Spy in Black (1939)

But he's not really a spy !

It's always hard to review a spy movie without giving away some of the twists and turns, but Amazon's own editorial - "From the back Cover" gives away a big spoiler, and I'm glad I hadn't read it before seeing the movie !


This movie is actually available on DVD in Australia, though there are no special features and the print is quite scratchy with a few clumsy editing cuts.


I could also swear that some of the actors' lines have been revoiced, though this is not really a big issue for such an old movie.


Certain parts of the movie have a flurry of fast-cuts, enough to rival your average MTV music clip.


Other reviewers have covered the plot well enough, so I'll just say that the first half is an interesting, fast-paced, intricately plotted spy yarn.


Unfortunately the second half is just a simple sea drama. The movie tries to end with a big action sequence but the low budget and pedestrian direction takes the story out with a whimper rather than a bang. The earlier emphasis on characters and motivations evaporates into uninspired action scenes which leave the viewer with no-one and nothing to care about.


And as for my review title , perhaps I'm misinterpreting something, but the spy in black wasn't a spy at all. He just seemed to be a high-ranking courier for the information gained by the real spy. But I guess "Courier in Black" lacks punch ! July 24, 2005

Not great, but interesting spy flick.

An early British WWII film, featuring Conrad Veidt as a German naval officer, afoot on a sinister mission in the Northern UK. This film was apparently the first pairing of director Michael Powell and producer Emeric Pressburger; the plot is pretty thin, but has a few interesting, offbeat Powell-ian moments, including a great comedic scene when Veidt's cover is blown and he takes control of the situation. Interesting to see how, at this early stage in the war, the German baddie was still allowed the trait of military honor. August 28, 2002

Black Becomes Him

It's the middle of WWI, and Conrad Veidt is a U-Boat captain who is sent on a secret mission to the Orkney Islands. There he meets secret agent Fraulein Teal (Valerie Hobson) and a traitorous English ship captain, Ashenden (Sebastian Shaw - he who played Darth Vader at the end of Return of the Jedi). Objective, learn date and time that the English fleet is to sail so that German u-boats can sink them. But who'se really in the trap? February 11, 2001

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