Screen great Richard Widmark, known for his lead roles in some of the best Noirs from the forties and fifties such as Road House, Kiss of Death and Night and the City, stars in a crime-espionage thriller called The Secret Ways. This movie is one I had not heard of, but when Kino Lorber announced it I was immediately interested in seeing it because it starred Richard Widmark.

After a Hungarian uprising is destroyed by Soviet tanks, an American who takes various adventures for the all-mighty dollar, Mike Reynolds (Widmark) reluctantly takes a risky job to rescue Hungarian scientist Professor Jancsi (legendary German actor Walter Rilla, The Secret of Dr. Mabuse, The Forger of London) and his daughter Julia (Sonja Ziemann, De Sade) by escaping Budapest that is ruled by Communists. They along with several others are part of a group called The Freedom Fighters led by The Count (Charles Regnier, Captive Soul) who are wanted by the Russian Communists. The Freedom Fighters kidnap Reynolds and take him to the secret headquarters of Jancsi. Once Reynolds explains to Jancsi that he is there to rescue him, he shockingly exclaims that he does not want to leave Budapest. Reynolds talks him into leaving and a plan is set for him and his daughter Julia to leave the country, but both Jancsi and Reynolds are quickly captured as soon as they leave their secret hideout, unaware that it was revealed where they were hiding by a captured freedom fighter.  After being tortured relentlessly by Colonel Hidas (Howard Vernon, The Awful Dr. Orloff), they finally escape thanks to The Count and his comrades. This leads to a life-or-death chase scene to escape the clutches of the Russians.

The Secret Ways is a terrific film, with a lot of great atmosphere, superb sets, thrilling chase scenes and an outstanding edge of your seat climax. Richard Widmark gives another stupendous performance with some great dialog exchanges with the cast throughout. This was the first movie I have seen Howard Vernon act outside of the horror genre. After seeing his frightening facial expressions in this movie, I can easily see why the man was meant to be and starred in many horror films. Another actress who was well on her way after this being her fourth film was the lovely Senta Berger who has a few sensual scenes with Widmark. Her part in the film is small, but the bombshell steals the show with her sexuality. Despite the lack of screen-time she left quite an impression.  

Given a new brand new 2K master on a dual-layered BD-50 disc by Kino Lorber, The Secret Ways looks sensational! The black and white image is crisp with fine details throughout and having a balanced greyscale. Black levels are rich, with strong shadow detail. I did not notice any print damages such as speckles or lines. The picture looked smooth all the way through.

English DTS-HD master 2.0 mono track is flawless with the dialog, action noises and the thrilling musical score by composer John Williams coming in strong. And yes, this is the same one and only Academy Award Winner John Williams who would go on to do scores for Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Wars and dozens more! No hissing or drop-offs were detected during the audio presentation. Optional English subtitles are offered for this release.

The extras are what has become a pattern with current Kino Lorber releases. We are treated to an audio commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger and Steve Mitchell. They enthusiastically discuss the making of the film, talking about the director, the cast, especially toward Richard Widmark and Senta Berger.

The remaining extra is a plethora of theatrical trailers for other Kino Lorber releases. This time around we get trailers for The Secret Ways, Time Limit, Diabolically Yours, 99 River Street, Hornets’ Nest, The Satan Bug, When the Eight Bells Toll, Blackheart Pass, Force 10 from Navarone, and River of Death

I enjoyed The Secret Ways quite a bit, more than I expected to. The film has a great cast of interesting characters, and Richard Widmark’s performance takes the film to a whole new level. The audio and video quality for this release is more than satisfactory and another great commentary to boot! I am happy to give this release a high recommendation!

The Secret Ways

Director- Phil Carlson

Cast- Richard Widmark, Sonja Ziemann, Walter Rilla 

Country of Origin- US

Distributor – Kino Lorber

Number of Discs – 1

Reviewed by – David Steigman

Date-12/7/20