The Unwritten Code

Herman Rotsten
1944-10-26

UNMASKING THE PLOT OF THE YEAR!
5.2
61 min

The Unwritten Code is an offbeat, better-than-average Columbia wartime "B" picture. Though Ann Savage and Tom Neal are top-billed, the central character is supporting-actor Roland Varno. He plays a Nazi spy who sneaks into the U.S., hoping to release hundreds of German prisoners. He fails, but not until plenty of bullets have been spent. The most interesting aspect of The Unwritten Code is the casting of Savage and Neal as the "good" characters: in 1945, these two cult favorites would play the decidedly unsavory protagonists of the film noir classic Detour.

Cast

Name Character Team
Ann Savage Mary Lee Norris Unowned
Tom Neal Sgt. Terry Hunter Unowned
Roland Varno Cpl. Karl Richter Unowned
Howard Freeman Mr. Norris Unowned
Mary Currier Mrs. Norris Unowned
Bobby Larson Willie Norris Unowned
Teddy Infuhr Dutchy Schultz Unowned
Marie Blake Nurse (uncredited) Unowned
Blake Edwards Swede (uncredited) Unowned
Morton Lowry Roland Cheever (uncredited) Unowned
Philip Van Zandt Ulrich, German Soldier (uncredited) Unowned
Otto Reichow Heinrich Krause (uncredited) Unowned
Holmes Herbert McDowell (uncredited) Unowned
Theodore von Eltz Major Spencer (uncredited) Unowned
Fred Essler Schultz (uncredited) Unowned
Knox Manning Narrator (uncredited) Unowned