Line #10 Film/CounterfeitTraitor


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_counterfeit_traitor.jpeg]]
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3	''The Counterfeit Traitor'' is a 1962 American UsefulNotes/WorldWarII spy thriller film directed by George Seaton, starring Creator/WilliamHolden, Lilli Palmer, and Hugh Griffith. It is a dramatized version of a nonfiction book, which itself was based on a true story.
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5	In Stockholm in 1942, naturalized American-born Swede Eric Erickson (Holden) finds out that he has been put on a U.S. blacklist for "trading with the enemy". As he's faced with this unappetizing mark on his record, British Intelligence makes contact with him and promises him they will get his name off the list after the war so as to retroactively remove the black mark. He just has to do one teensy little thing first...
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8	!!This film contains examples of:
9	* DirtyBusiness:
10	** Eric [[spoiler:has to purposely alienate a Jewish friend of his as a test run for his apparent dislike of the British and changing allegiances.]] Fortunately (!) it works, and that gets the ball rolling for the events in the film.
11	** Marianne [[spoiler:is less forthcoming, but indicates she has had to do some unsavory things in her career as a spy.]]
12	* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:There appears to be a throwaway line about Eric's dental records early in the film.]] As it turns out, when Eric needs help from a deep cover agent in Germany, he is authenticated using those records.
13	* FakeDefector: The premise of the film, of course. Erickson manages to do his job rather well, alienating most of his former friends and social club fellows while managing to get close to high German officials in and out of the Reich.
14	* FemmeFataleSpy: [[spoiler:Frau Marianne Moellendorf, to Eric's surprise, turns out to be the British agent in Berlin.]]
15	* IllPretendIDidntHearThat:
16	** [[spoiler:Oldenbourg invokes this when Eric openly admits he's working with the Allies.]]
17	** [[spoiler:Invoked when Eric's Jewish friend realizes Eric's behavior is probably not motivated out of genuine spite or malice; he writes a letter in which he tells Eric, "I shall consider our friendship only temporarily suspended"]].
18	* KickTheDog: Given that Eric has to travel throughout Nazi Germany, he no doubt has witnessed these moments. One which the film shows, is how the Nazis deal with a sit-down strike. [[spoiler:The Polish indentured workers want better food. The Gestapo dispense with the niceties and kill one of them as an example to the rest.]]
19	* MaleGaze: There are a few scenes in this film in which the men openly ogle women and make it clear which body part their eyes are caressing.
20	* OvertRendezvous: Eric has to occasionally contact people in public gatherings. [[spoiler:As one example, in the guise of an extramarital affair, Marianne and Eric exchange vital intelligence while appearing to be hitting on each other at a party hosted by [[EvilMinions Albert Speer and Joseph Goebbels]], no less.]]
21	* PrivateEyeMonologue: This method of exposition is used to provide insight into what the main character (Erickson) is thinking or doing at the time by describing his thoughts or reasons for doing things. As this film is not FilmNoir, there are also elements of LemonyNarrator as well.
22	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Eric starts out at the "cynic" end of things, but later, [[spoiler:motivated in part by Marianne's far more idealistic motives for spying for the Allies,]] he moves to the idealistic end himself.

Context Film / CounterfeitTraitor