I Was a Spy

Biopic about a young Belgian nurse who turns spy against the occupying German force in WWI . Madeleine Carroll stars and has some moving moments, particularly towards the end of the film. The Germans are represented by domineering commandant Conrad Veidt and compassionate doctor Gerald Du Maurier whilst the Belgians are represented by kindly Edmund Gwenn as the Burgomaster and Martita Hunt as the lead character's aunt. Nigel Bruce is 10th billed and has two fleeting appearances early on as a convalescing Scotsman 'imaginatively' named Scottie.

With about twenty million deaths, the first world war wasn't a laughing matter and since it only ended fifteen years before this film was made it's understandable why this takes itself so seriously. When this came out everyone watching it would have lost people very close to them in the war so there is a respectful sense of deference and dignity implicit throughout I WAS A SPY.

Whilst understandable, that respect for the awfulness of The War To End All Wars does mean that watching this is a rather humourless and sombre experience. On that same theme, Madeleine Carroll, our spy (based on a real life nurse) also keeps the smiles to a minimum and plays her role as a rather icy, remote person. That remoteness is however what makes her such a perfect spy. She is no blank page though - you can see that there's a lot going on in her mind however you just don't know what but - you want to know - that's the sign of a good actor. There is no question whatsoever when you yourself are watching this that you're looking at a real story with real people. Everyone's acting is simply so good and timeless that it's not like watching acting.

As you would expect from Gaumont-British which was our premier, big-budget motion picture studio back in the thirties, this is a very classy, high production value picture. The sets are impressive, the camerawork is imaginative, the script feels authentic and director Victor Saville builds that sense of tension and anxiety up so subtly that you don't realize that by the end you're literally sitting on the edge of your seat.

Since 1933 there have been countless similar films of this nature and a lot of them are obviously going to be better, this however still stands its ground and is still entertaining, interesting and satisfying.

Based on the memoir by wartime Belgian nurse Marthe Gnockhaert (1892-1966) - whose story resembles Edith Cavell's except she lived to tell the tale - and prefaced by a quote from former Secretary for War Winston S. Churchill. This lavish but bleak espionage drama set in Belgium in 1915 boasting fluid photography by imported Hollywood cameraman Charles Van Enger and handsome sets including a huge and imposing town square filled with parading Germans was voted the year's best film by the readers of 'Film Weekly'.

The cast includes later members of Hollywood's British community Edmund Gwenn and Nigel Bruce, with Conrad Veidt flashing his teeth ten years before his definitive Nazi swine Major Strasser in 'Casablanca'. The resistance interestingly includes a lot of women (including Martita Hunt in a rare non-eccentric role); while it doesn't spare us the spectacle of British planes strafing an outdoor prayer service and the development of poison gas ("How can chemists win the war?")

I Was A Spy is one of the better pictures to emerge from the early days of British talkies. It certainly stands up well against its American competition, which sad to say, many other British pictures of this period don't. The cast is uniformly good, and Madeleine Carroll is lovely as always. Perhaps the only reservations I have in this area is the way in which Herbert Marshall can deliver his lines a bit mechanically at times. Victor Saville's direction is nicely understated, yet the film can be quite exciting at times. There are two memorable scenes - the church parade, and the quietly effective closing moments of the film. Well worth seeing.

Madeleine Carroll plays Martha Cnockhaert, a Belgian nurse who spied for the British during the First World War.

The movie is based on Miss Cnockhaert's memoirs of the same title .... ghost-written by her husband, John 'Jock' McKenna. It's a highly romantic view of the trade, with Herbert Marshall as her lover and fellow spy, Edmund Gwenn as the town's mayor, and Conrad Veidt giving a very creepy performance as the commander of the German occupying forces. Miss Carroll gives a fine, layered performance, and while it is clear this was a major production for Gaumont British, with a large cast of extras, director Victor Saville focuses the camera on her. She's worth it.

There was a spate of women-spies-of-the-Great-War movies about this time from Hollywood. The best remembered one is probably MATA HARI, starring Greta Garbo. Hollywood offered a sexy, Pre-Code vision of espionage. This movie offers a less baroque, more intimate view.