Main Cast: Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Victor Mature, Louis Calhern, O.E. Hasse
Release Year: 1954
Country: US
Run Time: 107 minutes
Plot
Clark Gable's final effort for his longtime home studio MGM, Betrayed is an exciting espionage thriller set during World War II. Intelligence agent Gable is ordered to keep tabs on suspected Nazi collaborator Lana Turner (a brunette for the occasion). Both Gable and Turner join the Dutch underground, making contact with a flamboyant resistance leader known as "The Scarf" (Victor Mature). Turner poses as a sexy chanteuse, the better to gain the confidence of the lascivious Nazi officers. Within the next few weeks, several underground operatives are captured and shot, and it begins to look as though Gable's suspicions concerning Turner are correct. The real collaborator is revealed some twenty minutes before the finale, but the suspense level is expertly maintained throughout. The location-filmed Betrayed would later be mercilessly lampooned in the 1984 spy spoof Top Secret! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Alfred Junge - Art Director, Pierre Balmain - Costume Designer, Gottfried Reinhardt - Director, Ray Poulton - Editor, John D. Dunning - Editor, Walter Goehr - Composer (Music Score), Walter Goehr - Songwriter, Ronald Millar - Songwriter, Freddie Young - Cinematographer, Gottfried Reinhardt - Producer, George Froeschel - Screenwriter, Ronald Millar - Screenwriter
Dutch intelligence agent Pieter Deventer (Clark Gable) is ordered to keep his eyes on suspected quisling Fran Seelers (Lana Turner). Both Deventer and Seelers join the Dutch underground, making contact with a flamboyant resistance leader known as "The Scarf" (Victor Mature).
As 'Carla Van Oven', Seelers' assignment is to use her feminine charms to gain the confidence of admiring Nazi officers. Within the next few weeks, several underground operatives are captured and shot, and it begins to look as though Deventer's suspicions concerning Seelers are correct. However, the real collaborator is eventually unmasked as being "The Scarf" himself.
Release
Critical reception
In a 1954 New York Times review, critic Bosley Crowther wrote "By the time this picture gets around to figuring out whether the betrayer is Miss Turner or Mr. Mature, it has taken the audience through such a lengthy and tedious amount of detail that it has not only frayed all possible tension but it has aggravated patience as well. Miss Turner and Mr. Gable have had many long-winded talks; Mr. Mature has thumped his chest like Tarzan and bellowed his boasts a score of times. An excess of espionage maneuvering has been laid out on the screen. The beauties of the countryside of the Netherlands have been looked at until they pall."[1]
Home media
Betrayed was released on DVD and digital download on March 23, 2009 as part of the Warner Archive. [2]
