State Department File 649

One of those hidden gems you find. Thank you Amazon Prime for having it on your list of movies to watch!

As a retired foreign service officer, I had heard a lot about this B film. The first part of the film was impressive, since it outlined the selection process that had not basically changed from the late 40's to the mid 70's when I was selected. Of course, the views of Washington, DC with wide open parking spaces were entertaining.In particular, the AFSA Memorial Wall located in the main entrance of the Dept. of State building was a tribute to the men and women who have given their lives in service to their country was well depicted. I am sorry to say that the original wall plaque memorial has grown many times over since this film was made.Today's junior FSO's are amazed when seeing the quarters assigned to the new vice consul. A room, not an apartment?The rather blasé' response to the knife attack was interesting. Today, such an event would call for a full mobilization of the security staff as well as an investigation as to how it happened. (In those days, there were few, if any, security officers assigned to remote posts.) I was astounded at the capacity of the Stinson courier plane, but that was just Hollywood.This film should be viewed by all current foreign service staff. Overall it is a lot of fun to those of us who have been through "the system". I have purchased ten copies and given them to my colleagues and friends.

Contrary to the product description, Virginia Mayo is not in this film. I doubt she would have got anywhere near this corny, boring piece of post war U.S. propaganda.

File 649 was very typical of the movies made just before and during the Korean War in the mid-1950s. In some ways, it was a fair representation of the dangers to American and British foreign service personnel. Their jobs were quite difficult and losses were heavy in comparison to the number of service members who took on those assignments. There were several with similar themes. William Lundigan was a decent actor, but never really achieved the fame and appreciation that he deserved - ending up spending most of his film career making TV movies and appearing in TV anthology shows and as a guest in other TV shows. This is one of those movies that you can bypass altogether or watch just to get a feel for those years after WW2 and during the Korean conflict. I'd say pass on this if you are not interested in old war movies that are not representative of actual battles. There are so many that are better than this one. Lundigan spent the next couple of decades making mostly "B" movies and appearing on TV anthologies and half-hour shows. I'd say flip a coin on this one and don't expect more than what you get.

Campy, for sure, but overall an accurate portrayal of foreign service life back in the day. (I, too, was a foreign service officer for the U.S. Dept of State.)

Every now and then you find a good Alpha Video release. Well, this is one of them. Not Criterion standard but then again not Criterion pricing. Quite watchable and not missing much (if any). I'm usually writing to forewarn consumers of bad Alpha Video releases so it's nice to give them a good score for a change.

Very difficult to give a damn about a symbol while so many millions were dying.

It's a good thriller. The original titles are present and the color is decent. The only issue are the many splices during dialogue for this Alpha DVD. Otherwise, the video is good. There is no Alpha logo.