A Dim but Darling Spy

"What's a war for, if not to hold on to what we love?" asks secretary Linda Voss (Melanie Griffith), as she gazes soulfully into the eyes of her boss and lover, World War II spy Ed Leland (Michael Douglas).

Like the 1940s movie heroines that preceded her, Griffith's character is smart, beautiful, and brave. After she volunteers to replace a downed U.S. agent in war-torn Germany, she has to depend on her ability to speak German, the invaluable training she's learned from cloak and dagger maneuvers in her favorite movies, and, in the inevitable pinch, her lover.

In many ways, Shining Through lives up to the standard established by the old war-era movies of love and intrigue.

Take Douglas. He is delightfully convincing as the detached, debonair, duty-bound white knight. Although Leland's macho characteristics are not always appealing to the audience, Douglas manages to make him endearing. Able to make the audience laugh, but not forget for a moment the gravity of the material, Douglas creates a presence which emanates "Duty, honor, country" with every gesture.

One has to wonder how much of a stretch the role of Linda was for Griffith. In a recent interview, the talented actress said she "didn't know that 6 million Jews were killed," and astutely realized, "that's a lot of people."

But in spite of her dimness--or perhaps because of it--Griffith renders a convincing performance as a perspicacious woman whose intelligence is often masked by a ditzy facade. Her work lends a great deal of warmth and humor to the film, which nonetheless does not diminish the impact of the appalling reality of Hitler's regime.

The crew of Shining Through was the first to take advantage of the new freedom offered after the fall of the Berlin Wall--most of the movie was filmed on location in East Berlin. This fact is fortunately not made the main focus for the audience, so director David Seltzer is able to put together footage that is modest yet impressive.

Original MovieTone newsreel footage reinforces the film's credibility as a forties saga. Seltzer fades from black and white into color at the beginning of several scenes, providing an effective juxtaposition of the old and the new.

Unfortunately, Seltzer proceeds to destroy the credibility he has so carefully worked to establish. Sappy lines seem allowable--they are reminders of the melodrama of old war films, which were replete with sentimentality. However, a drastic shoot-'em-up scene and a ridiculously inappropriate ending just don't fit. They are inexplicable and unacceptable.

Shining Through is a solid attempt to recapture the nostalgia of the war years in a romantic melodrama full of adventure and intrigue. But in the ending, the valiant effort fails.

A 1940s standard in a warp

Shining Through Directed by David Seltzer Starring Melanie Griffith and Michael Douglas Twentieth Century Fox