Address Unknown

William Cameron Menzies’ Address Unknown is a visual feast that showcases the director’s accomplished background in art direction (producer David Selznick would recruit him to re-do Alfred Hitchcock’s and Salvador Dali’s famous dream sequence in Spellbound the following year); indeed, he was the first art director to be credited as production designer. Inventively expressionistic lighting glorifies the enormous set pieces, stately mansions, and craggy landscapes, and breathtaking interiors like Martin’s cavernous office and the baroque theater demonstrate Menzies’ uncommon boldness in art direction. The story follows Martin Schultz (Paul Lukas) and his wife Elsa (Mady Christians) as they return to Germany from California where Martin and his best friend Max Eisenstein (Morris Carnovsky) were art dealers. In Germany, Martin becomes acquainted with Baron von Friesche (Carl Esmond) who convinces Martin to join the rising Nazi party and disown Max, who is Jewish, and Max’s daughter Giselle (K.T. Stevens), who unfortunately elected to accompany the Schultz’s to Germany to pursue an acting career. Despite occasional wisps of lighthearted banter, Address Unknown is dark and disturbing: a scene in which a Nazi censor interrupts a theatrical performance is explosive and terrifying, foreshadowing the imminent death that awaits so many outside the theater. The narrative’s turning point — when Giselle is forced to escape an anti-Semitic mob and seek shelter at Martin’s mansion — is unforgettably emotional. The film is first and foremost a wartime drama, but its visual bleakness paints noir in every frame.