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Plot

Kewpie-doll voiced Melanie Griffith does a sexed-up Nancy Drew turn in David Seltzer's adaptation of Susan Issacs' novel Shining Through. Set during World war II, Griffith plays Linda Voss, a spunky New York girl who applies for a job with international lawyer Ed Leland (Michael Douglas). Ed hires her immediately when he finds out that she speaks German fluently. The reason Ed is so interested in Linda's language skills is because Ed is an undercover OSS officer who needs a German translator. Their business relationship translates into love, but when America enters the war, Ed abandons his law practice to become a full-time spy. Utilizing Linda's charms, she travels to Berlin and infiltrates the Nazis as a domestic to try to discover information about "a bomb that can fly by itself." But Linda has personal as well as patriotic motives for agreeing to go undercover, since she has Jewish relatives in Berlin and wants to find out their whereabouts.
MPAA Rating:
for a scene of sensuality.
Genre(s):
Action,Crime and Mystery,Drama,Romance,Thriller
Run Time:
133min.
Theatrical Release Date:
01/31/1992
DVD Release Date:
01/11/2005
Distributor(s):
20th Century Fox
Director(s):
Themes:
Women During Wartime,Workplace Romance,Behind Enemy Lines
Tone:
Atmospheric,Lavish,Slick,Tense
Keywords:
German-language,Jewish,Nazi,lawyer,love,spy,war
Country of Origin:
USA (01-31-1992)