Espion nazi

Directorial Debut for Jules Dassin and it Shows a Talent in the Rough as the Film has Flourishes that Enhance its Low Budget. It has Style. Conrad Veidt is Excellent in what Starts Out as a Dual Role.

The Film was Made Early in the Turmoil of the Beginning of WWII and as such was Able to Show a Sympathetic German. The Implausibility of the Story is a Suspension of Disbelief but Nevertheless it is Intriguing and Suspenseful with Good Performances All Around.

An MGM B-Movie with Class. Dassin would Dismiss All of His MGM Output in Later Years. Worth a Watch because of the Director and Veidt and for an Early Hollywood Effort to Rally the Citizenry.

This was a nice little programmer from the '40s that played the lower half of double-features. CONRAD VEIDT is interesting (as always) as a pair of identical twins, one of whom is a Nazi agent. When the bad brother is killed, the good brother takes his place and has to convince everyone that he is the loyal Nazi. Only gradually do a couple of people come to realize who the man really is.

Veidt excels in the kind of role he always fared well in, especially riveting as the bad twin. Not the leading man type, he nevertheless manages to hold the screen with his histrionic finesse at playing either smooth villains or men with deeper convictions of honor.

ANNE AYARS is the lovely romantic lead and the supporting cast, which includes MARTIN KOSLECK as a fierce Nazi (a role he's played so often and so well) is more than adequate.

Good entertainment of its kind, it's a low-budget film directed by Jules Dassin.

It now seems beyond belief that in the years leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbour, films in Hollywood with strong anti-Nazi themes were discouraged so as not to offend the Germans!

This first feature of Jules Dassin represents one of the early 'message films' designed to induce a sense of paranoia in American audiences which had the salutary effect of keeping them on their guard against Nazi espionage activity. It also happens to be, in the opinion of this viewer, one of the best of its type.

Although strictly speaking a 'B' this has the presence of Conrad Veidt who is in every respect an 'A'. He has a triple role here. That of the good German, Becker and his evil twin, Baron von Detner. Through force of circumstance the former is then obliged to impersonate the latter. Herr Veidt captures brilliantly the subtle differences between the characters and their sharing duologues together enables Dassin and his cinematographer Harry Stradling Snr to utilise a split-screen effect.

Excellent support here from Marc Lawrence, Frank Reicher, Sydney Blackmer and Polish born Martin Koslek who had the distinction of being on Goebbel's hit list and ironically, playing him no less than five times. The female interest is supplied by Anne Ayars, better known as an opera singer. She is no great shakes as a actress but her role gives the film an emotional balance and the motive for Becker's act of self-sacrifice.

The script and editing are tight and Dassin's direction is subdued but effective. Although he was somewhat dismissive of his American output, his subsequent European films were a mixed bag.

This piece is really about the immaculate artistry of Conrad Veidt and it is such a pity that his fatal heart attack at just fifty denied him the satisfaction of seeing the destruction of the regime that he so despised.

Conrad Veidt plays two roles here, as a self-assured Nazi and a mild-mannered Ally. The brothers confront each other and the Nazi is murdered, but now the surviving brother must impersonate the Nazi in order to deflect attention from his crime and also to gather information that can help the Allies.

This is an intense movie to watch, and thanks to being made by MGM it is very polished. I saw it screened at Cinevent in 2013 and remember it vividly a year later. Conrad Veidt could have ruined the movie if he were a lesser actor, but he handles both parts remarkable and never gives the audience a reason to doubt him.

... and director Jules Dassin has Otto Becker (Conrad Veidt) as a kindly, meek German-American immigrant who runs a small bookstore and who spends his free time growing his stamp collection. His mundane life is shattered when his twin brother Baron Hugo von Detner (also Veidt) pays him a surprise visit. Baron Detner has been assigned as a diplomatic envoy in the area, and he's also heading up a secret espionage cabal who are already responsible for the destruction of supply ships headed to the European theater of the war. The Baron wants to use his brother's bookstore as an operations front, but after a series of incidents, Otto finds himself masquerading as his brother and trying to thwart the spy ring from the inside.

This "B" effort is well put together and features one of Conrad Veidt's best English-language performances. Known primarily for playing slick and sophisticated villains, his turn as the stamp-collecting brother Otto is believable and affecting. The movie is short, and it's not trying to be anything but an entertaining flag-waver, but sometimes even movies with meager ambitions can be worthwhile viewing.