1944 - MINISTRY OF FEAR, minor Fritz Lang spy thriller

Somewhat disappointing World War II thriller based on a Graham Greene book.  Ray Milland is the mental patient who after being released from the insane asylum finds himself up to his ears in German spies and traitorous Englishmen during the London Blitz.

This film while directed by Fritz Lang was heavily influenced by the producer and screenwriter Seton I. Miller in his first shot at producing.  Lang was known for his domineering personality on movie sets but apparently Miller was able to bend him to his will. 

 

The result if kind of a boring and lets face it fairly bland film.  It does have a number of Lang's directorial touches because nobody could make more of fog and shadows than Lang when it came to staging scenes.  Ministry Of Fear also features one of Lang's stock characters the larger then life policeman who represents the voice of authority.

 

All in all this is a decent 1940's thriller made by a great director who was fairly constrained by his producer and probably Paramount studio.

The running time is a quick 87 minutes.