Dirk Bogarde

Alexei Fedorovic Vlassov, a Soviet spy colonel, abducts two officials from his country and seeks political asylum in the United States. Transported from Paris to New York, he reveals - after having been subjected to the "lie detector test" - the names of some Soviet spies nested in the high command of NATO and in the French secret service...

An immensely popular British crime film, Basil Dearden's The Blue Lamp was scripted by ex-policeman T. E. B. Clarke, the writer who arguably did most to define Ealing Studio's post-war identity. The film marked the first appearance of the character of Jack Warner - later to be immortalised in Dixon of Dock Green.