Fear (1954)

63% User Rating

1h 23min

Irene Wagner, the wife of the prominent German scientist Professor Albert Wagner, had been having an affair with Erich Baumann. She does not disclose this to her husband, hoping to preserve his innocence and their "perfect marriage". This fills her with anxiety and guilt. However, Johanna Schultze, Erich's jealous ex-girlfriend, learns about the affair and begins to blackmail Irene, turning Irene's psychological torture into a harsh reality.

Roberto RosselliniDirector

Cast

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Ingrid Bergman

Irène Wagner

Mathias Wieman

Albert Wagner

Renate Mannhardt

Luisa Vidor

Kurt Kreuger

Erich Baumann

Elise Aulinger

Haushälterin

Edith Schultze-Westrum

Steffi Stroux

Annelore Wied

Rolf Deininger

Albert Herz

Klaus Kinski

Cabaret Performer

Klara Kraft

Jürgen Micksch

Gabriele Seitz

Bubi Wagner

Elisabeth Wischert

Mady

Reviews (1)

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CinemaSerf

Rating 60%

July 19, 2023

Ingrid Bergman is "Irene" married to "Albert" (Mathias Wieman) but has been having an affair with the much younger "Erich" (Kurt Kreuger). The relentlessness of the secret-keeping takes it's toll and "Irene" tries to end it all. Her secret is not quite as safe as she had thought, though - and she soon discovers that opportunist "Johanna" (Renate Mannhardt) knows the score and wants 3,000 Marks to keep silent. Will that do the trick, or is that just the start of an even more slippery slope? This is short and sweet - reasonably paced, with decent characterisations from Bergman and her grasping nemesis Mannhardt, but the story itself it overly simple and lacks any sense of jeopardy. We always know what is going to happen - and although Roberto Rossellini does try to inject the merest hint of menace, Bergman is all just too "nice" to be convincing. She has the bad temper of a field mouse.