Union Station

This latest in Downing’s brilliant John Russell “Station” series, following Wedding Station. In World War II, John Russell was a double agent in Berlin, spying for the U.S. while deceiving Soviet Russia. Soviet hatchetman Beria captured him and would have killed him but for evidence John threatened to make public. Now it’s 1953. John lives in Los Angeles; his wife Effi is on a popular sitcom, but these are the days of HUAC and McCarthyism. She doesn’t know how much longer she can hold her tongue against them, but if she speaks, her acting career will be over. John’s investigating U.S. firms that did business with the Nazis during the War. They notice they’re being followed. Perhaps John has a new enemy, or Beria, with Stalin dead, is having second thoughts about leaving John alive. When Effi is invited to Berlin for a film festival, John is attacked. The complications pile up: an East German friend flees an oppressive regime; a relative of John’s is arrested by the Stasi. Eventually, they head back to LA, where John confronts his stalker and Effi faces up to HUAC.