''Operation Manhunt'' is a 1954 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Jack Alexander and written by

Paul Monash Paul Monash (June 14, 1917 – January 14, 2003) was an American television and film producer and screenwriter. Life and career Paul Monash was born in Harlem, New York, in 1917, and grew up in The Bronx. His mother, Rhoda Melrose, acted in ...

. The film stars

Harry Townes Harry Rhett Townes (September 18, 1914 – May 23, 2001) was an American actor who later became an Episcopalian minister. Early life Harry Townes was born in Huntsville, Alabama. the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Townes. He had a brother an ...

, Irja Jensen, Jacques Aubuchon, Robert Goodier, Albert Miller and Caren Shaffer. It is a fictionalized story about the aftermath of the defection of

Igor Gouzenko Igor Sergeyevich Gouzenko (; ; January 26, 1919 – June 25, 1982) was a cipher clerk for the Soviet embassy to Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, and a lieutenant of the Soviet Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). He defected on September 5, 1945, th ...

, a former Soviet cipher clerk who revealed the operations of Soviet agents on Canadian soil. The film was released on October 4, 1954, by

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

Plot

In September 1945, Igor Gouzenko, a

cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logy, -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of Adversary (cryptography), ...

clerk at the Soviet embassy in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, has defected with top secret documents regarding an extensive Soviet espionage network in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, in exchange for asylum with new identities for himself and his family (his wife Katya, and his children Jean and Stephen). However, the Gouzenkos - now living in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

under the assumed name Mielick - live in constant fear of retaliation from their former countrymen. Gouzenko has been writing a novel about his work for the Soviets, with Victor Collier of the

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

publishing house ''Collier & Grant'' willing to publicize the manuscript despite Soviet spies (one of them being Collier's own secretary) attempting to follow his trail back to Gouzenko. About nine years later, Soviet embassy agent Chertok receives Volov, a

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

agent using the guise of an assistant clerk. The embassy's chief military attaché, Colonel Rostovich, tasks Volov with liquidating Gouzenko to quell further defections by Soviet officials to the West. Volov poses as a potential defector and sends a letter to Gouzenko via ''Collier & Grant'' to ask for a meeting with him. Gouzenko meets with Collier at the Mt. Royal Hotel to discuss this, but as Collier leaves his office, he is followed by Soviet agents to the hotel, where they lose his trail due to Gouzenko having coded his suite number in his call with Collier. Upon seeing the message, Gouzenko decides to respond, but suspecting a trap, he consults Inspector Boucher of the

Canadian police Law enforcement in Canada is the responsibility of police services, special constabularies, and civil law enforcement agencies, which are operated by every level of government, some private and Crown corporations, and First Nations. In contra ...

in the matter. Upon getting the answer, the Soviets prepare their trap, at the same time cancelling any further attempts to track Gouzenko in order to lull him into a false sense of security. However, Gouzenko learns from Boucher about the discrepancies in Volov's story, and Boucher agrees to assist him "unofficially". Collier pressures Volov to meet him at Morgan's Department Store first, where Volov impatiently demands another meeting the next day with Gouzenko himself in Montreal. Despite his growing misgivings about Volov, Gouzenko decides to go. The next day, Rostovich sends off Volov and Chertok to catch Gouzenko, holding a threat against their wives over their heads as an insurance against dissention. At the meeting place, a crowded market, Gouzenko follows Volov through the throng of people, as agreed, and over the

Jacques Cartier Bridge The Jacques Cartier Bridge () is a steel truss cantilever bridge crossing the Saint Lawrence River from Montreal Island, Montreal, Quebec, to the South Shore (Montreal), south shore at Longueuil, Quebec, Canada. The bridge crosses Saint Helen's ...

Saint Helen's Island Saint Helen's Island () is an island in the St. Lawrence River, in the territory of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It forms part of the Hochelaga Archipelago. It is situated immediately offshore from Old Montreal on the southeastern sid ...

. Once in the seclusion of the island's park, the ambush is sprung; but instead of killing Gouzenko, Volov, having had a change of heart since his army service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and having since plotted his own defection, gives him a list of Soviet spies still operating in Canada, and Chertok is arrested by Boucher. In an aftermath scene, the real Igor Gouzenko, his face hidden, addresses the audience, personally emphasizing the danger Soviet defectors face from their former government and expressing hope that one day these persecutions will finally cease.

Cast

/Peter Mielick *Irja Jensen as Katya Gouzenko *Jacques Aubuchon as Volov *Robert Goodier as Victor Collier *Albert Miller as Chertok *Caren Shaffer as Jean Gouzenko *Kenneth Wolfe as Stephen Gouzenko *

Will Kuluva Will Kuluva (May 2, 1917 – November 6, 1990) was an American actor. He appeared in the films '' Abandoned'', ''Viva Zapata!'', '' Operation Manhunt'', '' The Shrike'', '' Crime in the Streets'', '' Odds Against Tomorrow'', '' Go Naked in the Wo ...

as Rostovich * Ovila Légaré as Inspector Boucher *

as himself

Production

The film was filmed mostly on location in

, Sainte-Adèle, and

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0254632, Operation Manhunt 1954 films United Artists films American drama films 1954 drama films Works about Canada and the Cold War Cold War films Films about the KGB Films shot in Montreal Films set in Montreal Films set in 1945 Films set in 1954 American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films