This 1950 thriller with a film noir flavor and a continental aura stars Alan Ladd as Capt. Webster Carey, a former U.S. intelligence operative during World War II, who returns to Italy to try to discover who betrayed his crew in 1944, which caused the deaths of fellow soldiers and Italian partisans at the hands of the Nazis. In the quiet lakeside village that served as his underground base, Carey is met with suspicion and hostility—the villagers blame him for the reprisals and resist his efforts to find the turncoat. Wanda Hendrix costars as his wartime sweetheart, Giulia (he Americanizes her name to “Julie”), now married to a very wary baron (Francis Lederer), and Joseph Calleia is the jovial Dr. Lunati. These three are among the suspects Carey considers while the police shadow his every move and hidden enemies attempt to kill him. Captain Carey U.S.A. is a deccent example of the era's mainstream Hollywood filmmaking: a dramatic script full of loose ends; a dubious morality that selectively forgives some guilty parties out of sentimentality while holding others responsible; and a hero whose main attribute in pursuit of a goal is sheer doggedness. Although set in Italy, the film was shot almost entirely on Hollywood sets, but director Mitchell Leisen manages to give it a handsome style and a shadowy atmosphere of mistrust and paranoia. Fans of postwar classics and Ladd will enjoy this, but otherwise it's a fairly undistinguished film. Optional. (S. Axmaker)
Captain Carey U.S.A.
Olive, 83 min., not rated, DVD: $24.95, Blu-ray: $29.95 Volume 27, Issue 6
Captain Carey U.S.A.
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