Director: William A. Wellman
Starring: Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, June Havoc
Running Time: 87 minutes
Synopsis: During World War Two, Soviet military cipher expert Igor Gouzenko (Dana Andrews) is assigned to the Soviet embassy in Ottawa. He is soon joined by his pregnant wife Anna (Gene Tierney), and witnesses the expansion of a spy network under the leadership of "Paul" (Berry Kroeger), a Soviet agent who has infiltrated Canada's parliament. Several Canadian atomic weapons program employees are turned into spies, but the birth of Igor's son changes his perspective.
What Works Well: Based on actual events that became known as the Gouzenko Affair, this is a straightforward story about the hardening of the Cold War's early front lines. Director William A. Wellman balances spy machinations deep in the embassy bowels with public-facing efforts to exert influence, spread communist ideas, and attract traitors to the cause. The exterior scenes are filmed on location in Ottawa, while the soundtrack is rich with Russian classical music.
What Does Not Work As Well: Despite the short running length, the pacing in the first two thirds is lumbering, Igor an uninteresting and mostly passive observer of the Soviet spy machine kicking into gear. His transition from faithful soldier to defector is handled with clumsy suddenness, while the bumpy storytelling leans on inelegant narration.
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