Jim Mullen Tate (TheFearmakers) Martin Kosleck est known or recognized by movie fans as the red-herring windmill resident replacement in Alfred Hitchcock's classic, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, and unlike that memorable, sparse yet important cameo, he's pretty much the entire vehicle for this particular CORRESPONDENT made two years later, only now we're on his home turf during, not before, The Second World War: BERLIN, Germany against American Dana Andrews, with a pencil thin mustache usually given to Silent Movie villains, playing the most intrepid role by mere introduction... A New York broadcast telling America the names of all overseas Correspondents, ranging from men working in England to Holland, which sound like soft jobs as opposed to where Dana's Bill Roberts works, reading what seems like German-written propaganda about their side of things, but with secret coded adjectives, he gets through to his newspaper back home, and, despite acting permanently teflon, like some kind of one-dimensional comic book hero (not one of Andrews' best roles), with the severity of his job, the attitude fits: especially in a feel-good wartime programmer.She doesn't know anything, and stuck in a cold, heartless romance with intense Nazi Captain von Rau, played by Martin Kosleck, she's actually in the most danger since he's the scariest character. But like all good actors, there's a vulnerable side that sheds wan light through an otherwise steely countenance. With his severe looks, though, it's not easy to pull off being all that friendly.Kosleck, who'd play sinister Germans throughout his career, owns the picture for more than his narrowed-eyes wielding an intense, soulless reflection of The Furor's agenda. While Andrews' story revs up, taking verbal shots at The Third Reich in an obvious attempt to make Hitler seem like the type of clown Charlie Chaplin portrayed in THE GREAT DICTATOR, the sole heavy, by standing firm and playing the role with unbridled fervor while still remaining alert and controlled, is the centerpiece - even as Andrews eventually becomes a more physical hero, and gets deeper into trouble - from a last minute race-against-time attempt to save his girl involving a psycho ward and then his own hopeful prison escape - our edgy German spotlight is the reason that anyone fears anything at all: In short, Kosleck has the job of embodying the entire Nazi Party.

mark.waltz Two years after being a "Foreign Correspondent" and really making an impact (leading to stardom), Dana Andrews moved To Berlin, where as a different character, he is forced to speak in code to get the truth out as Germany takes over much of Europe. Nazi Martin Kosleck is determined to silence the truth and has Andrews followed. However, the dunce trailing Andrews is constantly recognized through his attempts at disguise so Kosleck changes his methods to utilize a female instead. His fiancée Virginia Gilmore gets the job and uses Andrews to get her objector father out of a mental asylum. Kosleck's jealous secretary (Mona Maris) plots to keep Kosleck and Gilmore from marrying, and vindictively sets up everybody's downfall.Almost comedic with its serious plot, this even has a bit of a "Prisoner of Zenda" subplot thrown in with a German actor utilizing Andrews' voice on radio while Andrews lingers in a concentration camp. Sig Ruman is the head of the mental institution Andrews briefly infiltrates (disguised as a Nazi psychiatrist) and is an exact duplicate of "Hogan Heroes"' Colonel Klink. But this is the world of the Nazis where the plot indicates that even a wisecrack about the Fuhrer can get one killed or shipped off to the Russian front. There's even a character who dramatically declares "I know nothing!", Sgt. Schultz's oft-quoted line from "Hogan's Heroes" which makes you wonder if the creators of that show viewed this movie then decided to go ahead with the premise of that often skewered sitcom.While there were comedies which poked fun at the rigidness of the Nazis and even the appearance of Hitler, there's nothing structurally comedic about this plot to make it funny, an insult to the viewers intelligence. We know that when Chaplin, Jack Benny or Hal Roach make a film with a Hitler type character there, they are going for parody, but in the case of an A studio like 20th Century Fox thinking that burlesquing the extremely dangerous Nazis during the war shows their lack of trust in the brains of their viewing audience. This seems like something that one of the poverty row studios like Monogram or PRC might produce. The laughs that do come are there because the viewer can't help but laugh at the film maker's naiveté in thinking that the audiences didn't find the whole thing absurd...and insulting.

oldmovieman Ouch! This wildly implausible story finds Dana Andrews as an American radio correspondent broadcasting censored news back to America shortly before America's entry into WWII. Andrews, however, is getting secret information about military failures of the German army and covertly incorporating them into his newscasts. The secret info is then published in the American newspaper that has the code, much to the Germans embarrassment. The contrived plot has a Gestapo officer use his fiancée to cozy up to Andrews and learn the source of his information. She is almost immediately successful in solving the mystery (it was that easy?) and informing her fiancé. But the joke's on her when Andrews' source turns out to be her father and he's tortured and sent to an asylum for execution. Incredibly, the Gestapo doesn't execute or even arrest Andrews as a spy but lets him go about his business. Not to fear, Andrews saves the day. How? He just impersonates a Nazi psychiatrist (complete with colonel's uniform), visits the asylum, arranges the father's escape, and ships him to Switzerland. How does he solve the problem of the border crossing? Easy. He gives the father his passport, which he had altered by a friend so the 60 year old father would pass as Andrews. The plot gets far worse from here but it's too much too describe. As for the tone of the movie, the treatment of the Germans is so cartoonish and the dialogue so over the top that you'll cringe. Yes, this was a propaganda film but a little more subtlety would have gone a long way. There is, however, one reason to watch this horror: Virginia Gilmore as the Gestapo officer's fiancée. First, she is gorgeous. Second, she has the worst lisp of any leading lady I've ever seen on film. Every "this" becomes "thith." It's really amazing she got any roles at all.

Neil Doyle BERLIN CORRESPONDENT was one of many propaganda films that entertained World War II audiences in 1942. When it played the local theater houses in the New York area during the age of double features, BAMBI was on the top half of the bill with the DANA ANDREWS film second on the bill.It's got a really improbable storyline but if you can accept the fact that this is "just a movie" and made for propaganda escapist fare in the early '40s, it's well worth watching.Dana Andrews is excellent as an American reporter who risks his life so that his sweetheart and her professor father can escape the Nazis. By the time the story gets to the concentration camp scenes near the end, it has compiled a number of improbable twists and turns. Nevertheless, it's briskly paced, well acted and photographed in crisp B&W style that results in good entertainment. The story moves to a fast-moving climax when Dana's planned escape goes amok.Martin Kosleck makes the most of his Nazi role, the kind he played often in these wartime dramas, and Virginia Gilmore is pleasantly appealing in the leading femme role. Mona Maris seemed to specialize in playing bad girl spies in these kind of stories.Taut, tense and exciting, flawed only by some improbabilities in the script.