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The Onion A.V. Club
Contraband
As part of its ongoing, and much-appreciated, series of film-noir reissues,
Kino has unearthed two British films that may or may not fit the already
loose definition of the genre. They Made Me A Fugitive, a 1947
thriller directed by Alberto Cavalcanti (Nicholas Nickleby), fits
more easily into Britain's cycle of spiv films. Spivs, glorified
black-marketeers who prospered from the shortages during and following
WWII, served as the ambiguous protagonists for numerous British movies,
Orson Welles' character in The Third Man serving as the apotheosis
of the type. They Made Me A Fugitive offers spivs both good
(Trevor Howard) and bad (Griffith Jones). When Howard seeks to leave
the trade after discovering Jones' sideline business dealing drugs,
Jones frames Howard for murder. After escaping from prison in an attempt
to prove his innocence, Howard is set up again, making his predicament
that much more dire. Stylishly shot, tensely acted, and not afraid to
be dark, Fugitive is gripping viewing. Even better, though
certainly not a film noir, is 1940's Contraband, directed by
Michael Powell and written by partner Emeric Pressburger. A suspense
film that finds Powell using the light, sure touch found in his
comedies, the film stars Conrad Veidt (The Cabinet Of Dr.
Caligari, Casablanca) as an imposing but romantic Danish
sea captain. While detained in a British port during WWII, Veidt
discovers that two of his passengers, including the comely Valerie
Hobson, have sneaked off to London. Not wishing to be held responsible
for their actions, he follows them and finds himself drawn into a
web of intrigue involving Nazis and the employees of a Danish
restaurant. A fast-paced, highly entertaining film, it's hard to
believe that Contraband has been virtually unseen in America
for years. Veidt and Hobson are both terrific, and Powell's crisp
direction, which makes the most of scenes set during London's
war-necessitated blackout, ranks with his best. It may not be
noir -- and it's worth thinking about how such a lighthearted film
could be made out of such a dire moment in British history --
but it's not to be missed.
--Keith Phipps
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