Journey into Fear

Journey into Fear is a 1943 American spy film directed by Norman Foster, based on the 1940 Eric Ambler novel of the same name. The film broadly follows the plot of the book, but the protagonist was changed to an American engineer, and the destination of his journey changed from France to the Soviet Union - reflecting the changes in the war situation since the original Ambler book was written (France was occupied, the US and Soviet Union joined the war and became allies). The RKO Pictures release stars Joseph Cotten, who also wrote the screenplay with Orson Welles. The Mercury Production was also produced by Welles, again uncredited. In 2005, an alternate cut was shown at a Welles film retrospective at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland. It was the original European release print, lacking the narration and ending of the US version but including about six minutes of footage deleted by RKO Pictures. Plot In an opening scene before the credits, the assassin Banat is seen preparing a gun while a gramophone sticks as it plays. The story that follows is the narrative of a letter from Howard Graham, an American armaments engineer, to his wife Stephanie. While journeying to the Soviet port of Batumi to return to the United States to complete his business with the Turkish Navy, Graham and his wife stop in Istanbul and are met by Kopeikin, a Turkish employee of Graham's company. Under the pretense of discussing business, he takes Graham to a nightclub to introduce him to the dancer Josette Maretl and her partner Gogo. Banat tries unsuccessfully to kill Graham during a magic act but shoots the magician instead. Graham is brought to the headquarters of the Turkish secret police for questioning, where Colonel Haki blames the assassination attempt on German agents seeking to delay the rearming of Turkish ships.