British Agent

With Michael Curtiz as the director I was expecting better .Howard had very little to work with and though Kay Francis was beautiful and acted well enough but the relationship fails to convince .Not enough time is taken to make the relationship believable and the writing is really poor; it's a pity because it could have worked.

Purportedly based on the memoirs of R.H. Bruce Lockhart, the UK's man on the ground during the days of the Russian Revolution, Leslie Howard plays the consul general at the British Embassy whose other tasks include fomenting a little counterrevolution on the side. That's constantly getting in the way of his romance with Bolshevik Kay Francis.

What was fascinating here was that the spy Howard was so terribly indiscreet as to allow Francis to gain valuable information for her side. As a British Agent it seemed like everything that Howard was trying came up real short except in the romance department.

But Howard and Francis are a good match in screen chemistry in the romance department. As history British Agent leaves a lot to be desired. I think had the film been done by a British studio it probably would have turned out better.

Much better than its reputation, this film has been treated rather unfairly by ignorants who haven't bothered to look deeper into it, like also other films of the Russian revolution, especially Sternberg's "The Last Command" and Marlene Dietrich's "Knight Without Armour", perhaps the best film of the Russian revolution. This one however is outstanding for the fact that it deals directly with reality. Bruce Lockhart, who lived through this story himself, happened to be a legate at the British Embassy in Petersburg when the crisis grew crucial, and later was in the thick of things in Moscow. He was the one who told the story of Sidney Reilly and his conspiracies and efforts to save Russia, and he later played an important part in the Second World War as Churchill's right hand in the propaganda war against Germany. He wrote a series of extremely interesting memoirs and was also in the centre of things in Prague 1948 when Jan Masaryk was defenestrated and the communists took over. Leslie Howard makes a very credible and true characterization of Lockhart's critical ordeals in the heart of the revolution at a loss against the lack of initiative, resolution and political insight in London. He and Reilly could have saved Russia from the communists, if London had responded. This film romanticizes the drama, of course, with some exaggerations and focusing too much on Kay Francis, while Lenin's would be murderess was much more interesting - she is only shown in the deed. Although between "Of Human Bondage" and "Captain Blood", "British Agent" hardly deserves to be neglected.

And yet I liked it! Leslie Howard can give any part in any film dignity - this one proves it! And Kay Francis can make any man seem appealing - again, Leslie Howard proves it! Take that Scarlet O'Hara!

Howard plays, Stephen Locke, a British diplomat, in the last days of Czarist Russia and the first days of Communist Russia. He meets Elena Moura (Kay Francis) when she runs into the British embassy with the Cossacks in hot pursuit since she is a Bolshevik. And also because she was shooting at them. Locke shields her from harm as the consulate is British soil.

They meet again after the revolution when Stephen tries to convince the new Soviet government not to make a separate peace with Germany. But Elena tells her comrades that Stephen is just an unofficial representative, and therefore Stephen is ignored and Russia does make peace apart from the Allies Meanwhile, Stephen and Eleana fall in love. Why I don't know because Eleana keeps telling her bosses all that she knows about Stephen. Egads this could get embarrassing if this is a compulsion of hers!

So then some diplomat friends of Stephen come to him about a plan to arm the White Army against the newly found Soviet government, the hope being that any new Russian government will rejoin the war. Meanwhile Elena still loves her country AND Communism AND Stephen AND still has these troublesome tattle tale qualities.

This has got to be the most pro-Soviet film Hollywood produced prior to WWII when they went wholesale propaganda on the subject during the war years. Lenin is clearly portrayed as a hero. Kay Francis tells us that the emotion she feels for Lenin is "reverence." Lenin's recovery from an assassination attempt is a cause for rejoicing. The Soviet official in charge of tracing down opponents of the regime says that some call it terror, but it's what has to be done. I interpreted that line as a defense of Stalin's policies in the 1930s.

The historical background is more accurate and detailed than most Hollywood films, with Howard articulating the reasons the Allies were concerned about Russia's withdrawal from the war. Also, both leads managed to be annoying characters without annoying me, the viewer. William Gargan's character, on the other hand, annoyed me tremendously. Why must every American abroad in a 1930s film sound like he should be running a lunch counter in the Bronx?

Well, a film starring Leslie Howard and Kay Francis and directed by Michael Curtiz could never be a complete disaster. "British Agent" from 1934 is far from that, but because of the script, it's a little strange.

This film is based on the memoirs of R.C. Lockhart. "British Agent" is only 80 minutes long and it packs in a tremendous amount of plot. Leslie Howard is Steven Locke, who works for the British embassy in Russia at the time of the revolution. He falls for Elena Moura (Francis), a woman he saves. This is the first problem because they meet in one scene and are madly in love in practically the next.

Locke is instructed to keep Russia from signing a separate peace with Germany, which would be harmful to England. Elena holds to a different ideology, being a follower of Lenin. The two clash, and when Elena finds out Locke's assignment, she's quick to tell the other side. That's the second problem -- in the midst of a revolution, Locke receives a dispatch from London and reads it out loud while Elena is in the house.

Elena continues to be in love with Locke, betraying him at the same time.

The acting is very good, and Howard and Francis have wonderful chemistry. It's just not very plausible. Possibly if the love story had been developed more, it would have been more believable.

It's always a delight to see Leslie Howard in a film, as well as Kay Francis. I'll take them any way I can get them, and here, it's in "British Agent."