The Secret Man (1958)

The Secret Man is a British spy thriller made by Amalgamated Productions in 1958.

Dr Cliff Mitchell (Marshall Thompson) is a brilliant Canadian scientist working on a top-secret missile project (known as Q7) for the British Government. It’s a matter of national security. Now the testing has been successful and all Dr Mitchell has to do is to complete his report and the project can be funded and work can begin. Dr Mitchell has to prepare the report alone because he is the only man who really understands the project. You would think that under those circumstances he’d be well protected by Special Branch men but apparently such an idea has never even occurred to the geniuses in charge of security for the project. They don’t even assign a single policeman to protect him.

So it will come as no surprise whatever to the viewer when Dr Mitchell, driving alone on a deserted country road, is kidnapped by foreign agents.

Things are however not what they seem to be. Mitchell finds himself reluctantly drawn into the world of spies and counter-spies. Espionage is a grubby game and counter-espionage can be an even grubbier game. It’s also a confusing game if you’re an amateur. You can’t trust anybody. Surely he can trust Jill Warren, his fiancée. But he’s not so sure about even that.

And being the bait in a trap is no joke.

This is very much a 1950s spy movie, in the tradition of “reluctant spy” stories. Cliff Mitchell is no James Bond. He’s just an ordinary guy who wants to get on with his scientific work. He’s not used to playing a game in which people get killed. And people do get killed. He isn’t a debonair man of the world and he doesn’t know anything about guns. He doesn’t have women swooning over him.

There are no gadgets (apart from some low-tech surveillance equipment). There’s a bit of action but it’s not the non-stop action of spy movies of the following decade.

There is however a glamorous lady spy. At least she could be a spy. Cliff is not very good at recognising spies. He’s not really all that familiar with glamorous females in general.

Mitchell does prove to be able to handle himself in a fist-fight, which is one of the unrealistic elements that are more or less unavoidable in reluctant spy movies.

It’s all played very straight and very serious, and it’s rather earnest. National security is at stake!

Marshall Thompson makes a good reluctant spy. He’s likeable and convincingly ordinary without being too dull. John Loder is solid enough as a British spook. Solid is the best word to describe the whole cast - no-one is particularly impressive but they all get the job done competently enough.

Competent is the best word to describe the job done by director Ronald Kinnoch. This was his only directing credit. The most notable thing about the movie might be the fact that it was an early screenwriting credit for Brian Clemens.

This film is one of the nine features included in the Renown Pictures Crime Collection Volume 1 boxed set (a set well worth investing in). The transfer is acceptable, with a bit of print damage here and there.

The Secret Man is a decent low-key spy thriller. A few short years later Dr No would be released and movies such as this would start to look like quaint period pieces but I quite like the low-key 50s style of spy movie. Recommended.