Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama, Mystery & Suspense Directed By: Gottfried Reinhardt Written By: George Froeschel, Ronald Millar In Theaters: 7 Sept. 1954 On Disc/Streaming: 11 Dec. 1991 Runtime: 108 minutes Studio: MGM Budget: $1,674,000 Box office: $4,177,000 | Cast: Clark Gable as Colonel Pieter Deventer Lana Turner as Carla Van Oven Victor Mature as “The Scarf” Louis Calhern as General Ten Eyck O. E. Hasse as Colonel Helmuth Dietrich Wilfrid Hyde-White as General Charles Larraby Ian Carmichael as Captain Jackie Lawson Niall MacGinnis as “Blackie” Nora Swinburne as The “Scarf’s” Mother Roland Culver as General Warsleigh Leslie Weston as “Pop” Christopher Rhodes as Chris Lily Kann as Jan’s Grandmother Brian Smith as Jan Anton Diffring as Captain Von Stanger |
“Betrayed” is a 1954 war drama film directed by Gottfried Reinhardt from a screenplay by Ronald Millar and George Froeschel, and starring Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Victor Mature and Louis Calhern.
The picture, Gable’s last for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, was filmed on location in the Netherlands and England and was based on the story of turncoat Dutch resistance leader Christiaan Lindemans, also known as “King Kong”.
The supporting cast features O. E. Hasse, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Ian Carmichael, Niall MacGinnis, and Theodore Bikel. Betrayed was the fourth and final movie in which Gable played opposite Turner, and their third pairing set during World War II.
Diana Coupland provided Turner’s singing voice in the song, “Johnny Come Home”.
“Betrayed” is an espionage thriller set in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, and revolves mostly around the Dutch resistance movement.
Dutch intelligence agent Pieter Deventer (Clark Gable) is ordered to keep an eye on suspected collaborator Fran Seelers (Lana Turner).
Both Deventer and Seelers join the Dutch underground, making contact with a flamboyant resistance leader known as “The Scarf” (Victor Mature).
As ‘Carla Van Oven’, Seelers’ assignment is to use her feminine charms to gain the confidence of admiring Nazi officers.
Within the next few weeks, several underground operatives are captured and shot, and it begins to look as though Deventer’s suspicions concerning Seelers are correct, though he is strongly drawn to her.
The ultimate revelation of the collaborator’s identity settles the issue of whether the couple can be enemies or lovers.
Lana Turner plays Fran Seelers (Carla van Oven).
It’s a bit unfortunate that 3 of the 4 Clark Gable-Lana Turner co-starring vehicles have had World War 2 backgrounds. Certainly 2 such beautiful people warranted more glamourous trappings. Their 4th and final film together had them back in combat suits and steel helmets for a cloak-and-dagger melodrama, the script of which provided too few love scenes to suit the fans of this charismatic duo. But although the clinches didn’t come as often as in the past and the fireworks weren’t as loud, the romantic moments did occasionally contain rewards, including a recitation of that classic line: “You’re beautiful when you’re angry.”
As for Miss Turner’s hair, it had been her own decision to retain the brunette shade of “Flame And The Flesh” for this film. Fortunately, she soon realized that her fans preferred her as a blonde and although years later she did go dark for a few scenes in “Madame X“, after “Betrayed” she was never again totally brunette for a film.
When Lana looked back on this entire period later on she thought is was a mistake. Mistakes in career choices, in men, and in the fights she had with her mother and her daughter. Upon completion of “Betrayed”, she decided to abandon her plan to continue working abroad and come home to the USA again.
Trailer:
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You can watch the film here.
Lana Turner did a lot of movies. She really loved being a moviestar.
Here are the most important films in which she starred. Just click the links for more info, photos and videos.
20 April 1937: A Star Is Born
9 Oct. 1937: They Won’t Forget
24 Oct. 1937: The Great Garrick
1 Jan. 1938: The Adventures of Marco Polo
22 July 1938: Love Finds Andy Hardy
12 Aug. 1938: Rich Man, Poor Girl
9 Dec. 1938: Dramatic School
28 April 1939: Calling Dr. Kildare
18 Aug. 1939: These Glamour Girls
29 Sept. 1939: Dancing Co-Ed
19 April 1940: Two Girls on Broadway
19 July 1940: We Who Are Young
25 April 1941: Ziegfeld Girl
12 Aug. 1941: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
2 Oct. 1941: Honky Tonk
18 Febr. 1942: Johnny Eager
27 Aug. 1942: Somewhere I’ll Find You
1 April 1943: Slightly Dangerous
19 Aug. 1943: Du Barry Was A Lady
13 Nov. 1943: The Youngest Profession
23 Aug. 1944: Marriage Is a Private Affair
8 March 1945: Keep Your Powder Dry
1 Oct. 1945: Week-End At The Waldorf
2 May 1946: The Postman Always Rings Twice
5 Nov. 1947 : Green Dolphin Street
1 Nov. 1947: Cass Timberlane
29 April 1948: Homecoming
20 Oct. 1948: The Three Musketeers
1 Sept. 1950: A Life Of Her Own
2 March 1951: Mr. Imperium
5 Sept. 1952: The Merry Widow
25 Dec. 1952: The Bad And The Beautiful
25 Aug. 1953: Latin Lovers
1 May 1954: Flame And The Flesh
7 Sept. 1954: Betrayed
13 May 1955: The Prodigal
4 June 1955: Sea Chase
14 Dec. 1955: The Rains Of Ranchipur
12 Jan. 1956: Diane
13 Dec. 1957: Peyton Place
30 Jan. 1958: The Lady Takes A Flyer
2 May 1958: Another Time, Another Place
30 April 1959: Imitation Of Life
23 June 1960: Portrait In Black
19 July 1961: By Love Possessed
2 Nov. 1961: Bachelor In Paradise
25 Dec. 1962: Who’s Got The Action?
24 Febr. 1965: Love Has Many Faces
27 April 1966: Madame X
30 April 1969: The Big Cube
7 Nov. 1974: Persecution
27 Oct. 1976: Bittersweet Love
31 Oct. 1980: Witches Brew
21 May 1982: Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
Sources: Wikipedia, IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Lana’s biography “Lana, the Lady, The Legend, The Truth“, “The Films Of Lana Turner” by Lou Valentino and “Lana Turner, The Memories, The Myths and The Movies” by Cheryl Crane.