Keeley Coleman
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
Juana
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
Guillelmina
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
thinker1691
Back in 1954, this spy film appeared on the Silver Screen. When it did, it was not promoted as a spy thriller to audiences. However, this is was one of those particular movies called " Night People " which does produces a bigger bang than one expects. The story as written by Jed Harris and directed by Nunnally Johnson begins slowly and tells of a single United States soldier, Cpl. John Leatherby (Ted Avery) stationed in West Germany shortly after W.W. II. After his kidnapping, the Americans are notified. A noise which is heard in the state department and there after reaches the the parents of the young soldier, who happens to have some very powerful friends, one which takes his millionaire status and starts banging on Washington doors to get his son back. Back in Germany, the problem lands on the stoop of one, Col. Steve Van Dyke (Gregory Peck) who is ordered to resolve the issue. He is an experienced soldier, but is hindered by the boy's Father (Broderick Crawford) who tries to throw his weight around and ably assisted by Sgt. Eddie McColloch (Buddy Ebsen). Dealing with the other major powers controlling the Eastern section of the Berlin Wall, proves a difficult task, what with the rise of the Russians, Ex-Nazis, double agents and political victims all vining for his attention. What we expect as an audience members is a sleeper, instead this film lays the foundation of later Tom Clancy type spy thrillers and Gregory Peck does a notable job in his role. Without hesitation I would recommend this movie due to the participation of Broderick Crawford, Buddy Ebsen, Anita Björk and Marianne Koch, and all the rest of the cast who made this remarkable film a classic. ****
MartinHafer
Given the fact that this film starred Gregory Peck, it couldn't help but be entertaining and worth seeing. However, as far as Peck films made during his best years in Hollywood, this is definitely not one of his more memorable films. Most of the problems lie in the plot and the very unsatisfying ending, though the actors seem to give it their best.The film begins with a common soldier being kidnapped in Berlin. However, this is no ordinary soldier, as his father is a loud-mouth industrialist played, not surprisingly, by Broderick Crawford. When Crawford impulsively shows up in Berlin to kick butt and demand action, he comes up against a colonel from military intelligence (Peck) who puts Crawford in his place but good. Given that the kidnappers were probably working for the Russians, Crawford's blustering and willingness to pay any ransom is rather hollow. After all, the communists probably could have cared less. So it's up to Peck to first establish why the guy was kidnapped and to see what he can do to get him returned.While there are a few plot twists along the way, the film ends very poorly. In an ending rife with holes, Peck cheats the Russians out of their prize and gets the kid back--leaving you to assume that shortly afterward, the Russians just kidnapped some other poor shmoe and once again demanded a prisoner exchange or shot the guy to teach the Americans a lesson. Duh. Talk about a non-ending! Had the film ended well, it would have earned a 7 or even an 8. As it is, it's watchable but ultimately rather disappointing despite Peck's competent performance.
blanche-2
Gregory Peck plays a U.S. Army Provost caught up in exchanging a married couple wanted by Russians for a captured American soldier in "Night People," set in post-war Berlin. By today's standards, this film is on the talky side, with not much action. Although the script was nominated for an Oscar, it's problematic - the denouement was much too simple, for one thing.Broderick Crawford is the father of the captured soldier, and he does an excellent job. Rita Gam is Ricky, Peck's beautiful and feisty secretary. There are several TV faces as well: Buddy Ebsen, Walter Abel, and Max Showalter. Anita Bjork is "Hoffy," a woman who works for Peck yet may be playing both ends.But the film is really Peck's, who does a fantastic job creating an interesting, tough, passionate, decisive, and funny character. He's instantly both likable and admirable.
alberto f. cañas
This is an extremely well done motion picture. The first directorial job of longtime writer Nunnally Johnson revealed a fine talent which created suspense and captures the audience minds without resorting to chases and explosions. Everything happens indoors, and it is question of brains not of fists.A magnificent job by Broderick Crawford and Gregory Peck, and a well done investigation into cold war minds, all about the kidnapping by the Russians of an U.S.Corporal in Berlin, in order to exchange him for a couple of elderly Germans wanted supposedly by former Nazis in the service of the Soviets. Everything works wonderfully, until one asks why didn't the Russians kidnap the couple in the first place and save all the trouble.Curiously, this was nominated to an Oscar for best original story... It lost, and the award went to Philip Yordan for Broken Lance, which was based not on an original story but in the screenplay Yordan had written in 1949 for House of Strangers, from a story by Jerome Weidman.
