The Counterfeit Traitor


The Counterfeit Traitor is a 1962 American spy thriller film written and directed by George Seaton and starring William Holden, Lilli Palmer, and Hugh Griffith. Holden plays Swedish-American oil executive Eric Erickson, who is forced to spy on the Nazis in World War II. It was based on a nonfiction book of the same name by Alexander Klein.

Plot

Eric Erickson is an American-born Swedish oil executive who is pressured by Allied intelligence agents, led by British agent Collins, 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. Besides, Collins recorded the meeting.
He is influenced in making this moral decision by one of his contacts in Germany, a religious German Christian woman named Marianne Mollendorf, 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