5 Fingers

5 Fingers (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1952) Factually-based WWII spy story produced by 20th Century Fox, shepherded by studio head Darryl F. Zanuck, based on a 1950 book with a screenplay by soon-to-be-blacklisted writer Michael Wilson (with some dialogue additions by Mankiewicz whose contract with 20th was almost up), directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, with a jittery score by Bernard Herrmann and filmed in many of the locations where the incidents supposedly took place (according to the producers).

5 Fingers has, as its spine, the notion that there is no honor among thieves (or spies, for all that) as the shadowy figures spend most of their screen-time suspecting each other of duplicity, while never really knowing the depths that duplicity would reach.

It is 1944, and the Swiss Countess Anna Staviska (Danielle Darrieux) is in exile in Angarat, Turkey eking out an existence by selling her jewelry in order to maintain lodging at a fairly grubby flat. She is making the rounds of swanky get-togethers where she offers her services as an intelligence agent to give information to the diplomatic corps, whether it be British or German.

But, her career as a spy doesn't gain much traction, probably because she has nothing to sell. She might have better luck if she knew who her competition is—Ulysses Diello (James Mason), the valet for the British Ambassador in Turkey, Sir Frederic Taylor (Walter Hampden). On the very night that the Countess has been chatting up Taylor and German ambassador Count Franz von Papen (John Wengraf) for spywork, Diello makes a clandestine meeting with von Papen's attaché Moyzisch (Oskar Karlweis) to propose a mutually beneficial relationship: for the sum of 20,000 British pounds, Diello will provide top secret papers to the Germans with the promise of several more drops of information...for a price.

Moyzisch is excited at the prospect—it elevates him somewhat in the Reich's eyes—and urges von Papen to take it, and the Germans tentatively agree to Diello's terms. Diello's plan is simple—he has access to Taylor's safe and, in the ambassador's absence, he photographs carefully chosen documents, the film to be delivered to Moyzisch for payment. The two have a terse appraisal of each other as Diello (who the Germans code-name "Cicero") delivers his first shipment of secrets. 

But, while Moyzisch dispatches the film to Berlin for inspection, Diello has other interests besides the £20,000 in his pocket; he goes to visit the Countess. He confides with her that he will be coming into quite a substantial bit of money, and he asks of her several requests: she is to keep the money for safety, and he gives her £5,000 of it to buy back her jewelry, and acquire a villa, which will be used as Cicero's "safe house" should he have to meet with higher German authorities—it is his intention to keep the source of his documents a secret and a neutral ground away from the British Embassy will help ensure that.

But, he has more intentions than that. It seems that before he was employed as the valet of the British Ambassador, he served the same function for the late Count Staviska, Anna's husband, and, when their fortunes reversed, he was dismissed. But, he has not forgotten her, as Diello sensed a mutual attraction between the two, and he lets her in on his ultimate plans—once he's acquired the money for his services to the Reich (some £120,000), he will leave Hungary to become a man of the world in South America...and he would like her to join him. The Countess makes it clear to Diello that she still considers him a servant, but is willing to be a contributing partner to his plans. What may come after only time will tell.

The Germans are convinced of the genuineness of Diello's documents—the predicted bombing of a Romanian oil depot by the Allies clinches it and the Reich allows the facility to be destroyed, lest the Allies become suspicious that their plans have been compromised. The regime is only too happy to continue the relationship with "Cicero" but they send a higher German authority, Col. von Richter (Herbert Berghof), to replace the rather careless Moyzisch as the liaison for the secret film. Diello's plans for the villa meetings turns out to be a fortuitous investment as it gives the valet a chance to pose as a more established member of society, which throws the Nazi's off any attempts to learn his actual identity. And, her comfort ensured with the charade, the Countess displays warmer feelings towards Diello.

But, there are complications—the Allies have been intercepting a decoding German communiques and begin to suspect that there's a "leak" somewhere in their communications that are getting to the enemy. The British send a counter-intelligence man, Colin Travers (Michael Rennie) to investigate, and he quickly zeroes in on acquaintances of the Ambassador, and, specifically, the Countess, whose lifestyle has substantially improved after making it known she would serve as a spy for either side. And Travers sets up an elaborate alarm system on the Ambassador's safe.

Plus, the Germans are starting to make demands; von Richter wants the plans for what will be the inevitable push on Germany, Operation Overlord—what will eventually become known in History as "D-Day". Diello agrees that acquiring it will be a great coup, but he raises his price for that particular subject of documents to £ 40,000.

Now, Diello begins a curious cat-and-mouse game where both sides seem to be after him, either as a target or a bargaining chip, and he must change his plans accordingly if his goals are to be achieved.

Again, it's another one of those amazing, suspense stories that came out of the second of the World Wars, where the stakes were so high and the depths to which men could sink seemed limitless. And it's mostly true. The movie is based on a book written by that Nazi attaché, Moyzisch, and names have been changed—"Cicero" was named Elyesna Bazna, not Diello—and Wilson, perhaps to throw some romance into the mix, or to meet a Zanuckian need for a female co-star, invented the character of the Countess out of whole cloth (which gives the film an added depth, actually, and a more perfect dramatic denouement). The film teeters on becoming unhinged with a quality of "who can you trust" among all the players on both sides—it's even revealed that the Allies, after learning of the "leak" at the Embassy, began to send mis-information there to further confuse and obfuscate what was really being planned in the war. Well, of course, they did.

But, ultimately, it is not the secrets that are the true MacGuffin of 5 Fingers, but the notion of the cannibalistic tendencies of the self-serving. With the exception of the intelligence officers sent to track the security breach (and, possibly, the British ambassador), everybody in 5 Fingers is out for themselves. With so parsimony, there can't be much harmony and all of them get something like their "just desserts" with the added humiliation that they almost...almost...reach their goals. It is a wonderful touch of screenwriter Wilson's that Diello gets his comeuppance—and his revenge—simultaneously.

Director Mankiewicz is a utilitarian director—nothing fancy, nothing arty (that would come later in his career), just communicative, the only sequences showing anything visually compelling are in the montage sequences. Where he excels is in the highlighting of the performances, and in that, he is expert, catching the nuances and subtleties of the performances.

There is a delightful story that, while filming was being done in Turkey, both the author Moyzisch and the real "Cicero" separately offered their services to the producers as technical consultants for the film...and both were turned down cold. 

Even Hollywood has its limits on trust.