Takes awhile to catch fire. It's always engaging, though, and builds by stages to a riveting climax at the Swiss border that would have done the Master of Suspense proud.

Yarn is not only told without a single letdown, but it actually continues to pile up suspense to a nerve-clutching pitch.

The cast and script are fine, but Reed fatally lacks Hitchcock's light, witty touch and his effortless ability to create suspense out of ordinary circumstances.

Often described as a film made in the style of Alfred Hitchcock, Carol Reed's WWII-set Night Train to Munich certainly shares common ground with the Master of Suspense's 1938 gem The Lady Vanishes.