Cipher Bureau

"Cipher Bureau" turns out to be a serious but a fun little film that must have held fascination for people interested in the technology of the day as the world hurtled toward the turmoil of and tragic need for the Second World War. The performances are just fine, with faces that were largely familiar to the movie-going fans of the day in 1938, but, unfortunately, are now fast fading from America's collective memory. But it is the code-breaking concerns and the pre-war espionage focus that make this movie as compelling and worth the while for lovers of old movies. Joan Woodbury adds a sparkling dash of future 1940's sophistication, as her presence becomes more and more anticipated and desired by the viewer as the film unfolds. The other big thing for me was the classical motif and score, which really sets the film apart from most other efforts back in the day. One gets the idea that this film had aspirations to be much more grown up than it ever could be with the lower budget it had to work with. Additionally, it is curious how they found a Lenin look-alike to play the piano. I am so glad I got to see this interesting motion picture.

After World War I, an Army cryptological unit colloquially known as The American Black Chamber was eliminated by Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson in 1929. The unit, headed by Herbert O. Yardley, gained worldwide fame when Yardley wrote his bestselling _The American Black Chamber_, detailing the operations of the group.

This film seems to have been patterned on equivalent activities. The basic story is one of those involving a double agent, and the parallel activities the Cipher Bureau is doing in cracking secret messages.

While the story elements have been used before and will be used in the future, what sets this film apart is its cryptological elements. In many films involving secret communications, only a nod is made toward the actual solving encrypted messages. A significant amount of the footage illustrates different means of encrypting and decrypting messages, some of them fairly serious. The only other film I can think of that tries to bring some sense of understanding to the world of cryptology is the 2002 film, Enigma.

To be sure, modern codebreaking uses computer analysis to break ciphers, or at least try to. But the techniques of basic cryptanalysis are shown, and are a foundation for more advanced work. Viewing the film will not turn the viewer into a cryptanalyst, but it will "lift the curtain" a bit, and may bring a bit of appreciation to an art that is rather arcane.

Films released by Grand National tend to be slow-moving and talky, but this 1938 spy drama set in the world of Navy code-breakers (produced by Fine Arts Films for Grand National--in the studio's final months, most of their releases were pick-ups by other production companies) moves quickly, has a few interesting subplots, and gives a lot of nuts-and-bolts details about the world of cryptography (much like the serial THE SECRET CODE, although that was aimed at kids and this is aimed at adults). Director Charles Lamont had directed some fine mysteries at Chesterfield (another outfit that tended toward talky, set-bound productions but had a higher batting average than Grand National)in the early and mid-30s, and he was a good choice to helm this project. Also, star Leon Ames--whose credits range from playing Doris Day's father to playing the neighbor on the Mr. Ed. TV show to playing a crusading doctor in the classic exploitation hygiene drama NO GREATER SIN--is a reliable actor who pulls in the audience so we are as "into" the details of code analysis almost as much as he is, and we feel his anxiety, his impatience, and his excitement. The manner is which the code will be transmitted in the climactic scene is telegraphed early in the film (I'll let YOU figure that out for yourself--any fan of murder mysteries will spot the detail), but that shouldn't spoil the excitement. Don Dillaway plays Major Waring's (Ames) little brother, Lt. Waring, and gives a Dean Benton-like performance as the immature, impulsive young man who gets involved with German spy Joan Woodbury(!!!). All in all, the film is a solid piece of work and should appeal to fans of pre-WWII spy films. Incidentally, about six months after this, Grand National released a SECOND film starring Ames and his assistant (Charlotte Wynters) playing the same roles, entitled PANAMA PATROL, Grand National went under soon after, so the series never went beyond two entires. I haven't seen PANAMA PATROL in years, but if I stumble across my copy, I will review it.

Leon Ames is doing spy stuff for Naval intelligence, triangulating espionage broadcasts transmitting in code, even having his brother, Don Dilaway, take a fall to cover up what he's doing.

It's an intriguing premise for a movie, and for nerds like me, waching as the boffins go over basic code-breaking techniques is interesting, but unfortunately they result in a stagnant pace for the movie. Ames is also a bit stolid for an action hero, puzzlingly dimwitted when captured by the spies, oblivious to to the charms and frustrations of his girlfriend/assistant Charlotte Wynter. He works hard, but is simply miscast.

"Cipher Bureau" is a very low budgeted B-movie. However, despite its modest budget, it manages to be very well made and entertaining.

The film stars Leon Ames as the major in charge of a group of cryptologists who are trying to root out enemy agents in the United States. Normally you'd associate Ames with supporting roles in various movies, but in the 30s he did star in some Bs and generally did a good job despite not having conventional Hollywood good looks.

The story is about a spy ring that the Major is trying to expose. While they never say which country they are spying for, it is interesting that they all sport German-like accents. This is surprising since the American studios both were afraid of upsetting the Germans (for fear of losing movie revenues abroad) and the US government imposed an unconstitutional law forbidding studios from in any way taking a side in the brewing war....something studios pretty much began ignoring in 1940.

So why did I enjoy it? First, the acting was surprisingly good in all respects...far better than you'd expect. Second, the script is very exciting and intelligently written....which is also amazing considering Bs were made fast and on the cheap! Well worth seeing.