Dense with interwoven ideas about false names and real identities, about appearances as lies and the brutality of the hidden, and about the complicity of those who watch the anarchy that others do, Secret Agent declared that Alfred Hitchcock was well along the road to mastery as a filmmaker and, more importantly, knew what it was he wanted to say for the rest of his career. Young must have been a breath of fresh air to Hitchcock, as he typified an American approach to acting that’s naturalistic, rather than reliant on stagecraft. . The value of art is not beauty, but right action. "), fun spy stuff (encoded messages hidden in chocolate bars), creative production design and cinematography (a particularly striking edit pans form a matte painting to a close-up through a telescope), and an absolutely unhinged performance from Peter Lorre (whose aliases include "the Hairless Mexican" and "the General" even though he's not bald, Mexican, or a general). To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Sold by Revolution Media and sent from Amazon Fulfillment. Certainly not a terrible film, unfortunately it isn’t very good either. Ashenden decides to quit before it’s too late for him, but is talked into finishing the job. The 39 Steps [DVD][1939 version starring Robert Donat], Criterion Collection: Foreign Correspondent [DVD] [1940] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]. Report this film. Outside lavatories you will often see 'Ladies' on the door of one, but 'Men' on the door of another. Spies, mistaken identities, blondes and a macabre sense of humor. assassin works for him. "Not a word, but I speak it fluently! (This time for sure!). R: Yes, and in the circumstances, a very useful one. Today, his work is admired worldwide, and he’s considered one of our finest directors. This review may contain spoilers. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Unsubscribe at any time. Based on the novel “Ashenden” by Somerset Maugham, the story is set in 1916 and begins when British intelligence fakes the death of an officer, then drafts him into service as a spy under the name Richard Ashenden. Ashenden is introduced to the man who will be his assistant: The General, played with manic intensity by Peter Lorre. Besides some good visual Hitchcock flourishes, there are a couple of really fun uses of tension-building, droning sound (the bowls with the coins is my favorite, and less expected than the organ). It doesn’t really help that Madeleine Carroll spends so much of the picture acting like a comedienne, only to be drained of her sprightly energy when things go wrong. The 1936 Alfred Hitchcock-directed film Secret Agent is a loose adaptation of "The Traitor" and "The Hairless Mexican", with John Gielgud as Ashenden (whose "real" name is Edgar Brodie), and Peter Lorre as The General. I thought I had already seen the cream of Hitchcock's UK crop —The Lodger, Blackmail, The 39 Steps, Sabotage, and The Lady Vanishes — but this one is almost to that level too! The very end of the movie, too, leaves something to be desired – we first see Ashenden’s superior receiving his letter of resignation, and then we crossfade to a lingering shot of him and Elsa looking into the camera to no particular effect. Charles Bennett W. Somerset Maugham Ian Hay Jesse Lasky Jr. Bernard Knowles Reg Johnson Gerry Massy-Collier, 86 mins Maugham's skill in handling plot is compared by critics to that of Guy de Maupassant. Choose from over 13,000 locations across the UK, Prime members get unlimited deliveries at no additional cost, Dispatch to this address when you check out. Very entertaining. maybe it was the terrible transfer, maybe it was the inaudible dialogue from the horrible audio quality, maybe it was the peter lorre blackface. There were some real gems! Everyone was pretty good, especially the General.
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