, are fabulous and their chemistry is palpable, especially in the last quarter of the film. As other comments have mentioned, just the moral ambiguity coupled with the physical backdrop of Berlin shortly after the war enhances the story tremendously. Mason delivers another complex performance, by turns charming and sardonic, quickly turning to cynical and dark. Claire Bloom is lovely and her talent comes shining through, particularly in the last half of the film as she and Mason begin to heat up together. The music and the cinematography add immeasurably to creating an 'other worldliness' to this movie. If you find the plot drags a little at the beginning, stick with it because the intensity picks up as the plot unfolds. The suspenseful ending feels like a knife in the heart. Definitely a precursor to the The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.

This is a great love story about a young girl named Susanne Mallison, (Claire Bloom) who visits her brother in Berlin, Germany after WW II and after a brief period of time, Susanne seems to think that her sister-in-law is having an affair with another man. It turns out that this other man is Ivo Kern, (James Mason) who had some past relationships with her.

Susanne begins to become interested in Ivo and keeps asking him plenty of questions and he finally reveals a deep dark secret about his relationship. Susanne begins to fall in love with Ivo and a powerful love affair starts off.

There is plenty of action between East and West Germany and people are killed trying to cross the boundary lines.

James Mason and Claire Bloom both gave outstanding performances and went on to make many great films. Unfortunately, James Mason was not very appreciated by the American public and never received an Academy Award for his many years of picture making. Sad

Bloom arrives in war torn Berlin to see her brother and his wife who seems troubled by a mysterious James Mason.

Good performance from the two leads help bring this east / west Cold War thriller up a notch particularly in the second half if the film. Pretty good and worth seeing but unremarkable nonetheless despite Carol Reed's direction.

Carol Reed;s chestnut that is even more bleak than " The Third man" Mason as Evo Kern is involved with two Women, Neff and Claire Bloom..but he is fateful in his desire for Bloom.

All the elements are here with high contrast photography. the little boy( Reed Trademark) and a fine moody cast with a trenchant music score that you will not forget. ( perfect for 1955 ) I think this film gains in stature as the years go by and another testament to a really superb actor who was not appreciated enough..

In " Lolita" 1962 Mason shows a vibrant character against type, He is suave mostly, in most of his films..authoritarian , deliberate , calculating and most of all unflappable. In " Lolita" is is totally helpless and seemingly pathetic ...films like " The Man Between" established this personna

Mr James Mason C Pope

"The Man Between" is a well-shot (with lots of tilted camera angles) spy melodrama, but it's never as gripping as it should've been. The first half is too plotty, and when the characters take over later, we feel we don't know enough about them to get really moved by their growing idyll. The actors try their best, the ending IS a great sequence, but this is still far from being a "classic". (**1/2)

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.

The Man Between (1953) : Brief Review -

Wasn't Carol Reed too gutsy to make such a socialised British thriller surrounding the establishment of 'Berlin Wall'? One of the biggest things to notice about this film is that it is set in the post-war era in Berlin. The narrative runs around the time just before the establishment of 'Berlin Wall' was around the corner. Reed was too gutsy to make such films those days, but this isn't as simple as those other escape thrillers. Sussane, a British woman, arrives in West Berlin just after the war and falls in love with Ivo, a former member of the Nazi atrocities. Sussane tries to get him arrested but is later happy not to have him behind bars. The love story blooms as Ivo tries to escape the border, but at the same time he has to take care of Sussane too. Despite fewer thrills, The Man Between keeps you hooked with the help of an engaging screenplay. There are no high-on-suspense moments, but the excitement is always high because of the exhausting chases. The climax literally goes against the tide to leave you with a mic drop silence for a moment. Well, that's a Carol Reed trademark, I believe. He has used the kid as suspense material. I mean, who could have predicted that after so much kindness? When it came to performances, James Mason knew the submission process. His accent was on point. The romantic curve was against his directions, but I think he managed decently. Claire Bloom, you looked so gorgeous and cute. No wonder, why Ivo called you a child and yet kissed you the very next moment. I won't say wasted, but yes, Hildegard Knef, Geoffrey Toone, and Aribert Wäscher are less used. Harry Kurnitz's risky screenplay is powered by Carol Reed's fearless vision on the silver screen. Overall, a worthy flick, but I guess this is more for European audiences than other continents.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

James Mason gives a tour-de-force performance as a tired clerk who knows not who to trust. Hildegrade Knef is magnificent in a complex supporting role. Carol Reed has directed some great movies and this is among his best. The ending sequence is so poignant, it always brings tears to the eyes.

In the Post-World War II, the British Susanne Mallison (Claire Bloom) travels to Berlin to visit her older brother Martin Mallison (Geoffrey Toone), a military that has married the German Bettina Mallison (Hildegarde Neff). The naive Susanne snoops on Bettina and suspects that she is hiding a secret from her brother.

When Susanne meets Bettina with her friend Ivo Kern (James Mason), he offers to show Berlin to her and they date. But Ivo meets the strange Halendar (Aribert Waescher) from the East Germany and Susanne takes a cab and return to her home alone. Then she dates Ivo again and he meets Olaf Kastner (Ernst Schroeder), who is a friend of Martin and Bettina. But soon Susanne, who has fallen in love with Ivo, learns that he was a former attorney married to Bettina in East Germany but with a criminal past during the war. Now he is blackmailed by Halendar to kidnap Kastner and bring him back to the other side of the border. The plan fails and Halender asks his men to abduct Bettina to get Kastner. However, Susanne is kidnapped by mistake and is imprisoned in the basement of a house in East Berlin. Now Ivo plots a plan to rescue Susanne from Halender and help her to cross the border. Will they succeed in their intent?

"The Man Between" is another wonderful classic by Carol Reed with suspense and romance in the post-war Berlin totally destroyed, in the same environment of Rossellini's "Germania Anno Zero" or Billy Wilder's "A Foreign Affair". James Mason has another top-notch performance in the role of Ivo Kern, a cynical man that changes his behavior when he meets the naive and charming character performed by Claire Bloom. Their chemistry is fantastic and Hildegarde Neff is a very beautiful woman. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Outro Homem" ("The Other Man")

I wasn't sure if I'd like this film or not. Its British and it stars James Mason and Claire Bloom. So far so good, but its a "spy" drama which I sometimes find tedious. What a surprise! Beautifully filmed amid the bombed out rubble of post war Berlin, Mason and Bloom really shine here. This was an amazing pairing of two excellent actors. Mr Mason, as always, gives an first rate performance. What a pleasure to see him on ice skates. Bloom is lovely as the Englishwoman visiting her brother in Germany and drawn into a tense cat and mouse game where no one can be fully trusted.

Definitely a must see for Mason fans but I think good for anyone who enjoys top-notch drama well acted and directed.

Carol Reed keeps the post-war intrigue alive for the most part with his Odd Man Out lead James Mason in this trifle uneven and occasionally slow suspense film that strongly resembles the director's magnificent Third Man.

Londoner Sussane Mallison (Claire Bloom) visits her serviceman brother and his wife in war torn Berlin. It isn't long before she suspects Bettina (Hildergard Neff) her sister in law of some type of deception. When she meets the mysterious Ivo Kern she is drawn into the action further, conflicted by the fact he is an extortionist and she is romantically drawn to him.

Reed does a good job of keeping the audience in the dark for a good deal of the film with Mason and Neff both convincingly ambiguous and Bloom as innocent and confused as Holly Martins. The devastated Berlin backdrop with the ubiquitous visage of Stalin in the Eastern sector provide grim atmospherics with cinematographer Dietrich Dikisson ably filling in for Reed regular DP Robert Krasker.

The editing which is a touch sloppy occasionally bogs the story down and the music score at times can be torturous to listen to but Mason's tragic turn as the cornered Kern never allows the film to fall into bathos for too long. He is the German version of the angry young man that would permeate film throughout the fifties and into the sixties and as The Man Between he is an eloquent spokesman in conveying the devastating disappointment of a generation betrayed by its government.