Shining Through (1992)

Shining Through, a solid flop in theaters, is a World War II-era suspense romance which nevertheless makes a great guilty pleasure on video: It's such a goofy schmaltzorama that it gives you a retro high. The parallels to classic Hollywood swill are all there. Melanie Griffith, playing a working girl who tough-talks her way into a job as an American spy in Nazi Germany, suggests mousy Joan Fontaine miscast in a Joan Crawford belle-of-the-balls role. Michael Douglas, as her boss and lover, is meant to fill the Bogie/Cary shoes. It's the supporting players, though — Liam Neeson in Claude Rains' old part from Notorious, Joely Richardson as an acquaintance too blond to be true — and a script like a romance novel with an embossed cover that make Shining Through such shameless popcorn fun. Watch it late at night and pretend it's colorized; you won't be disappointed. B-