State Secret (a.k.a. The Great Manhunt) (1950)

Directed by Sidney Gilliat; produced by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder

John Marlowe (Douglas Fairbanks Jr) is a pioneering surgeon who has been invited to the central European nation of Vosnia to demonstrate an innovative technique to the country’s top doctors. This includes a practical demonstration on a patient. Though Vosnia is a totalitarian dictatorship, Marlowe sees the invitation as a way of opening the land up to outside influences. Things become uncomfortable for Marlowe, however, when he learns that the patient is actually Vosnia’s ruler, General Niva. And things become deadly when post-operative complications put Niva’s life - and Marlowe’s - in danger.

State Secret is an entry in the ‘man on the run’ film genre, in the tradition of 1935’s The 39 Steps, and others. Gilliat and Launder had written similar, and successful, fare previously, in The Lady Vanishes and Night Train to Munich. This later movie is produced by the partners’ own production company, and written by Gilliat alone. Though good, it doesn’t quite measure up to its predecessors: there is a crispness lacking in the script (perhaps that was Launder’s contribution in the past) and a connection among the performers.

The acting itself cannot be faulted. Fairbanks does very well as the earnest doctor, pleased with his work and happy to share it with others. His behaviour under stress - possibly facing death - is credible and involving. Jack Hawkins has an excellent part as a Vosnian government minister, Colonel Galcon, a polite, urbane man who thinks nothing of massacre, if it suits the needs of his masters. Glynis Johns is entirely believable as the young music-hall artiste who is roped into helping Marlowe along the way.

One of the problems is the chemistry between Fairbanks and Johns. There is none. Fairbanks, looking older than his 41 years, and Johns, looking younger than her 27, interact well, but there is no indication that their characters even really like each other, never mind have a spark that even a platonic relationship must have to be entertaining.

There are hints that their shared adventure might result in romance, but the script didn’t push that, as if realizing that the audience wouldn’t buy it. There is, in fact, more fascination in the cat-and-mouse actions and words between Marlowe and Galcon.

The writing makes use of a deus ex machine that, while providing irony, is as unsatisfying as it is unexpected.

Even so, the story will keep the viewer interested, even if the script does not. The actions of the authorities in the police state are realistic and create a genuine air of fear and suspense. The use of words such as ‘deviationist’ and ‘crypto-fascist’ to describe enemies of the state imply that it has a communist regime. As well, Marlowe says that he planned to visit Vosnia back in 1939, to which a Vosnian official replied that much has changed since then: the countries of eastern Europe were forced into communism immediately after the Second World War.

The direction is good, though not very good. There is a pointless sequence near the beginning in which, through a flashback, Marlowe explains the origins of his situation. For several minutes, we see the action through his eyes, only to have that viewpoint abandoned.

The location shooting, probably in Croatia or northern Italy, is very well used, and not the usual setting for movies. Another aspect of the film that aids it tremendously is the use of the Vosnian language. There is no Vosnian language, any more than there is a Vosnia. The language was made up for the movie, from Romance languages (probably Italian, from the looks of how it’s written) and Slavic. Unlike many films, which create a few words in a fictional dialect, State Secret’s script has whole conversations in Vosnian, between dozens of people, most of them bit-players. This, and the physical setting, makes Vosnia seem real. Cleverly added is what sounds like the Vosnian national anthem, which serves as the theme music.

There are some very good moments in State Secret. Scenes such as those in the high mountains, and when Marlowe first realises his predicament, are tense. Herbert Lom, as a black marketeer, provides some grim comedy and a different perspective on the film’s events.

State Secret can’t compare with the more enjoyable, earlier products of the Gilliat-Launder partnership, but it is a good adventure movie, realistic and adequately exciting.