British Intelligence (1940)

Please don’t think any less of me but I prefer to think that Strendler was the milkman.  For awhile that’s where I thought it was going and I really thought they’d pulled a classic bait and switch.  Too good to be true however.

Boris Karloff was great albeit predictable and Margaret Lindsay was alright.  It was a very short movie which limited character development although time wasn’t the only constraint as there were moments when it seemed like not much was going on.  The air-fight at the beginning was a unique addition.  Was the plot confusing?  Of course it was!  Is it weird that Strendler was so trusted by British Intelligence and Helene by German Intelligence?  What ever happened to the guy in the white peasant outfit?  What ever happened to the murderous milkman?  Why did they still hold the Cabinet meeting in the building they were sure was known to be having the meeting?  Where were the 100 British fighter planes when the zeppelins came wafting through?  Why did they need to tack on the overplayed propaganda at the end?  Didn’t the British dislike the Germans enough already to be willing to fight them?  Why do a WWI plot in the early stages of WWII?  Was it just to say, “Stupid Germans always rear their head and ruin our peace, let’s go shoot them.”?

Was this a thrust and parry espionage vs. counterespionage movie that twists enough to keep you interested?  Yes.  Is it strange that it’s not very well known when movies that are much worse or with more anemic “stars” have become famous?  Yes.  Was it pretty good and you should see it?  Yes.

–Kryptosfan