Diplomatic Courier (1952)

For his one and only film in the espionage genre 20th Century Fox cast Tyrone Power as a Diplomatic Courier working for the State Department during the early Cold War years. In his position for the Department, Power gets a real hot assignment.The thing here is that Power is not an espionage agent, but he's to make contact with one in the person of James Millican who is bringing out of the Soviet Union nothing less than the plans to invade Yugoslavia which had declared its independence of the Warsaw Pact that involved the Soviets and their Eastern European satellites. Something that the Central Intelligence Agency and the State Department would like to know.Millican gets killed by the Soviets, but they don't get the document and it becomes up to Power to find it, backed at a distance by the CIA in the form of Stephen McNally. There are two women in the picture, native Hildegarde Knef and American widow Patricia Neal and one of them is an enemy agent.Unfortunately Diplomatic Courier spills the beans a little too early for my taste and tells the audience just who is who among the women. Spoiled the film for me.A whole lot of soon to be prominent players had small bit roles in Diplomatic Courier, folks like E.G. Marshall, Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin. Karl Malden has a much bigger role as a kind of sidekick assigned to Power by McNally.Diplomatic Courier is a dated, but still good espionage thriller from the Cold War giving Tyrone Power and the two female co-stars some very good roles.

Wonderful Tyrone Power vehicle that will have you guessing every minute along the way.When Power is assigned to deliver important papers, the person who is to receive them can't retrieve them and is eventually murdered. Suspicion centers on Hildegarde Knef, who does quite well in this film.Patricia Neal is in fine form as a wealthy looking widow of an official who comes along and tries to romance Power along the way. What else is this conniving woman up to?Diplomatic intrigue hasn't been this good in years. Power is sympathetic and will rescue Neff at the end when it appears that she has been truthful to him throughout the film.

Tyrone Power stars as a courier put in an awkward situation by the U.S. government in "Diplomatic Courier," which also stars Patricia Neal and Hildegarde Knef. Neal has a small but showy role as a society widow who chases Power around Europe. The film was shot on location in Europe, possibly using post-war blocked funds that caused so many films to be made there in the '50s and beyond.I first saw this film on TV as a kid, and like one of the other posters, it stuck in my mind, possibly because even back then, I was a Tyrone Power fan. The early '50s were a transition time for him. Unlike some actors - Bogart, Mitchum, Gable, to name a few - Power changed dramatically over the years. By the time this film was made, he had lost the last vestige of his boyishness and was thoroughly disillusioned with movies and undoubtedly the master he had served since 1936, 20th Century Fox. In the few years he had left, he would turn more and more to theater and form his own movie production company. Some of his best work lay ahead of him.Power is supported in the film with a vigorous performance by Karl Malden and from newcomer Hildegarde Knef. Talented and beautiful, Knef, like many other European actresses who came to Hollywood after the war, never found a niche in Hollywood. She went on to great success on Broadway, however, with "Silk Stockings," the musical version of "Ninotchka," costarring Don Ameche, and remained friends with Power. Patricia Neal plays a widow that Power meets on an airplane. He keeps standing her up when they're supposed to get together but the story takes it a little further. Neal was an ardent fan of Power's and when they met, she asked him why it was that he hadn't answered her fan letter.Diplomatic Courier is a fast-moving, atmospheric film where you can't tell the good guys from the bad, and it holds interest. Watch for a Lee Marvin in a small role and an uncredited moment by Charles Bronson.

I was visiting Trieste and Salzburg at the exact time of the movie. The background for the movie was authentic.The Kelly part kept reminding me of Bogart and how much better he would have played it. Also, too much dialogue between Neff and Power. Pat Neal is much too attractive to be spurned by the much too kindly Power. My wife fell asleep, but I stuck it out to the unrealistic final scenes. Out the train window, roll down a steep hill only to land in each others arms so that Power could say that this was the first time I have noticed you. I would have said,"Are you hurt?"