''Under False Flag'' (German: ''Unter falscher Flagge'') is a 1932 German

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by Johannes Meyer and starring

Charlotte Susa Charlotte Susa (1 March 1898 – 28 July 1976) was a German actress. Biography Susa was born Charlotta Wegmüller near Memel, East Prussia and first appeared on a stage in 1915 at Tilsit. She chose her mother's maiden name "Susa" as her stage ...

Gustav Fröhlich Gustav Fröhlich (21 March 1902 – 22 December 1987) was a German actor and film director. He landed secondary roles in a number of films and plays before landing his breakthrough role of Freder Fredersen in Fritz Lang's 1927 film ''Metropoli ...

and

Friedrich Kayssler Friedrich Martin Adalbert Kayssler, also spelled Kayßler (7 April 1874 – 30 April 1945), was a German theatre and film actor. He appeared in 56 films between 1913 and 1945. Biography Kayssler was born in Neurode in the Silesia Province o ...

. It was shot at the

Johannisthal Studios The Johannisthal Studios were film studios located in the Berlin area of Johannisthal. Founded in 1920 on the site of a former airfield, they were a centre of production during the Weimar and Nazi eras. Nearly four hundred films were made at Joha ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

from the end of November 1931 to the beginning of 1932. It was made by Deutsche Universal, the German branch of

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

, in co-production with

Tobis Film Tobis Film was a German film production and film distribution company. Founded in the late 1920s as a merger of several companies involved in the switch from silent to sound films, the organisation emerged as a leading German sound studio. Tob ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Otto Hunte. It premiered at Berlin's

Ufa-Palast am Zoo The Ufa-Palast am Zoo, located near Berlin Zoological Garden in the New West area of Charlottenburg, was a major Berlin cinema owned by Universum Film AG, or Ufa. Opened in 1919 and enlarged in 1925, it was the largest cinema in Germany until 19 ...

. The film was based on the novel of the same title by

Max W. Kimmich Max Wilhelm Kimmich (4 November 1893 in Ulm – 16 January 1980 in Icking, Upper Bavaria), also known as M. W. Kimmich, was a German film director and screenwriter during the first half of the 20th century. He was the brother-in-law of Nazi Propag ...

, who also worked on the screenplay.Goble p.259 In 1934 Universal made an American remake '' Madame Spy'' in Hollywood with

Fay Wray Vina Fay Wray (September 15, 1907 – August 8, 2004) was a Canadian/American actress best known for starring as Ann Darrow in the 1933 film ''King Kong (1933 film), King Kong''. Through an acting career that spanned nearly six decades, Wray a ...

and Edward Arnold and directed by

Karl Freund Karl W. Freund, A.S.C. (January 16, 1890 – May 3, 1969) was an Austrian cinematography, cinematographer and film director best known for photographing ''Metropolis (1927 film), Metropolis'' (1927), ''Dracula (1931 English-language film), Dracul ...

Plot

Captain Herbert Frank (

), a German intelligence officer, fights in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and gets severely wounded in 1916. While in hospital, he is cared for devotional by a nurse called Maria Horn (

). Later on, he asks her to become his wife, and she gives in to him. But just a few days after their wartime wedding, her husband is commanded to Berlin, where he is appointed to the chief of the counterintelligence service against Russia. Meanwhile, the Russian secret service has got wind of a coming-up German attack and is eager to get hold of the German attack plans. Frank and his two assistants, Captain Weber and Commissioner Schulz soon find out that the most dangerous agent at the Russian side is a certain Sulkin, whom nobody seems to know. After a short time, Schulz and Weber begin throwing their suspicion on Maria. But as they do not want to destroy their boss's marriage, they begin to observe her secretly. One day, they follow her to the ''Marabou''-Bar, where Maria's brother is acting as a singer. Here they get final evidence that Maria and the mysterious Sulkin are identical. But Maria manages to escape, while her brother, whom she had informed about her work for the secret service, is killed by the Russian counterespionage. When Frank learns that his wife had been an enemy agent, he nearly collapses. Later on, he asks for being sent to the front with a suicide squad. Meanwhile, Maria has returned to Russia. She feels sorry for the abuse of confidence she offended at her husband, and wants to make up for it again. But when she tries to withdraw her giving-in to working as a secret agent, her bosses pretend that Frank had killed her brother, so that she begins to hate him. Some time later, she and Frank meet each other at a big ball in Russia by accident. First she wants to tell him on and leads his fingerprints to the Russian secret service, but in the end he is able to convince her of his innocence at her brother's death. Now that she is convinced of his innocence, she helps him to escape, but is killed at this occasion.

Cast

as Maria Horn *

as Hauptmann Herbert Frank *

as Oberst Seefeldt *

Hermann Speelmans Hermann Speelmans (14 August 1906 – 9 February 1960) was a German stage and film actor.Capua p. 120 Selected filmography * ''Her Dark Secret'' (1929) - Emil * ''Diana'' (1930) * ''There Is a Woman Who Never Forgets You'' (1930) * ''Danton'' (1 ...

as Kriminalkommissar Schulz *

Ernst Dumcke Ernst Dumcke (13 November 1887 – 21 June 1940) was a German film actor. Selected filmography * '' Panik in Chicago'' (1931) * '' Madame Makes Her Exit'' (1932) * '' Under False Flag'' (1932) * '' My Friend the Millionaire'' (1932) * '' Grandsta ...

as Hauptmannn Weber * Joseph Almas as Blumenhändler Jahnke *

Gerhard Ritterband Gerhard Ritterband (1904–1959) was a German film actor.Hardt p.223 Selected filmography * '' The Doll'' (1919) * ''The Princess of the Nile'' (1920) * '' Va banque'' (1920) * ''A Day on Mars'' (1921) * ''Four Around a Woman'' (1921) * ''The Dan ...

as Lehrling Peter *

Hans Brausewetter Hans Brausewetter (27 May 1899 – 29 April 1945) was a German stage and film actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1922 and 1945. He appeared in the 1923 film '' The Treasure'', which was directed by Georg Wil ...

as Fred *

Hadrian Maria Netto Hadrian Maria Netto (1885–1947) was a German stage and film actor.Giesen p.228 He was also a playwright. Selected filmography * '' A Woman for 24 Hours'' (1925) * ''Destiny'' (1925) * '' The Armoured Vault'' (1926) * ''Love in the Cowshed'' (19 ...

as Direktor der Marabubar *

Elza Temary Elza Temary lsa Temary(12 February 1905 – 16 February 1968) was a Hungarian film actress. Personal life Elza Temary was born Elza Klecker in what is today Timișoara, Romania.(March 4, 1933). Marriage record: Philip Matthiessen Chancellor (25) ...

as Bardame Lilo *

Hedwig Wangel Hedwig Wangel (1875–1961) was a German stage and film actress. Life and career Born as Amalie Pauline Hedwig Simon on September 23, 1875, in Berlin in the German Empire, Hedwig Wangel was the daughter of a music publisher. After studying acting ...

as Frl. Schmidt, Garderobiere * Arthur Bergen as Bubi *

Theodor Loos Theodor August Konrad Loos (18 May 1883 – 27 June 1954) was a German actor. The son of a watchmaker and instruments manufacturer, he left secondary school prematurely and worked for three years at an export firm for music instruments in L ...

as Rakowski * Aribert Wäscher as General Fürst Urussow *

Harry Hardt Harry Hardt (born Hermann Karl Viktor Klimbacher Edler von Reichswahr, Pula, 4 August 1899 – Vienna, 14 November 1980) was an Austrian actor. The son of a military officer, he initially planned a military career for himself, studying at a mil ...

as Hauptmann Sergei Petrovich *

Karl Hannemann Karl Hannemann (4 March 1895 – 13 November 1953) was a German film actor. Born in Freiberg, Saxony, Germany, he died at the age of 55 in Berlin. Selected filmography * ''The Graveyard of the Living'' (1921) * ''And Yet Luck Came'' (1923) * ''Un ...

as Garagenbesitzer *

Fritz Klippel Fritz originated as a German nickname for Friedrich, or Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Frederick II of Prussia and Frederick III, German Emperor) as well as for similar names including Fridoli ...

as Monteur

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. *Klaus, Ulrich J.: German soundfilms. Film encyclopedia of full-length German and German-speaking sound films, sorted by their German first showings. - Ulrich J. Klaus / Berlin

t al. T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...

- (Klaus-Archive, Vol. 3, 1932)

External links

* 1932 films Films of the Weimar Republic 1930s spy films German spy films 1930s German-language films World War I spy films German black-and-white films 1930s German films Films shot at Johannisthal Studios Universal Pictures films Tobis Film films Films directed by Johannes Meyer Films set in Berlin Films based on German novels {{1930s-Germany-film-stub