Der Spion in Schwarz

This is an entertaining, well-made spy adventure set during World War I. Although made 60 years ago, the film has a sophisticated approach to the relationship between its three main characters. In particular, the natural attraction between the parts played by Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson is portrayed believably. Many of the supporting characters are also interesting; look out for Hay Petrie as the Scottish engineer aboard a ferry and an early appearance by Bernard Miles as a hotel desk clerk. Unlike the majority of British movies of this period, the film doesn't stereotype or make fun of its working-class characters.

The story has several good twists and an ironic climax. There are also some improbable coincidences, but no more than the typical James Bond movie.

Unlike Bond, however, "The Spy in Black" adopts a quite dark tone in its final 20 minutes. There is an almost tragic dignity and regret in the final scenes.

Director Michael Powell composes some interestingly-framed shots that make good use of Vincent Korda's sets. One of his favourite devices is to set a key character in sharp focus in the background while lesser parts stand or move slightly out-of-focus in the foreground. The effect is often quite striking.

This film marks Powell's first collaboration with the Hungarian writer Emeric Pressburger. The maturity of the romance between the leads and the snappiness of the dialogue are probably attributable to Pressburger's European upbringing.

Despite its age, "The Spy in Black" is well worth seeing just for the simple pleasures of a well-made entertainment executed with a little more care and imagination than usual.

A deceptively and beautifully simple little film, a great start for the Powell and Pressburger collaboration, and good British propaganda fun too. Much too simple for most people today who would miss colour, violence, depravity, unfathomable plot and shaky camera work in their spy films.

Austere devilishly handsome German U Boat captain Conrad Veidt has convoluted spying mission in 1917 Scotland to locate the British fleet but finds himself being sidetracked with schoolmistress contact Valerie Hobson and the availability of butter. But even though WW1 is portrayed as more "civilised" than the coming war as in Colonel Blimp, oil and water must always remain just so. There's a fine cast of British stalwarts for example the seemingly legless Hay Petrie, some eccentric most with secrets, and high production values generally disguising occasionally flimsy sets and occasional implausibility. Rosza's music was high class too, nicely complementing the nitrate black and white film stock, which unfortunately has been allowed to deteriorate over the years but sometimes unintentionally lets you believe it really is 1917 and not 1939. As with Colonel Blimp 4 years later the German viewpoint with a sympathetic lead is told with a seeming impartiality, but after all there wasn't any doubt about the outcome. Even Chamberlain might've been hard to appease if Veidt's plans had been shown to bear fruit!

Throwaway - so why can't I throw it away? Entertaining, engrossing, amusing, nothing very heavy and even on the verge of war not a big flag-waver, so it's just the type of film I enjoy.

During the World War, a German U-boat comes up on the coast of Scotland. At this point Captain Hardt leaves the vessel and travels to a small village to meet his contact. He plans to use the treacherous assistance of bitter Royal Navy Lieutenant Ashington to guide the Germans to the spot of the British fleet. However not all is fair in love and war and Hardt soon finds his operation at risk of compromise.

Of course, much more famous for The Red Shoes and A Matter of Life and Death, this film from Powell and Pressburger should not be over looked. While it is of course propaganda (released as it was in 1939), it is not a flag waving, lets all kill the Nazi's under the bed style film. Instead it stands up in it's own right as an exciting little thriller that makes some good points about the nature of war. The plot is quite straightforward at first but has a few nice twists that I won't spoil, and is generally enjoyable.

The strength of the film for me was the focus on a German Officer and not having him as a stereotypical evil tyrant. While the film doesn't let us wonder who the good guys and the bad guys are, it does at least allow Hardt to be more of a full person and the film better as a result. The ironies of the final action of the film is clear and is even more of a striking comment on war when you look at the `blue on blue' stats for Gulf War 2. Veidt does well in the lead as Hardt and is partly responsible for keeping him a bad guy without over egging the cake. Shaw and Hobson are good but perhaps a little too much of the `Heroic Brits' about them.

Overall this is a good wartime thriller but the unusual tack that it comes at, plus a darker and slightly subversive tone about it helps it stand out, if not from the rest of P&P's work, then certainly from the vast majority of wartime propaganda thrillers made in Britain around the second world war.

This is a World War I story of a German effort to defeat Britain's most powerful warships . 1917 , a German submarine captain (Conrad Veidt) returns from duty at sea during WWI and is assigned to infiltrate one of the Orkney Islands and obtain confidential British information . Then the undercover captain finds more than he bargained for in his contact , the local schoolmistress (Valerie Hobson) . Meanwhile , a submarine sets out to locate and sink the powerful Brit battleships during WWI in this most stirring account of the quest for the destruction of a English fleet located at an island.

Stars a great main cast helped by a fleet of the best Brit character players , all of them giving stunning acting . It's one of the first and important Brit pictures about warfare naval action and being based on real incidents . Known in the U. S. as ¨U-Boat 29¨, this movie is based on a J. Storer Couston novel . Well written by Storer Clouston (story) , script by Roland Pertwee and Emeric Pressburger , the latter developed a long teeming with director Michael Powell . This is a splendid British film concerning historic deeds during WWI , the naval battle in the Atlantic Ocean between German submarines and British battleships , dealing with a German submarine is sent to the Orkney Isles in 1917 to sink the British fleet . This picture is based on fact , but there have been complaints that is most inaccurate . Magnificent performances from Conrad Veidt as the German U-Boat captain is sent on a spying mission to the North of Scotland along with the attractive as well as adequate Valerie Hobson . The main and secondary cast are stunningly incarnated by a magnificent plethora of English actors , such as : Sebastian Shaw , Marius Goring , June Duprez , Helen Haye , Mary Morris , and brief uncredited appearances from Jack Lambert , Howard Marion-Crawford , Bernard Miles , Graham Stark , Torin Thatcher ; subsequently , some of them developing notorious Hollywood/British careers .

Lavishly financed by prestigious producer Alexander Korda and Irving Asher . Adding excellent scale models , though also used actual battle footage mixing with the miniatures , being well photographed in order to easier verisimilitude by forcing the perspective of the image to make the miniatures appear bigger and further apart. The producers knew that the use of scale models and explosions would have to look very realistic to be successful , as they hired expert FX technicians who were generally considered to be the best Brit team in the industry . The film contains an evocative and atmospheric cinematography in black and white by cinematographer Bernard Browne . As well as thrilling and emotive musical score by Miklós Rózsa to be continued a long and successful Hollywood career . The flick was stunningly directed by Michael Powell . This was the first film to pair Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger followed with Contraband in 1940 and going on to become an essential partnership in British film history . Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger created their production company : The Archers . They were usual collaborators , getting together to make a lot of films . Directing the following ones : The Tales of Hoffman, The Elusive Pimpernel, Pursuit of Graf Spee , The small black room, Black Narcisus , Contraband , The Thief of Bagdad , Edge of the World , Night ambush, The Lion has Wings , Spy in Black, One of out aircraft is missing , Life and death of Colonel Blimp, Canterbury Tale, among others . Many of them are deemed to be masterpieces , and being produced under banner their production The Archers . The picture will appeal to wartime genre buffs and British classic movie fans . Rating : 7/10. Better than average .

Here, Conrad Veidt (looking lovely in this) and Valerie Hobson (a little stiff) team for the first time in an unusual war thriller cum romance which uses its locations, script, actors, and pace to great effect. Even if you don't particularly like war films, this has more going on that you'd think, and repays more than one viewing. As an early P&P it does have hints of some of the classics to come - probably a closest link to 49th Parallel. An atmospheric film which dared, on the brink of real-life war, to have a German soldier who you do sympathise with, even if he brings his misfortunes on himself.