The main action of the film takes place in 1937 in London, and inevitably it brings to mind Hitchcock's "Sabotage" of the year before, exposing the same problem: a terrorist act goes wrong and innocents go down as casualties, leading to crushing problems of remorse and conscience. Valentina Cortese is the great actress and character here, coming to England with her younger sister as political refugees apparently from Italy after her and her sister's (Audrey Hepburn's) father has been assassinated by a fascist general. They manage well in England and become British citizens, and everything is perfect, until Valentina's former lover comes too England to partake in an assassination attempt on the very general that killed her father, as he comes for a visit. He persuades her to deliver the bomb, she is extremely reluctant to it but is persuaded, and she knows it is wrong and does it anyway for his sake. That's the knot that cannot be untied, since the consequences turn out not according to plan.
Audrey plays herself here as the ballerina she actually first trained herself to be, and every minute of her is worth gloating on. Charles Goldner also makes a great performance as their guardian, "adopted uncle", watching carefully over the sisters and understanding too much of what is going on. It is not as great a film as Hitchcock's "Sabotage" but indeed next to it and a worthy following up on the eternal problem of the justification or not of political crimes against tyrants.
Review of Secret People
