Three Faces East

Constance Bennett shows up at the home of William Holden -- no, not that one -- where she soon contacts the butler, Erich von Stroheim. She is a spy working for Germany, as is he. Soon se has him captivated, as well as Holden's son, Anthony Bushell. But there are other spies in the house, and it soon becomes clear that there are double agents in place. Who is working in who's real interests.

The first thing I noticed about this movie is the slow and stately pace at which the dialogue proceeds. Warner Brothers may have been producing all-talking pictures for a couple of years, but director Roy Del Ruth, working from a stage play, with screen dialogue by Arthur Caesar, clearly wants every word to be understood, so muddled is the situation. By about ten minutes in I knew who everyone was working for. By halfway through, I was utterly confused.