Background to Danger

Maybe not up there with the best of Walsh's action pics, but still an efficient and entertaining WWII spy thriller. Raft is the American agent travelling to Turkey to prevent the country from allying itself with the Nazis, and encountering that colourful pair, Greenstreet (a Nazi) and Lorre (his Turkish opponent) en route. A bit too light to be a really good espionage drama - the genre works best when presenting a bleak world of betrayal and doubt - but Walsh keeps it moving along at a cracking pace, while the script (adapted by WR Burnett from Eric Ambler's novel) is vivid and sharp.