Secret Agent (1936)
After three British agents are assigned to assassinate a mysterious German spy during World War I, two of them become ambivalent when their duty to the mission conflicts with their consciences.
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Pen Tennyson
- Campbell Dixon
- W. Somerset Maugham
- Charles Bennett
- Jesse Lasky Jr.
- Ian Hay
Rating: 6.1/10 by 147 users
Alternative Title:
Der Geheimagent - DE
Der Spion - DE
시크릿 에이전트 - KR
L'agente segreto - IT
Country:
United Kingdom
Language:
Deutsch
English
Runtime: 01 hour 26 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $0
Plot Keyword: hotel, world war i, spy, switzerland, black and white
John Gielgud charmingly portrays the novelist-cum-officer dragooned by the British spy service into travelling to Switzerland on the trail of a Nazi spy. He is assigned two assistants - a rather naive, but keen, Madeleine Carroll "Elsa" and a suitable sleazy, but lethal, Peter Lorre "as The General". Their first attempt to fulfil their mission goes awry somewhat, as they dispatch the wrong person. It is at this point their consciences start to kick in and they question the morals of their mission - particularly when they actually do discover the identity of the enemy secret agent. Hitchcock and Charles Bennett adapt the Somerset Maugham story with plenty of attention to the detail and the characterisation; the direction is taut and the suspense on the train towards the end keep this enthralling.
