Shining Through

A lavish, ludicrous WWII melodrama in which Griffith plays a plucky, half-Jewish secretary from New York who, through her job with lawyer and secret spymaster Douglas, becomes involved in romance, mystery and adventure. Hired for her German-speaking skills, Griffith is on hand when a key Berlin spy is murdered, and volunteers to replace him. Taken on as a cook by a prominent Nazi, she plans to microfilm documents and pass them on to US Intelligence. In no other respect does intelligence, or plausibility, come into it. As Griffith tries to save the Free World from prototype 'doodlebug' rockets, the contrived plot and manufactured suspense spiral into absurdity ('Mein Gott, you've got guts'). Griffith provides an earthy counterpoint to Douglas' stern father-figure, but everyone else is just plain embarrassing.