Search - Cloak and Dagger [Fullscreen] on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Suitable for Children Movie Release: 1946 DVD Release: 05/20/2003 Format: DVD - Black and White - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Studio: Republic Pictures Members Wishing: 3 Genres: Spy Film, War Spy Film

Inspired by actual events, Cloak and Dagger was first major "atomic power" melodrama of the postwar era. Gary Cooper stars as bookish physics professor Alvah Jesper, a character obviously based on A-bomb codeveloper J. Robert Oppenheimer. Pressed into service by the OSS in the last months of WW2, Jasper is sent to Europe in search of Dr. Polda (Vladimir Sokoloff), an atomic scientist held captive by the Nazis. In Switzerland, Jesper quickly runs afoul of enemy spies who murder the only person to know Polda's whereabouts. Moving on to Italy, he links up with the partisans, falling in love with gorgeous resistance fighter Gina (Lilli Palmer). Adopting a disguise, Jesper finally locates Polda and spends the last few reels in a desperate dash to freedom. Screenwriters Albert Maltz and Ring Lardner Jr. had originally intended Cloak and Dagger as a warning to a complacent America. Director Fritz Lang recalled in later years that, as conceived and filmed, the ending was to have occured after Jesper and a group of Allied soldiers stumbled upon the ruins of a secret Nazi A-bomb factory, as well as evidence that the German scientists had fled to parts unknown with their atomic secrets intact. "It's day one of the Atomic Age", Jesper was to have noted ruefully, "And God help us if we think we can keep it a secret much longer." This lengthy coda was removed from the final release print, transforming a thought-provoking drama into a mere romantic thriller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gary Cooper - Prof. Alvah Jasper
Lilli Palmer - Gina
Robert Alda - Pinkie
Vladimir Sokoloff - Dr. Polda
J. Edward Bromberg - Trenk
Marjorie Hoshelle - Ann Dawson

Fritz Lang's Cloak and Dagger (1946) comes to DVD in a decent, stripped down edition from Artisan Entertainment and the Republic Pictures library. The source is somewhat uneven, coming from a reasonably well (but not perfectly) preserved 35mm print. The movie was made at Warner Bros. but was produced and owned by Milton Sperling (who, by all reports, did not get along at all with director Fritz Lang despite his best efforts to work with the renowned filmmaker), and opens promisingly, with a crystaline transfer on the first reel -- as early as 23 minutes in, however, there is damage (including, apparently, missing frames) and from there on, there are frustrating fluctuations in the quality of individual shots within the same scenes. Strangely enough, the uneven nature of the disc's production is almost a match for the characteristics of the movie itself; there are moments of great suspense, and beautifully constructed shots, interspersed with uneven performances (especially by Gary Cooper, who isn't as bad as he's often made out to be, but isn't in any way suited to the role he's playing either) and a curiously flabby overall pacing. To be sure, it was an unhappy shoot for all concerned, including Lang, who wasn't 100 percent happy with the project at the outset but saw it as the most attractive offer of the moment, but also especially for Lilli Palmer, who was horribly abused by Lang to the point where the technicians walked off the set and shut down production for a day, out of sympathy for her, and a studio executive had to be assigned to stand by during the filming of any of her scenes. Any Fritz Lang movie has its moments of high interest, and this one at least gives the best scenes here appropriate chapter markers, among the 23 that are mapped out. The Dolby sound is clean and crisp, and loud during the climactic attack, but there are no extras of any kind -- the disc opens to a simple menu that is easy to maneuver around. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide