Dark Journey

Director: Victor Saville Victor Saville

Overview

The unorthodox teaming of Vivien Leigh and Conrad Veidt is but one of the many pleasures of the 1937 spy yarn Dark Journey. Leigh plays a Stockholm dress-shop owner during World War I, who, being a neutral, is permitted to travel unmolested to and from France. Veidt plays a supposedly disgraced German officer who is actually head of his country's secret service. The two fall in love, despite the fact that Leigh has a secret as well: she is a double agent, sympathetic towards the Allied cause. During one of Leigh's voyages to France, her ship is captured by a German U-boat. Veidt swaggers on board, threatening to sink the ship if Leigh is not turned over to him. But the circumstances reverse themselves, and Veidt finds himself Leigh's prisoner--a circumstance that is not altogether unpleasant for him. When originally released in England, Dark Journey bore the title The Anxious Years.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/14/2015
UPC:	0889290064226
Original Release:	1937
Rating:	PG
Source:	Filmrise
Language:	English
Time:	1:16:00
Sales rank:	50,440

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Vivien Leigh	Madeleine Goddard
Conrad Veidt	Von Marwitz
Joan Gardner	Lupita
Anthony Bushell	Bob Carter
Ursula Jeans	Gertrude
Eliot Makeham	Anatole Bergen
Margery Pickard	Colette
Austin Trevor	Dr. Muller
Sam Livesey	Maj. Schaffer
Cecil Parker	Captain
Edmund Willard	German Intelligence Officer
Charles Carson	Fifth Bureau Man
William Dewhurst	Killer
Henry Oscar	Magistrate
Reginald Tate	Mate
Robert Newton	Officer of U-Boat
Philip Ray	Faber
Lawrence Hanray	Cottin
Percy Walsh	Captain of the Swedish Packet
Laidman Browne	Rugge
Anthony Holles	Dutch Man,Dutch Man
Martin Harvey	Bohlan
Michael Martin-Harvey	Bohlan

Technical Credits

Lawrence Butler	Special Effects
Edward Cohen	Special Effects
Alexander Korda	Producer
Ned Mann	Special Effects
Victor Saville	Director

Editorial Reviews

Dark Journey provides more ammunition -- if any is needed -- to the argument that Vivien Leigh was possibly the most stunning figure ever to appear before a camera. Leigh's beauty is sometimes taken for granted, so familiar is it to viewers of her "big" films, but seeing her in an early film like Journey makes ones appreciate anew the special manner in which her physical being captured the lens of the camera and held it a willing hostage. With such a presence, it's easy to overlook the strength of her sheer dramatic ability, but Leigh's work was almost always focused and compelling. Even in Journey, where she's a bit inexperienced and doesn't quite capture her character to the fullest extent, she's still delicious as an actor. Opposite her, Conrad Veidt has his work cut out for him, but he is more than up to the challenge and manages to keep pace with her from start to finish. They benefit from a fine Alexander Korda production, although Victor Saville's direction is only so-so. More problematic is the screenplay, which is confusing and unclear and which all too often lays there like a lump when it needs to soar at least a bit. Still, with Leigh and Veidt on board, there's enough magic to overcome the flaws.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler