Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

This little known 1962 film stars William Holden in a riveting performance as a Swedish industrialist who is blackmailed into working with the Allies against the Germans. Eric Erickson, (Holden) must convince his family, friends, and business associates that he favors the fatherland over the Allies. He is so successful at it that he loses his wife and friends while gaining the confidence of high officials in the Third Reich. These contacts allow him to freely travel back and forth to wartime Berlin, touring oil refineries and viewing top-secret installations (including the Me 262 Jet Aircraft) in return for promising to help establish a Nazi-friendly oil refinery in neutral Sweden.

To build his spy ring, Holden uses the same tactics the Allies used to recruit him – blackmail and extortion. His one willing contact behind enemy lines turns out to be the devastatingly beautiful socialite Marianne Mollendorf, well portrayed by the charismatic Lilli Palmer. With Marianne’s able assistance, Erickson pinpoints strategic locations, memorizes them, and transports the information back to neutral Sweden to be passed to his contact Collins.

Of course, there is one problem: As the plot unwinds Marianne begins to have scruples about the collateral damage from the bombing raids based on the intelligence they provide. A Catholic, Marianne is in the espionage game not because of blackmail or for money but because it is the right thing to do. She is severely shaken when she hears about a school that was bombed along with a military target they identified. Telling Erickson she wants out, she goes to confess her guilt to the priest only to be trapped by their dreaded adversaries. Erickson is also detained and sees his spy ring collapsing like a house of cards. Fortunately for Erickson, his top-level Nazi contacts still believe his cover and manage to spring him from the prison, but the Gestapo is not convinced and Erickson must flee for his life. The remainder of the film sees Erickson running for his life as he stealthily works his way through the Scandinavian countries toward home.

Based on the book by Alexander Klein, screenplay adapted by Charles Grenzbach, The Counterfeit Traitor benefits from an intelligent story and George Seaton’s excellent direction. The story is true; many of the events were filmed on the locations where they actually took place, including Lilli Palmer’s climactic scene. Also interesting and revealing are the sequences showing the passive but effective resistance employed by the Danes against their Nazi conquerors. The Counterfeit Traitor does not provide any easy answers, but depicts the way that typical people experience joy, sorrow, and find heroism within when subjected to the crucible of war.

Acting was top-notch, with a bevy of international actors supporting stars William Holden and Lilli Palmer. Most notable was Hugh Griffith as Collins the Allied agent who recruits Erickson and serves as his control. Wolfgang Preiss (a Nazi colonel) and Carl Raddatz (a fellow spy) were standouts in the supporting cast. Helo Gutschwager also did a bang-up job as the suspicious Hitler Youth, Hans. Look for a cameo by Klaus Kinski.

Filmed in gorgeous Technicolor on European locations, the film is narrated by William Holden, who fills in the gaps of the necessarily episodic story. Photography and editing are very well done also. The Alfred Newman score is outstanding; they just do not make them like that any more.

It is such a pity that there are so few spy films that really do justice to the genre! I rank The Counterfeit Traitor as among the very best, fully equal to my other favorite The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. Folks, they just don’t get any better than this!

Enjoy!


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older