5 Fingers

Loosely based on fact, this spy thriller stars James Mason as the Albanian valet who, while serving the British Ambassador to Turkey, peddles secrets to the Germans. Michael Rennie is the detective trying to plug the leak, while Danielle Darrieux is a mysterious countess. Directed by Joseph L Mankiewicz in order to free himself from a contract with Fox (for whom he had made All about Eve), it's a sophisticated and often witty affair dominated by Mason's suave duplicity. Blacklisted screenwriter Michael Wilson found his structure retained but his dialogue extensively rewritten by Mankiewicz; the same thing happened again to Wilson on Lawrence of Arabia ten years later.