Chef de réseau

I didn't start out thinking I was going to like The Two-Headed Spy. I thought it was going to be another WW2 spy movie that would be too wordy and more boring than exciting. By the time the first half hour had passed, I was positively riveted!

Jack Hawkins is a German general, and is very well-respected among his fellow Nazis. Then, he's seen entering an antiques shop and speaking to Donald Pleasance about a rare clock he's looking to buy. The conversation about a clock is merely a ruse until they know they're alone and unobserved—Jack Hawkins is really an undercover British agent!

Previously, I'd only seen Jack Hawkins in a supporting role in Ben-Hur, but he carries off the leading role very well, commanding the screen and expressing every emotion with confidence. The Two-Headed Spy is a very riveting spy movie, with countless tension-filled scenes in which someone could—or does—get caught, discovered, and punished for being a spy. It really is an interesting, overlooked film from the 50s. Gia Scala, another of Jack's contacts, is beautiful and strong, rather like a prettier, more likable Ingrid Bergman. Had this film starred more well-known actors, it would probably be a classic. As it is, it's highly entertaining and fun—rent it for a thrilling evening with your sweetie-pie. The ladies won't be bored with this one, I guarantee it. And, if you're looking closely enough, you can see Michael Caine in one of his earliest movies. He's only on the screen for a couple of minutes, but when you hear the Nazi speaking with a Cockney accent, you can tell it's him!

I have never been very excited by this true story put on screen. I have never been interested by this story, anyway. I know why. I prefer Andre De Toth's last film PLAY DIRTY instead, ten times better for me. This one seems boring, predictable. If there is one film from the one eyed director that I dislike is this one. I prefer MAN ON A STRING from De Toth.

A high ranking German wehrmacht officer, General Schottland (Jack Hawkins) who has access to Hitler is actually a British spy feeding information back to the Allies and uses a clockmaker (Felix Aylmer) as a go-between.

Although the film claims to be a true story "inspired by" it is sadly anything but. The real life Alexander Scotland was a British spy in the First World War and did not have access to the Kaiser, although he did pose as an officer in the German army and did meet Hitler in 1937. In the Second World War he was in charge of overseeing the interrogatin of German PoWs. Otherwise the film has little relation to actual events and is pure fiction but is a good suspenseful war thriller.

At times the film does seem far fetched, but is good entertainment none the less with some quality moments of suspense.

"The Two-Headed Spy" is a story based on an actual spy within the German high command during WWII. However, according to IMDB, most of the story is sadly fictionalized...making this a not-so-true true story. In fact, when I did read up on the man, I found nearly ALL the film to be made up!! It's a shame, as the story is pretty exciting...just all false.

Jack Hawkins plays General Alex Schottland, a man who has a British and a German parent. During WWI, he served in the German army with distinction and his loyalty to the new Third Reich is unquestioned by nearly everyone...including the Fuhrer. But he hates the Nazis and is working with the British secret service, relaying them information while appearing to be a patriotic German.

I have mixed feelings on this one. The film is exciting, nicely acted and very well made and is a terrific war film. It's just all a giant lie! My suggestion is to by all means watch it...and realize it's just a neat fictional tale.

The amazing thing about this film is its actuality - it's a true story, general Schottland was actually a British spy in Germany from 1914 to the end of the second world war, with high responsibilities as a general and trusted implicitly by Hitler himself. The one fellow officer who didn't trust him is played by Alexander Knox who makes a fearful Nazi bully and idiot. Gia Scala plays the woman, a singer in a relationship with Jack Hawkins and others, and there is a traumatic story very similar to "The Counterfeit Traitor" with William Holden and Lilli Palmer some years later, but this is in black and white and sticks very strictly to realism, postponing true romance till after the war, if possible. The situation of general Schottland is hair-raising. His responsibility was tremendous, and he had the power and means to obstruct several of the most vital operations of the Germans during the war, for example the outcome of the battle of the Ardennes, actually causing immense casualties, and that's the shocking insight of this film - you learn how little millions of human lives mattered to officers in charge of the war. They are perfectly strict in casualness, and if one mark with a pen means the sacrifice of millions, it's for them just a mark of the pen. Jack Hawkings keeps up a terrible balance, constantly throwing a glance behind his back, constantly watched by the Gestapo, and ultimately no longer able to suppress his humanity. It's a great film on a small scale and definietely an enduring classic for all times.