Hemingway's iceberg, brought to the surface

This is where the genius of Ernest Hemingway’s iceberg theory comes through, for screenwriter Anthony Veiller and director Robert Siodmak were able to adapt his famous 10 page short story in to a 100 minute interpretation of what Hemingway left up to his audience to fill in for the mysterious backstory of, “The Swede”, played by Burt Lancaster in his debut role.

It’s structured similarly to Citizen Kane, where we have an insurance agent learning about The Swede’s past through old friends and colleagues. This is a noir that really knocks it out of the park, with a mystery that sucks you right in until you know every little detail.