The Counterfeit Traitor  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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The Counterfeit Traitor is a 1962 war film starring William Holden, Hugh Griffith, and Lilli Palmer. Holden plays an American-born Swedish citizen who agrees to spy on the Nazis in World War II. It was based on a nonfiction book of the same name by Alexander Klein. The film was directed by George Seaton.

Plot

Erickson (Holden) is an American-born Swedish oil man who is pressured by Allied intelligence agents, led by a British agent (Griffith), to spy for the Allies. Erickson begins his job reluctantly, as it causes marital discord and forces him to pose as a Nazi. He agrees because otherwise his business would be destroyed by the Allies, but over time, realizes it is the right thing to do.

He is influenced in making this moral decision by one of his contacts in Germany, a religious woman (Lilli Palmer) who gives him guidance on the meaning of life and right and wrong. Erickson has a number of close calls, but eventually escapes to Sweden in a harrowing sea voyage.

Cast

• William Holden - Eric Erickson
• Lilli Palmer - Frau Marianne Möllendorf
• Hugh Griffith - Collins
• Carl Raddatz - Otto Holtz
• Ulf Palme - Max Gumpel
• Ernst Schröder - Baron Gerhard von Oldenburg
• Charles Régnier - Wilhelm Kortner
• Ingrid van Bergen - Hulda Windler
• Helo Gutschwager - Hans Holtz
• Wolfgang Preiss - Colonel Nordoff
• Werner Peters - Bruno Ulrich
• Erica Beer - Klara Holtz
• Stefan Schnabel - Gestapo agent at funeral
• Klaus Kinski - Kindler, Jewish Refugee
• Jochen Blume - Dr. Jacob Karp
• Erik Schumann - Nazi Gunboat Officer
• Dirk Hansen - Lieutenant Nagler
• Poul Reichhardt - Fishing Boat Skipper
• Ludwig Naybert - Stationmaster
• Louis Miehe-Renard - Poul
• Kai Holm - Gunnar
• Jens Østerholm - Lars
• Eva Dahlbeck - Ingrid Erickson

See also

• List of American films of 1962
• Eric Erickson, the real-life spy on whom the book and film are based