British Intelligence (1940)

Wonderful Movie

That was an excellent one.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Blistering performances.

It is 1917 and as yet another offensive is pushed back it becomes obvious that somebody is forwarding British plans straight to Germany! It is decided that the thing to do is bring Britain's top agent in Germany back home to uncover the master spy, Franz Strendler, but unfortunately these plans are also leaked. Months pass then spy Helene Von Lorbeer is sent to Britain by the Germans with orders to link up with Valdar and agent working under Strendler. Valdar is posing as a French butler working for cabinet minister Arthur Bennett. Von Lorbeer poses as refugee Frances Hautry and soon makes contact as she stays with the Bennetts. It soon becomes apparent that there are lots of German spies in the area although it is possible that there may be double agents amongst them. As the film approaches its end a trap is set; the question is who will it catch and who will be revealed as undercover heroes?While this film is set during the First World War it is clearly propaganda for the second; more than once people state that once this war is over it will only be a matter of time before another tyrant takes the world to war. These moments seem a little heavy-handed in these more peaceful times. The story is somewhat far-fetched with so many spies operating in the vicinity of the Bennett household and their lack of subtlety; one is exposed while using the clicking of a typewriter to pass on a code in a room with a military man present! Von Lorbeer also cared for the Bennett's son while undercover in a hospital in France; quite the coincidence. Strangely despite all these rather obvious flaws I enjoyed this film; there was a nice degree of tension and often we aren't sure who is a German spy and who is a British double agent posing as a German spy… or even a German triple agent! Margaret Lindsay is pleasant in the roll of Helene and Boris Karloff is nicely over the top as the limping, scar-faced Valdar. Overall this B-movie is hardly must-see but it is a decent enough way to pass an hour.

Fine WWI spy thriller featuring two of my favorites, the great Boris Karloff and lovely Margaret Lindsay. The story centers around a German secret agent (Lindsay) going undercover at the home of a British cabinet minister (Holmes Herbert), whose scar-faced butler (Karloff) is really a double agent. A few twists & turns keep this one interesting. Set in WWI, the plot and dialogue is applicable to WWII as well. No doubt that was intentional. It's a fine B movie with a crisp pace, short runtime, and great cast. Try not to read too much about it or you're sure to come across some spoilers that might ruin some of it for you.

this film is just terrible to watch. from the very beginning to the end, every character and his or her intention is so obvious. the British military and government officials are simply stupid, so stupid that they would discuss every important secret plan at home or any place, they never suspect the people around them might be a German spy, albeit a spy ring surrounding them. how could it possible that some important war plan papers would kept their homes, discuss so openly? the screenplay writer and the director seem to treat viewers like on an elementary basis, everything is right in the open and in front your eyes. those German spies, well, they are so conveniently inserted into British military base, British government officials, and there are high ranking person in the German spy ring and those naive British military and bureaucrats simply trust them without any alert. this film is just too stupid to be praised like most of the viewers here. i only see couple of the viewers who are conscious enough to consider this film stupid and boring. this film's weakest point is allowing all the German spies to be introduced to the viewers one by one, and allowing the viewers to know how stupid is on the British side. there's no suspenses, no guessing, no surprises at all throughout the whole film, so lame and so shallow. i should not waste my time to write a review for such lousy movie, but by seeing so many blind praises and so many viewers so easily to be satisfied and pleased, i have to speak out against them.

"British Intelligence" is a moderately successful WW1 espionage thriller, with perhaps too many coincidences and double-crosses for its moderate length. Spies change sides with such regularity that scorecards should have been passed out along with ticket stubs. This is a recycled stage play from 1918, obviously brought back for its propaganda value. That also explains why it's so claustrophobic. How many good spy movies spend most of their time in a few indoor locations?Having recently watched a number of spy films from 1939-1950, I'm left with the impression that London was virtually crawling with German agents, disguised as porters, milkmen, secretaries, butlers, etc. But historical evidence shows that the Abwehr was fairly inept at placing spies and saboteurs during WW2. (Check out "Agent Zigzag" by Ben McIntyre, a book which deserves to be a movie.) Most of the problems in these movies could be solved if high-ranking Brits would stop talking about secret plans in front of open windows, or sinister-looking office staff. Who was vetting these other employees?There are some fine aerial sequences to relieve the claustrophobia, especially the destruction of a munitions dump, and an eerie nocturnal zeppelin raid over London.Boris Karloff is given top billing for one of his least convincing performances. Of course, he has the chance to loom and lurk (his trademarks), but his French accent is so bad that any moron could tell he wasn't who he claimed to be. (And what about that name "Valdar" - sounding more like a Transylvanian than a Frenchman?) The ending of the film will come as no surprise to anyone who has watched more than a handful of spy films.Three speeches in the film (one by a German in spiked hat; two by Brits) were obviously inserted in this WW1 drama as warnings about the rise of Hitler. If there's any doubt, the final speech is delivered straight to the camera, reminding Britons that "we hate war, we despise it, but when war comes we must and will fight on and on and..." (fade to black).