STATE SECRET is a typical 'on the run' thriller of 1950, made in the Hitchcock mould. It's fairly enjoyable for what it is, although the direction feels a little plodding compared to that of the master and I do feel that similar films made from the mid '50s onwards tended to be more exciting. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is saddled with a rather unenterprising lead character, a doctor who learns of a secret involving a dictator and is forced to flee from the authorities who want to cover it up. It's acceptable enough viewing, enlivened by a fiesty Glynis Johns and a wonderfully weaselly Herbert Lom, but it never quite catches fire as it should.
Review of The Great Manhunt
