The Man Between (1953) is a Film Noir directed by Carol Reed, starring Claire Bloom and James Mason.
Susanne Mallison (Bloom) is visiting her brother, Martin (Geoffrey Toone), who has stayed in post-war West Berlin with his German wife, Bettina (Hildegard Knef).
Susanne is enamoured with the foreignness of East Germany but finds that her sister-in-law is acting increasingly suspicious – private meetings, clandestine calls, and eventually, running into a strange West German, Ivo Kern (Mason).Susanne is intrigued with Ivo and goes on various dates with him. However, on each date a suspicious third party always shows up, named Halendar.
Bettina becomes frustrated with Susanne’s dates, making Susanne suspicious that Bettina may be having an affair with Ivo. As it turns out, Bettina eventually confesses that Ivo was her former husband who disappeared in 1943, presumed dead, and had only just reappeared and contacting her.
As a former lawyer with Nazi affiliations, he is helping the East Germans kidnap and transport West Germans for a price. Ivo wants to relocate to the West, but his background makes it difficult.
Halendar wants to kidnap Bettina to get Martin to surrender information about a West German (who brings back information and saves kidnappees) he may be helping; however, they end up kidnapping Susanne by accident.
When Ivo realizes the mistake, he risks his life to take Susanne back to the West albeit with ulterior motives – he hopes that saving a British citizen will give him a new future in West Germany.
What both Ivo and Susanne don’t expect is falling in love with each other.
Tropes:
- Accidental Kidnapping: The plan was to kidnap Bettina, but Halendar accidentally kidnaps Susanne instead. A sort of Idiot Ball moment as Martin and Bettina know there's danger but still let Susanne go out for a walk.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Ivo is slated as a kidnapper for the East Germans. But his love for Susanne makes him sacrifice his life for her freedom.
- Border Crossing: The border separating West and East Germany. Granted, this was before the Berlin wall was erected in 1961, so traversing between sides wasn’t as strict during this period but still complicated especially if escaping without the proper documents.
- Checkpoint Charlie: Susanne and Ivo are trying to escape passing the border. They hide themselves in a truck, but Ivo doesn’t make it.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Ivo had connections to the Nazi party during the war.
- Downer Ending: Ivo is shot and killed while saving Susanne, letting her cross the border into safety.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ivo starts off as a calculating man obsessed with his own freedom to eventually sacrificing his life.
- Hope Spot: When Ivo and Susanne spend the night together, they feel like their love will help them through this difficult situation.
- Price on Their Head: The East Germans are looking for the man Martin helps who saves kidnappees and brings information about East Germany to the West side. They know that if they kidnap Bettina, Martin will be forced to exchange the East German for his wife.
- Redemption Equals Death: Ultimately, Ivo is redeemed when he sacrifices his life to save Susanne’s.
- Run for the Border: The climax and ending of the film follow this trope. Both Susanne and Ivo are trying to cross into West Germany without being caught by Halendar.
- There Is Only One Bed: When Ivo and Susanne are trapped in the German woman’s room hiding from the East Germans. They both share a bed and eventually have sex.
