Themes: Traitorous Spies/Double Agents, Double Life
Main Cast: William Holden, Lilli Palmer, Hugh Griffith, Erica Beer, Ernst Schroeder, Eva Dahlbeck
Release Year: 1962
Country: US
Run Time: 140 minutes
Plot
In this tense espionage drama set in 1942, William Holden plays Eric Erickson, an American-born Swede who is put on the Allied blacklist for trading oil with the Nazis. Collins (Hugh Griffith), a British intelligence agent, offers to expunge Erickson's name from the blacklist after the war in return for information on the Nazis. Erickson agrees to the plan and proceeds to make it look as if he is pro-Nazi. This subterfuge causes him to be branded a traitor, and his wife, believing Eric to be a Nazi, walks out on him. Nevertheless, Eric continues with his deceit and makes the Germans think that he is planning to construct an oil refinery in Sweden to serve as a fuel supply for Germany. As a result he is allowed entrance to four German oil refinery, and he passes on the information to Collins. But Eric is being put under surveillance by the Nazis. They discover that Eric's lover, Marianne (Lilli Palmer) is working for the Allies. Suddenly both Marianne and Eric are arrested and thrown into Moabit Prison -- with dire consequences for both of them. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
The Counterfeit Traitor is a top-grade studio film efficiently directed by George Seaton and boasting strong lead performances from William Holden and Lilli Palmer. A substantial asset to the film's realism is its primarily European supporting cast, including such distinctive performers as Klaus Kinski and Ernst Schröder. Also aiding the film is its rich, Technicolor look. Ironically, cinematographer Jean Bourgoin would receive an Oscar for his black & white photography of The Longest Day, released that same year. Based on a true story, the film opts not to explore the moral ambiguities of double agents who must help an enemy in order to accomplish their espionage tasks. Still, it is an entertaining, if old-fashioned spy yarn. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
Ulf Palme - Max Gumpel; Werner Peters - Bruno Ulrich; Carl Raddatz - Otto Holtz; Charles Regnier - Wilhelm Kortner; Martin Berliner - Porter; Phil Brown - Harold Murray; Peter Capell - Unger; Ejner Federspiel - Prof. Christiansen; Klaus Kinski - Kindler; René Kolldehoff - Col. Erdmann; Günter Meisner - Priest; Wolfgang Preiss - Col. Nordoff; Bendt Rothe - Mogens; Stefan Schnabel - Jaeger; Erik Schumann - Nazi-Gunboat Officer; Ingrid van Bergen - Hulda Windler; John Wittig - Sven; Max Buchsbaum - Fischer; Holger Hagen - Carl Bradley; Albert Rueprecht - Capt. Barlach; Poul Reichhardt - Fishing-Boat Skipper
The Counterfeit Traitor is a 1962war film starring William Holden and Lilli Palmer. Holden plays an American-born Swedish citizen who agrees to spy on the Nazis in World War II. It was based on a nonfiction book of the same name by Alexander Klein.[1]
Erickson (Holden) is an American-born Swedish oil man who is pressured by Allied intelligence agents, led by an acerbic British agent (Griffith), to spy for the Allies. Erickson begins his job reluctantly, as it causes marital discord and forces him to pose as a Nazi. He agrees because otherwise his business would be destroyed by the Allies, but over time, realizes it is the right thing to do.
He is influenced in making this moral decision by one of his contacts in Germany, a religious woman (Lilli Palmer) who gives him guidance on the meaning of life and right and wrong. Erickson has a number of close calls, but eventually escapes to Sweden in a harrowing sea voyage.
