I See a Dark Stranger
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| I See a Dark Stranger | |
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| Directed by | Frank Launder |
| Produced by | Sidney Gilliat Frank Launder |
| Written by | Sidney Gilliat Frank Launder (story and screenplay) Wolfgang Wilhelm Liam Redmond (add. dialog) |
| Starring | Deborah Kerr Trevor Howard |
| Release date(s) | July 4, 1946 |
| Running time | 112 minutes (98 minutes in the US) |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
I Met a Dark Stranger is a 1946 comedic spy film by the team of Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, starring Deborah Kerr and Trevor Howard.
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[edit] Plot
During World War II, nationalistic Irishwoman Bridie Quilty (Deborah Kerr) tries to enlist in the Irish Republican Army, seeking out an ex-radical her father had told her about, Michael O'Callaghan (Brefni O'Rorke), but he has mellowed as the situation in Ireland has improved. He tries unsuccessfully to dissuade her. However, she persists and is assigned to distract Lieutenant David Baynes (Trevor Howard), an officer on leave who is mistaken for a member of British counterintelligence. David begins to fall in love with Bridie, despite her unconcealed anti-British sentiments.
When Nazi spy J. Miller (Raymond Huntley) is shot while escaping, he has no choice but to turn to Bridie. He gives her vital information to pass along. Then, unwilling to see a doctor, he tells her to dispose of his body after he is dead. Bridie then boards a train as instructed, but her contact, an elderly woman played by Katie Johnson (of The Ladykillers fame), is arrested before any exchange can take place. Not knowing what else to do, Bridie decides to return home.
By chance, she encounters David on the train and changes her mind. She goes to the Isle of Man instead, followed by David, and also another German spy, a man in a loud checked jacket and straw hat (Norman Shelley). The Nazi and his spy ring eventually abduct her. When David tracks them to a boat, he is caught as well. By this time, Bridie has figured out that the information she has concerns the imminent D-Day invasion, which would involve Irishmen, so she refuses to tell what she knows.
The two prisoners are taken to Ireland. The group ends up behind a funeral procession that, at the border with Northern Ireland, is revealed to be a smuggling operation. During the resulting uproar, Bridie and David escape. David phones for the police from a pub, mistakenly believing that they are still in Ireland, where Bridie would merely be interned. When he realizes that they are actually in Northern Ireland, and that Bridie is in danger of being shot as a spy, he tries to convince her to flee, but she insists on staying. Then, they hear on the radio that D-Day has just started. Her information now useless, she escapes across the border. David finds the Nazi spies in the same pub and a fight breaks out. The police arrive in time to arrest everybody.
After the war ends, Bridie and David get married.
[edit] Reception
[edit] Cast
- Deborah Kerr as Bridie Quilty
- Trevor Howard as Lieutenant David Baynes
- Raymond Huntley as J. Miller
- Michael Howard as Hawkins
- Norman Shelley as Man in Straw Hat
- Liam Redmond as Uncle Timothy
- Brefni O'Rorke as Michael O'Callaghan
- James Harcourt as Grandfather
- George Woodbridge as Walter
- Garry Marsh as Captain Goodhusband
- Olga Lindo as Mrs. Edwards
- Tom Macaulay as Lieutenant Spanswick
- David Ward as Oscar Pryce
- Harry Hutchinson as Chief Mourner/Smuggler
- Harry Webster as Uncle Joe
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
[edit] Bibliography
- The Great British Films, pp 94-96, Jerry Vermilye, 1978, Citadel Press, ISBN 080650661X
