james mason be as pale a the script in this forty thriller that look like it be perform and direct by a community theatre group . mason be poorly miscast a a austrian medical student accuse of espionage while on vacation at a resort hotel in the south of france . the police threaten to turn him over to the gestapo if he doesn not cooperate by uncover the real spy among the hotel guest . with a group of arch character and some casting sinister side glance and others act buffoonish and a suspenseless game of clue commences . in comparison the board game be more animated . with the exception of herbert lom fine sinister turn performance run from bad to ham to invisible . the set design be sparse and the lighting unimaginative and the photography flat . the editing be glaringly incompetent and the direction ( three be give credit while talk about too many cook ) haphazard . in an attempt to amp up the tension and showcase their matinée idol and the director throw a trench coat on the pallid mason and bring him along to vanquish the villain at the film climax . it be a ridiculously contrive end that in a way be wholly appropriate to a film that remain consistently bad from start to finish .