Based on a novel by Graham Greene, this is certainly the most stylish of
Lang's wartime espionage movies, albeit more Hitchcockian than
Langian: its episodic structure and gallery of humorously sinister
grotesques evoke The 39 Steps or Foreign Correspondent. Similarly,
the way in which the director creates a paranoid world by subtly
transforming everyday events and situations suggests Hitchcock's
influence. It's a shallower film than Lang's best work, but directed
nevertheless with consummate skill, most notably in the steely,
expressionistic climax where the use of light and shade is stunning.
