Escape in the Fog (1945)

Directed by Oscar Boetticher Jr; produced by Wallace MacDonald

A nightmare in which she is a witness to a murder wakes Eileen Carr (Nina Foch) at the country inn to which she has come for a rest from war-work. Also at the inn, likewise taking a well-earned break from the war, is Barry Malcolm (William Wright), the victim in her dream. The two begin a relationship which is interrupted by Malcolm’s recall to his secret service work. That recall itself is interrupted when enemy agents plot to capture the documents Malcolm is carrying, and set in motion the events that could make Eileen’s dream come true.

Escape in the Fog has much that it strives for but, unfortunately, it falls short in most respects. The best that it has is the cast. All give competent performances. Foch must have been one of the busiest actresses in B-movies at this time, appearing in fourteen films in three years - though some of her parts were small – including the entertaining My Name is Julia Ross, reviewed in this blog almost exactly three years ago.

Wright is good, though hardly charismatic. He is the leading man, but was clearly not a big draw: he is upstaged in the opening credits by supporting player Otto Kruger, a good guy this time. (Wright was as hard-working as Foch, in several films even in 1949, the year he died young of cancer.) As a bonus problem for the two leads, they have no chemistry together. Shelley Winters appears as a taxi driver in a short scene.

The direction has some commendable moments, the actionful resolution being one. The director would become better known when he took the first name of ‘Budd’ and led a number of excellent Randolph Scott westerns in the 1950s. The landscape of that genre seems to have served Boetticher better than an urban setting. He tries hard for atmosphere here but doesn’t succeed.

Nothing else stands out. The story, featuring a chase for stolen documents, is not bad, but is more at home in The Boys’ Own Paper. Barry Malcolm is an intelligence operator used for his linguistic skills; it is obvious that his brains are not otherwise the source of his employment. After losing his papers, he decides not to tell his boss – even though he thereby misses his departure time for an immensely important mission. At one point, he is given vital information – typed on a piece of paper - by a clandestine source; instead of afterward burning it – despite being a smoker with a lighter – he tears it up and gives it to Eileen to dispose of later. The sequel to that action may be guessed.

The script has no redemption. Complimenting the lack of any connection between Foch and Wright is the unbelievable relationship between their characters. Their love affair is rushed, and surely no viewer will credit their companionship as anything more than amiable.

The writing doesn’t even pay attention to itself. At one point, a character boasts that the glass in his shop window is unbreakable. Minutes later, a trash can is thrown through it, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

Escape in the Fog is mediocre at best, and that, alas, is being kind.