Les sacrifiés

This tale of espionage and high risk romance begins at a Paris railroad depot as Karen Schöntag, the Austrian alias of the Russian Carla Vanirska (Constance Bennett) attempts to board an overbooked train for Vienna.

Well, as good fortune, perhaps, would have it, Captain Rudolph "Rudy" Ritter (Gilbert Roland), en route to Vienna himself, to his newly-promoted position as Captain of an Austrian intelligence agency, enables Karen/Carla to accompany him because he instantly succumbs to her charms and graces.

Now, the balance of the film transpires in Vienna, as Rudy and Major Lieber (Edward Ellis) lead the search for the capture of the dangerous enemy agent "K-14," who cleverly delivers coded messages to comrades of a Russian insurgency movement to attempt to overthrow the government in Austria. (Well, keep in mind that this is a 1933 release, and before the period of WWII German occupation.)

So, you may pretty well guess the identity of K-14 from the list of IMDb cast credits, but what a clever operator K-14 turns out to be, writing those secret coded messages in invisible ink, folding them into the pages of books, entering the secret rendezvous locations, tapping the steps of a staircase by the shoe, and delivering the set of books to a fellow agent, who hides beneath the staircase to slide a secret panel to receive them.

Fans of the Classics may find many elements of manners, glamor and suspense, with the lovely leading lady carrying the film, all reasons to tune into vintage films. "After Tonight," well staged with excellent cinematography, does, however, seem to have a screen-story of conflicting allegiance for fans to wonder whom or what we're supposed to be rooting for here.

According to IMDb, "The film lost $100,000 at the box office, which made the studio (RKO Radio Pictures) consider firing Miss Bennett," making her the scapegoat in an awkwardly scripted outing, which seems to loose its direction and climax in a rather somewhat implausible finale.

But Constance Bennett does carry the film well, as its prime attraction, and she handles the material to cause even the more irate critics to care about her character--especially after bodies begin to fall victim to conflicts between the caucuses.

So, in addition to Miss Bennett, Mr. Roland and Mr. Ellis, you may also recognize Sam Godfrey as Franz, Lucien Prival as Lieutenant Erlich, Mischa Auer as Agent Lehan, and Virginia Weidler in the role of Olga, Carla's Niece.

And it would also be nice to score with half-points here and there.

Edit 03/24/16 -- "...first sentence saying it begins in a Paris railroad station. It actually begins in Luxembourg, which is a different country and 250 miles away." -- (Thanks for correction, IMDb Member blakedw.)

Constance Bennett was sublime in this. This film, unlike some others in which she starred, made it easy to see why she was a star. The plot is intriguing, if not overwhelmingly original, and the film is made very well. The theme song of the film, which Bennett sings (well), is memorable and sweet. Bennett is a glamour queen throughout and acts skillfully and pleasingly. The direction is overall excellent, the film moves at a brisk pace, and the sets and situations are not too stagy. It compares remarkably well to another spy melodrama of the period, Garbo's MATA HARI, and of the two, Bennett surprisingly comes out the winner (no disservice to the great Garbo intended, just some praise to the underrated and forgotten Bennett).

"After Tonight" was gorgeous Constance Bennett's last film under her RKO contract. She didn't exactly leave on a high note; the film lost money. But the film has its compensations.

It's the old spy falling in love with the enemy story. This one has Karen Schontag (translation: Pretty Day) (Bennett) at the railroad trying to get to Vienna from Paris during World War I. It's there she meets Captain Rudolph Ritter, the new Captain of Austrian Intelligence. No surprise that each finds the other mighty attractive, and, since the train is overbooked, he helps Karen get to Vienna. And who is she really? A Russian, Carla Vanirska, and she's a spy.

Once in Vienna, we see Karen singing in a club and then working as a nurse. Rudolph and his associates are trying to find a dangerous enemy spy, R-14, who is delivering coded messages to the Russians as they try to overthrow the government in Austria.

Well, we all know who R-14 is, with her coded messages in invisible ink that she carries in her books and leaves in a staircase panel. The question is, will Rudolph find out? And if he does, will he have her shot? I love the atmosphere of the European sets and whether or not we think we know what will happen, the film is still suspenseful. Bennett and Roland, who married some years later, are a beautiful couple. So he's an Austrian with a Mexican accent. You can't have everything. What a career - 60 years that began in the silents.

A definite must-see for fans of the lovely Bennett.

I would rate this film as a competent time killer, something that Depression audiences went to see to forget about their troubles for an hour or so and which we small screen home viewers can watch to slip out of contemporary reality and give our brains a break. Constance Bennett occupies space attractively and goes through the motions of "acting" in her role as a coolheaded (and well dressed) spy operating behind Austro-Hungarian lines for the Russians in World War I. It's fun and intriguing to watch her collect and pass on her secret messages, all the while growing ever closer romantically to a spy-hunting Austrian military official (Gilbert Roland). An extremely contrived ending perfectly suits this confection.

Like Dietrich (Dishonored) and Garbo (Mata Hari) before her, Constance Bennett finally got a chance to play a fascinating spy in "After Tonight". This was Constance's last picture under her RKO contract. At the time of it's release the film was a failure and RKO laid the blame at the feet of Constance Bennett. Isn't it always better to lay the blame at the feet of the departing star? However, looking at it now, Miss Bennett is one of the saving graces of the picture. Her performance is actually quite good and the production is well put together. The direction is a little sluggish at times and Gilbert Roland (who would marry Constance in 1940) is a little wooden. The ending comes as no surprise, but it was exactly what female audiences of the time expected from "women's pictures". They would attend a matinée, watch the heroine suffer through six or seven reels and then be presented with a happy ending. (How things have changed.) While not great, this movie is not that bad. The movie belongs to Constance Bennett and anyone who is a fan of hers should add this to their watch list if they have not already done so.