Secret Agent
by Alfred Hitchcock
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Charles Carson, Florence Kahn, John Gielgud, Madeleine Carroll, Tom HelmoreDirector: Alfred Hitchcock
Brand: WESTLAKE ENTERTAINMENT INC
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 86 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-02-10
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Westlake Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Secret Agent
Movie Review: Entertaining WWI Spy Film
Summary: 5 Stars
"But your wife, she'll wonder what happened to her poor little General." -- Peter Lorre to John Gielgud
This most enjoyable film made in Britain before Hitchcock came to Hollywood certainly deserves more accolades than it has gotten over the years. It really isn't that far behind 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes, and Young and Innocent in either quality or entertainment. Set during the first world war, Somerset Maugham's novel of spies sent to ferret out and eliminate another spy has romance and humor and some real excitement in Hitchcock's hands.
John Gielgud comes home from the war and discovers he's been reported dead. He discovers it was intentional, his cover so he can become Ashenden, and eliminate a very dangerous German spy causing the good guys a lot of trouble. While it's deadly serious business, it gets a bit more pleasant when he discovers in Switzerland that the beautiful and elegant Elsa Carrington (Madeleine Carroll) is to pose as his wife and help him in his mission.
Hitchcock counters the more serious business with a likable Robert Young as Marvin, pursuing romance with Elsa despite her marital status. It is handled with great charm and a sense of fun. Ashenden's other partner is General, played in an over-the-top manner by Peter Lorre. He is more comical than sinister, spending most of his time trying to romance anything in a dress, and quite upset that Ashenden has the fake wife while he has nada.
Elsa falls for her pretend husband, of course, and when the amoral General mistakingly kills the wrong man, a crisis of conscience occurs for both she and Ashenden, who decide to break off this ugly business and go back. But when he and General discover who the real spy is, they must pursue him because Elsa is in danger. The train station scene and everything that follows is classic Hitchcock. While it doesn't have quite the tension of 39 Steps, or the charm of Young and Innocent, it has a blend between the two which is very enjoyable.
Perhaps because it is set during WW I it doesn't connect as much as it should for some viewers. It is quite fabulous in its own way, however, and fans of Hitchcock's early British films will certainly find it appealing. Fans of the lovely Madeleine Carroll will be pleased to discover she is much more in the center of things from the very beginning than in 39 Steps, in which she is also marvelous. The Westlake print is both decent and watchable if unspectacular. A real winner.
Summary of Secret Agent
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