VividSimon Simply Perfect

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

l_rawjalaurence In stylistic terms, Fritz Lang's MINISTRY OF FEAR looks like a follow-up to Paramount's THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942), their adaptation of Graham Greene's fast-moving novel that catapulted Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake to stardom. This time the stars are Ray Milland and Marjorie Reynolds, but the visual imagery is much the same; much of the action takes place in the dingy back-streets of Hollywood wartime London, or in darkened rooms where no one can trust anyone else.MINISTRY OF FEAR contains some memorable set pieces - for example, a séance involving Mrs. Bellane (Hillary Brooke) and the sinister-looking Dr. Forrester (Alan Napier), where a single bright light focuses on Stephen Neale's (Milland's) face as he understands how the voice from the dead is actually talking to him. The screen cuts to black, a shot rings out, and Cost (Dan Duryea) lies dead next to the big table where all the séance participants have gathered.The final sequence is equally memorable, as Stephen and Carla Hilfe (Reynolds) take refuge on the roof of a London building, and Stephen has to fire into the dark to try and kill off those people pursuing him. No one - not least the audiences - knows whether he has been successful or not, until a light goes on and Inspector Prentice (Percy Waram) becomes visible.In this environment, no one quite knows who anyone is. Cost reappears later on as a rather incongruous-looking tailor Mr. Travers, while Mrs. Bellane appears to have a double appearing earlier on in the film. Such uncertainties seem characteristic of a wartime where everyone is out for themselves, and London is swarming with double agents.The plot positively zips by, with Milland trying his best to cope with situations fraught with danger. The final sequence is a bit of a cop-out that has little to do with the plot, but apart from this, MINISTRY OF FEAR is well worth a look.

ofpsmith I watched Ministry of fear because to be honest, I was rather curious of it. I knew it was based on a book written by Graham Greene, who also wrote the screenplay for The Third Man,, and it was directed by Fritz Lang (one of my favorite directors). Because I hold both of those people in high standards I expected this to be good. My expectations were nearly met. I found the film to be okay. Not great but it was good enough for a 7 star rating. But watching it, it felt more like an Alfred Hitchcock film, then a Lang film. It felt kind of like The 39 Steps or The Lady Vanishes. That's not bad at all (if anything that's good). But I felt it didn't hold up to either of those nor did it hold up to any of Lang's films. The acting was good, the story was good, but I felt the problem was that it just kind of went a little slow. It's good enough so if you're curious, give it a watch.

Dalbert Pringle I know that among many film buffs of vintage Crime/Thrillers from Hollywood's heyday, director Fritz Lang ranks right up there in the Top 10 of "Best Ever". And, hey, that "OK" by me.But strictly speaking from a personal point of view (and this is after seeing 6 of what are considered to be Lang's best works from the 40s & 50s), I view him as a decidedly over-rated film-maker.In his position as a movie-maker (as is clearly evident here with Ministry Of Fear), Lang obviously took himself way too seriously and this, in turn, caused him to repeatedly over-play the drama (to the point of almost-parody) of any given story.When it came to the genre of Film Noir, Fritz Lang was a director whose completed films didn't offer me, as a viewer, much satisfaction.I mean, even novelist Graham Greene (whose book this film's story was based upon) came out (some years after this film's release) and publicly stated that he was less than pleased with Lang's treatment of his story. And, I, for one, couldn't be in more agreement with Greene on that one (especially since he was talking about his own book).Set during the "Blitz" in war-torn England, Ministry Of Fear's somewhat lacklustre and anti-climatic story deals with elements of paranoia, as well as espionage where, in the realm of things, everybody is a potential suspect (and Lang, pretty much milks this aspect of the story to its very last drop).Filmed in a grubby-looking b&w, Ministry Of Fear had a running time of 90 minutes.

Michael_Elliott Ministry of Fear (1944) *** (out of 4)Tense thriller adapted from the Graham Greene novel about Stephen Neale (Ray Milland), a man released from an asylum after serving two years. On his way to London he visits a small village where a festival is going on and he's given a tip to win a cake. This simple cake turns out to be carrying some secret Nazi files and soon Neale is rapped up in murder. Over the past few years the work of Fritz Lang appears to be gaining more and more attention and many new fans are starting to say he was better than Hitchcock. I'm not at that level but at the same time there's no question that Lang could take something simple and do wonders with it, which is the case for this film. The first fifty-minutes are downright thrilling, although I will admit that the final half-hour gets a tad bit far-fetched and there's a little bit too much propaganda for my liking. The first portion of the film has a brilliant sequence where Milland visits the festival, sees a fortune teller and then we follow him onto a train with the cake where a bombing happens but this isn't the only twist at this point. This is a long sequence but it backs some terrific atmosphere and the tension level is quite high. Another great sequence follows as Milland begins his investigation and winds up at a séance where one of the suspects are. There were countless horror films released around this era but none of them contained as much atmosphere as this scene and it's extremely effective. I think the film starts to lose some of its punch in the second half as more and more characters are introduced and things begin to get a bit too far-fetched. Outside of that everything else is pretty top-notch and that includes the wonderful performances with Milland leading the way with another strong character. Milland was certainly believable in the part and you can't help but want to see him get out of the trouble he's in. Marjorie Reynolds is very good in her part as a suspect/love interest and we get nice support from Carl Esmond, Percy Waram and Hillary Brooke. The film contains some extremely tense moments and the terrific cinematography by Henry Sharp uses the shadows perfectly to build up the atmosphere. Lang's direction certainly brings the material to life and the performances just make it even better.