Journey into Fear (1943 film)

Journey Into Fear
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Norman Foster Orson Welles (uncredited)
Produced by	Orson Welles (uncredited)
Screenplay by	Joseph Cotten Orson Welles (uncredited)
Based on	the novel Journey into Fear by Eric Ambler
Starring	Joseph Cotten Dolores del Río Ruth Warrick Orson Welles
Music by	Roy Webb
Cinematography	Karl Struss
Edited by	Mark Robson
Production company	Mercury Productions RKO Pictures
Distributed by	RKO Pictures
Release date	February 12, 1943 (1943-02-12TUnited States)
Running time	68 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Journey into Fear is a 1943 American spy film directed by Norman Foster, based on the Eric Ambler novel of the same name. The film broadly follows the plot of the book, but the protagonist was changed to an American engineer. The RKO Pictures release stars Joseph Cotten, who also wrote the screenplay with uncredited support from Orson Welles. The Mercury Production was also produced by Welles, again uncredited.

In 2005, an alternate cut was shown at a Welles film retrospective at the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland. It was the original European release print, lacking the narration and ending of the U.S. version but including about six minutes of footage deleted by RKO Pictures.

In an opening scene before the credits an assassin, Banat, is seen preparing a gun while a gramophone skips as it plays. The story that follows is the narrative of a letter from Howard Graham, an American armaments engineer, to his wife Stephanie. While journeying to the Soviet port of Batumi to return to the United States to complete his business with the Turkish Navy, Graham and his wife stop in Istanbul and are met by Kopeikin, a Turkish employee of Graham's company, who under the pretense of discussing business, takes Graham to a nightclub to introduce him to dancer Josette Maretl and her partner Gogo. Banat tries unsuccessfully to kill Graham during a magic act, shooting the magician instead. Graham is brought to the headquarters of the Turkish secret police for questioning, where Colonel Haki blames the assassination attempt on German agents seeking to delay the re-arming of Turkish ships. The colonel shows Graham a photograph of Banat, whom he says was hired by a Nazi agent named Muller. Haki then orders Graham to travel secretly to Batumi aboard a tramp steamer, while Haki personally oversees the safe overland transit of Stephanie.