DVD Reviews

The Counterfeit Traitor

Having just come off doing a review of Bloody Territories I didn’t think I would come across another film that I had never seen (or heard of) that I would enjoy, but I proved myself wrong.  The Counterfeit Traitor is about Swedish Oil dealer Eric Erickson who is blackmailed by British agents into becoming a spy.  He uses his trips to Germany promoting a fake refinery deal to collect intelligence.  He is forced to distance himself from his friends and loved ones as he must go deeper and deeper into the enemy’s midst.   After he witnesses first hand, the brutal rule of the Germans and after falling in love with his contact Frau Marianne (even though he’s married) he manages to find a reason to continue working as a spy.

The Counterfeit Traitor is a captivating spy thriller from 1961. Shot entirely in Europe using a European cast and original locations, the film perfectly manages to capture the look and feel of the era as well as of war-torn Europe (except maybe for the costumes but I wont get into that).  The makers claim that The Counterfeit Traitor is a true story, and for the most part, it probably is.  William Holden plays the Erickson character in a perfect toned down serious way.   One of the best aspects of the film is how it portrays Germans.  They aren’t the evil demons of other films of the period but come across as more neutral, as ordinary people.  In fact you might say that the English agents who blackmail Erickson are portrayed more as the enemy then the Germans to a certain degree.

The video is presented in its original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio enhanced for 16x9 TV sets.  The colour is nice with it’s soft and muted Technicolor tones but the colours seem to bleed at some points and as such the film tends to look slightly out of focus sometimes.  There was quite a bit of damage to the source print but I never found it too distracting.  On my first viewing I hardly paid any attention to the specks, scratches, etc. but when examining the DVD for video quality I couldn’t miss it and also noticed that some registration problems (possibly because the film itself needs restoration) were present throughout.

The audio is presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital and the DVD also includes the original mono track.  The audio has been cleaned up considerably as it is virtually free of hiss or pops.  Even the surrounds have been engaged occasionally creating a wider sound field.  This isn’t a perfect presentation but considering the age of the film and the condition of the video on this DVD, this is quite nice.

Ok so I know this is a bare bones, low-priced, studio catalogue release but they usually have a trailer, or bios.  This DVD has nothing.  Nothing but the movie, which is too bad considering just how much new material could have been made for such an amazing subject of a film.

Because this DVD is priced in the low end of the spectrum, I can recommend it as one of those films that people should watch at least once.  Sure the film needs to be properly restored and maybe in time Paramount will get around to it but for now, we’ll have to settle with this release.  

Review By Rob Harding