Moody, atmospheric, and bordering on the surreal, this thriller was intended by legendary director John Huston (THE MALTESE FALCON, MOULIN ROUGE) to be an allegory for the repressive American government during the red scare. Though this point was ultimately missed by audiences of all... [More]

Moody, atmospheric, and bordering on the surreal, this thriller was intended by legendary director John Huston (THE MALTESE FALCON, MOULIN ROUGE) to be an allegory for the repressive American government during the red scare. Though this point was ultimately missed by audiences of all political persuasions, the film nonetheless remains a masterpiece of the suspense genre. Jennifer Jones (TENDER IS THE NIGHT) stars as China Valdez, a Cuban woman whose brother is killed by the authorities; she vows revenge, and joins up with a group of revolutionaries planning to take down the corrupt government. She falls in love with Tony Fenner (John Garfield, GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT), an American expat who has also joined the people's revolution, with a plan to tunnel under a cemetery, blow up the car of an official, and then to mount a daring plot to destroy the infrastructure of the government in one fell swoop. The film moves towards its inexorable climax with Huston's characteristically deft storytelling, and both Garfield and Jones turn in excellent performances, with Jones' believable. Cuban accent especially noteworthy. [Less]