The Master Plan (1954) User Reviews

"I order you to remember!"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 2 August 2017]

Directed by Cy Endfield under the name of Hugh Raker 'The Master Plan' is a mainly pedestrian movie about the leaking of military secrets at a part British, part American facility in Germany. A US major flies in specifically to assist a British colonel who is the head of security. The plot meanders this way and that but the last twenty minutes are quite suspenseful leading to the unmasking of the culprit.

It was based on a television play called 'Operation North Star'. Norman Wooland as the British Colonel and Wayne Morris as the American major are OK and the rest of the cast are....OK. A lot of stock music is used which adds no tension or excitement throughout most of the film. Not an ordeal to watch but lacking a bit of energy.

Just boring, but not awful.

[searchanddestroy-1 · 10 May 2009]

What a deception from this Cyril Endfield movie. I expected much more. I nevertheless know that our director made it under a pseudonym, during the fifties and the witches hunt - the anti red era everyone had heard about.

So, he was not so free. I know that. But this movie is talkative, boring, nothing more than a sleepy espionage yarn. Wayne Morris seems lost in the middle of this tepid story. The only interesting thing is that he is not the lead, and his character is rather unusual.

But besides this, you can forget it. The other films made by Endfield are better than this one.

Dull talkie spy drama

[malcolmgsw · 4/10 · 20 August 2018]

Wayne Morris was a war hero but sadly his career suffered as a result.He became a supporting player in A films,a cowboy star and a leading player for British films.Though in this film he is definitely a secondary lead.There is very little action apart from a 5 minute spell in the middle.Morris is not on screen for most of the second half of the film.Dull and lacklustre and obviously made on a small budget.

AHEAD OF ITS TIME...MIND-CONTROL PLOT...LOW-BUDGET "B" FROM BRITAIN

[LeonLouisRicci · 8/10 · 11 August 2021]

Early, Tense, Suspenseful and Ahead-of-its-Time.

Extremely Low-Budget and Confined.

But the Claustrophobic Sets and Setting Add to the Taut and Unusual, for its Time, Psychological Thriller.

An Enemy's Successful Mind-Control of a Military Officer.

"Manchurian Candidate" (1962) Themed Story about an American Major sent to England to Help with Counter-Espionage.

Well Acted All Around, and Considering the Clandestine and Mysterious and Not Well Known Psychological Warfare,

it Manages to be Believable about Ground-Breaking Stuff.

In a Passing Statement by a Fellow Officer there is a Reference to His Returning from the "Korean-Conflict".

This Places the Story in Korea and Not WWII and that in Itself is Unusual for 1954, and so Close to that Military Activity.

Off-Beat, Against-the-Grain War Story.

Showing the Effect of a "New" Method of POW Interrogation, Torture, and Result.

Most Civilians, at the Time were Completely Oblivious.

Although the Movie Jumps Right In to All of this with Little Explanation and Background.

Suffering from its Low-Budget and Short Running Time.

It Still Manages to Pack Quite a Wallop.

The Film has been in Obscurity and Lost in the Shuffle.

Among the Numerous Movies that the British-Studios Pumped-Out.

These 60 min. Or so Little Films were Made Quickly and were a Never-Ending Plethora of B&W Pictures of the Era.

This One is a Sleeper that Stands-Out and Deserves Discovery.

Note...Director Cy Enfield, a victim of the McCarthy Era Blacklist used the Pseudonym Hugh Baker in the Film's initial release.