Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Absolutely Brilliant!

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

A story of intrigue and, finally, some action during the Reign of Terror. The Reign of Terror followed the French revolution. The usual narrative looks something like this.The King in his counting house was a lazy lout. So were his buddies and his various mistresses. (If the people have no bread, "Let them eat cake.") But the people of France rose up in their righteous wrath, overthrew the King, and in 1793 lopped off his head at the central square in Paris known ironically as the Place de la Concorde. Then, as often happens in the aftermath of revolutions, the revolutionaries went ape.Others who met Madame Guillotin at the same spot, often to cheering crowds, included Queen Marie Antoinette, Princess Élisabeth of France, Charlotte Corday, Madame du Barry, Georges Danton, Camille Desmoulins, Antoine Lavoisier (yes, "the father of modern chemistry"), Maximilien Robespierre, Louis de Saint-Just and Olympe de Gouges. Lavoisier was the chemist who discovered oxygen and hydrogen. He was convicted by the revolutionary court of selling adulterated tobacco. I think their barbers and shoe shine boys met the same fate. Fidel Castro worked his way down to mailmen.As far as I can tell, this is a fictional story of Robert Cummings posing as an imported German executioner and detective working for the evil Richard Basehart as Robespierre, the chief rebel, who wanted to become dictator. I really don't know much about these shenanigans because while everyone else was taking French Civilization, I was taking German Civilization. They got Napoleon and a pastry; I got Bismark and a herring. Everybody knows Victor Hugo but they'd think the novelist Kleist was a Chinese Messiah.Arlene Dahl is stunning and dull. Richard Basehart is fine as the arid and ambitious Robespierre but he's trapped in his dark clothes and powdered wig. Robert Cummings is not the kind of guy you'd expect in a role like this. The director, Anthony Mann, and photographer, Alton, have filled the screen with stark shadows and ominous entries and exits. I never thought of Cummings a wooden -- he's good at light comedy -- but he spends much of his time here looking down his nose and sneering. I guess that's his idea of what a fake executioner should look like.In a way, this could easily be a Cold War movie (1949) with the evil USSR trying to dominate the world and executing all its enemies. Gospoda instead of Citoyen. With Josef Stalin in charge, it wouldn't have been too far from the truth. Or -- it could have been an anti-Nazi spy movie from the war years. Or -- with a bit of tweaking -- Robespierre could have been turned into Mister Big in a 30s gangster movie. What I mean is that there isn't much nuance on display, just good versus evil.It livens up considerably as the story unfolds. Carriages chase one another; the pursued pair hide in the hayloft; long hot pursuits on hot horses; Charles McGraw at his least kempt; the MacGuffin is a black book that is stolen from the wrong hands but may be recaptured. Some Corsican soldier named Bonaparte makes an appearance at the end.That Corsican shows up for good reason. A mob can't control itself. As Judge Learned Hand put it: "A society in which men recognize no check on their freedom soon becomes a society where freedom is the possession of only a savage few."

A few nights ago I watched SABOTEUR directed by Alfred Hitchcock. When it was over, I watched a DVR recording of this film by Anthony Mann. What do both these titles have in common? Robert Cummings, of course.It occurs to me while watching REIGN OF TERROR just how expressive Cummings and his face are. Watch him in a scene without the sound, and you will see what I am saying. There are so many moods and so many bursts of energy that flash across his countenance as he delivers dialogue or handles bits of stage direction. Maybe this is because he is just one of those actors naturally at ease in front of the camera regardless of the role he's playing. And maybe it helps that he is working with good directors. Still, the expressions are genuine and not gimmicky. Those windows into what he's feeling and experiencing, they are completely real. His close-ups are intensely personal. Especially when he is conveying awe. Or terror.

The period noir is a rare thing. Off the top of my head I can only think of a few others... the 1944 GASLIGHT, and the John Brahm pictures THE LODGER and HANGOVER SQUARE. While I love all of those it's hard to think of them as noir. This one fits the bill pretty well, though, a variation on the "infiltrating the organization" theme with an impostor trying to bring down Robespierre. Mann and Alton is always a good combination, and the film is loaded with stark visuals, vicious brutality, elaborate deceptions, suspenseful tension and brisk action. It's a little slow to get started, but once the protagonist gets introduced it moves swiftly with a lot of intriguing turns. The weak link is Robert Cummings, an actor I almost never enjoy, and he fails to bring enough weight to this role. Richard Basehart is also a disappointment, without very much to do. However, Arnold Moss (who would reappear in BORDER INCIDENT, another Mann/Alton film) shines as the slimy, duplicitous Fouché. Ultimately, the tight script and stunning cinematography overcome the somewhat weak casting and whatever historical inaccuracies there may be.

The film is about a little black book that is in Citizen Robespierre's possession. This leader during the so-called "Reign of Terror" was a cold fish who consigned many--including his good friend, Danton, to the guillotine all in the name of patriotism. It seems in this movie that the Citizen actually has a master plan to wipe out everyone around him--it's hidden in this book and it is important to find the book and reveal to everyone the evil hit list. It's up to secret agent Bob Cummings to find it and convince everyone of the danger the nation faces.There have been some exceptional films about the French Reign of Terror (in the 1790s), such as THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL, A TALE OF TWO CITIES and DANTON. Because these films were so good, it made it much tougher to watch and enjoy REIGN OF TERROR. Sure, it was a good film, but compared to these great films it pales in comparison. Much of it is because there really isn't much in the way of character development and the actors could have just as likely been in a movie set in an entirely different time period. Overall, it's pretty much just a time-passer and an actor I usually love in films (Richard Basehart) is pretty bland as is the lead, Bob Cummings.