Diplomatic Courier (1952)

Director: Henry Hathaway

Starring: Tyrone Power, Patricia Neal, Stephen McNally, Hidegard Knef, Karl Malden, James Millican, Stefan Scnabel, Herbert Berghof, Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin

More info: IMDb

Tagline: No. 1 target for 1,000 enemy agents... from Paris - to Salzburg - to Trieste!

Plot: Department of State courier Mike Kelly ends up in postwar hotbed Trieste after failing to collect a package from a colleague. The Military Police are happy for him to get more involved, but things get a bit tough. After all, he is just a postman.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

#8 on Project: Badass Charles Bronson

BRONSON'S AGE: 31
LEVEL OF BADASSICITY (10 being the highest): 7 (He plays a Russian agent so there has to be a reasonable level of badass in him)

This is the second Tyrone Power movie I've seen (PRINCE OF FOXES (1949) being the other) and I'm just not sold on why he was such a big star. He's a handsome man and he does far better in this film than that action adventure costumer. He seems more suited for film noirs and thrillers. DC is a pretty good spy thriller. There's plenty of double crossing to keep you guessing who's on whose side during the cat and mouse game of finding the microfilm. When it's all said and done it's a satisfying thriller.


Charles Bronson, on the other hand....OK, he's barely in it. I think he says "Excuse me." and a couple of words in German at the train depot. That's it. He's basically doing a couple of walk-ons as a Russian agent. It's easy to spot him but he's only got less than a minute of total screen time. Hell, maybe less than 30 seconds but you can tell everyone in the train was scared shitless of him...everyone but the women.


It's also cool seeing some other familiar faces like Karl Malden...



and another powerhouse of badass, Lee Marvin!