''I Was a Spy'' is a 1933 British

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

Victor Saville Victor Saville (25 September 1895 – 8 May 1979) was an English film director, producer, and screenwriter. He directed 39 films between 1927 and 1954. He also produced 36 films between 1923 and 1962. Biography Saville produced his first f ...

and starring

Madeleine Carroll Edith Madeleine Carroll (26 February 1906 – 2 October 1987) was an English actress, popular both in Britain and America in the 1930s and 1940s. At the peak of her success in 1938, she was the world's highest-paid actress. Carroll is rememb ...

, Herbert Marshall, and Conrad Veidt. Based on the 1932 memoir ''I Was a Spy'' by Marthe Cnockaert, the film is about her experiences as a Belgian woman who nursed German soldiers during World War I while passing intelligence to the British. ''I Was a Spy'' was also the first film dubbed in Poland (while there were earlier examples of films dubbed in Polish, they were recorded in Paramount studio in Joinville, France), released in 1935 as ''Siostra Marta jest szpiegiem'', starring Lidia Wysocka as Martha Cnockhaert's voice. The screenplay was written by

Edmund Gwenn Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won t ...

Plot

In German-occupied Belgium in 1914, a local woman nurses injured German soldiers while passing information to the British.

Cast

as Marthe Cnockaert * Herbert Marshall as Stephan * Conrad Veidt as Commandant Oberaertz *

as Burgomaster *

Gerald du Maurier Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier (26 March 1873 – 11 April 1934) was an English actor and manager. He was the son of author George du Maurier and his wife, Emma Wightwick, and the brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1903, he ...

as Doctor * Donald Calthrop as Cnockhaert * May Agate as Madame Cnockhaert * Eva Moore as Canteen Ma *

Martita Hunt Martita Edith Hunt (30 January 190013 June 1969) was an Argentine-born British theatre and film actress. She had a dominant stage presence and played a wide range of powerful characters. She is best remembered for her performance as Miss Havi ...

as Aunt Lucille *

Nigel Bruce William Nigel Ernle Bruce (4 February 1895 – 8 October 1953) was a British character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series of films and in the radio series ''The New Adventures of Sherlock ...

as Scottie * George Merritt as Captain Reichmann *

Anthony Bushell Anthony Arnatt Bushell (19 May 1904 – 2 April 1997) was an English film actor and director who appeared in more than 50 films between 1929 and 1961. He played Colonel Breen in the BBC serial ''Quatermass and the Pit'' (1958–59), and al ...

as Otto

Production

Filming took place in Shepherds Bush. Producer

Michael Balcon Sir Michael Elias Balcon (19 May 1896 – 17 October 1977) was an English film producer known for his leadership of Ealing Studios in West London from 1938 to 1955. Under his direction, the studio became one of the most important British fil ...

sent

Herbert Mason Samuel George Herbert Mason (1891 – 20 May 1960) was a British film director, producer, stage actor, army officer, presenter of some revues, stage manager, theatre director, stage director, choreographer, Production manager (theatre), produc ...

(who was initially production manager before becoming an assistant director) to take the script to Belgium and give it to Marthe Cnockaert to look at. The script was written by Edmund Gwenn who also portrayed the burgomaster.

Release

''I Was a Spy'' was screened at the Lyric.

Reception

In a poll conducted by the magazine Film Weekly, the film was voted the best British movie of 1933, and Madeleine Carroll's performance was voted the best in a British movie. The Daily Mail (21 November 1933) described it as "the most splendid film produced in this country." The Daily Despatch (21 November 1933) described it as a film "equal to Hollywood's best."

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

and motion picture critic

Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

) praised Carroll's acting. William Troy for ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...

'' said, "It is the kind of picture calculated to make us believe that there is something beautiful and touching about war, after all." Film historian and critic

Paul Rotha Paul Rotha (3 June 1907 – 7 March 1984) was a British documentary film-maker, film historian and critic. Early life and education He was born Paul Thompson in London, and educated at Highgate School and at the Slade School of Fine Art. Career ...

for ''Cinema Quarterly'' said, "It is the kind of picture calculated to make us believe that there is something beautiful and touching about war, after all." Really? Two reviewers said the same thing? Check citation please The Evening News (Rockhampton) (30 May 1934) praised the acting and described it as " pectacularin its sweep, human in its emotions, dramatic in its intensity and profoundly gripping in its appeal." Although it was very successful at the box office, this was not Saville's reaction. He watched the completed ''I Was a Spy'' with one of the Assistant Directors, Herbert Mason, and was devastated: however, Mason reassured him that it was his "best to date." ''Halliwell's Film & Video Guide'' described the film as " oodstandard war espionage melodrama." Adrian Turner for Radio Times said that, "Fans of vintage British cinema will enjoy this sprightly espionage yarn, set during the First World War and bearing a close resemblance to the Mata Hari legend." In 2021, film critic and author, Derek Winnert praised the cast and their performances.

Home media

''I Was a Spy'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on 19 May 2014.

References

Citations

Bibliography

Primary sources

* '' Film Weekly'', 4 May 1934, p. 9 * Daily Despatch, 21 November 1933 * Daily Mail, 21 November 1933 *

The Sun (Sydney) ''The Sun'' was an Australian afternoon tabloid newspaper, first published under that name in 1910. History ''The Sunday Sun'' was first published on 5 April 1903. In 1910 Hugh Denison founded Sun Newspaper Ltd and took over publication of t ...

, 13 May 1934 * The Evening News (Rockhampton), 30 May 1934

Secondary sources

* Balcon, Michael. (1969). ''Michael Balcon Presents...A Lifetime of Films.'' Hutchinson & Co Ltd * McFarlane Brian. (ed). ''The Encyclopedia of British Film''. Methuen (2nd edition) * Moseley, Roy. (2000). ''Evergreen: Victor Saville in His Own Words''. Southern Illinois University Press * Pascoe, John. (2020). ''

: Actress and Humanitarian, from The 39 Steps to the Red''. McFarland. Paperback * Walker, John. (ed). (1998). Halliwell's Film & Video Guide 1998.

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

Entertainment. 13th edition

External links

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''I Was a Spy''
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''I Was a Spy'' (1933)
at Britmovie , Home of British Films
''I Was a Spy''
at

Park Circus Park Circus is a neighbourhood of Central-South Kolkata, in Kolkata district Kolkata district (formerly known as Calcutta district) is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Kolkata. History Long before the B ...

''I Was a Spy''
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{{Michael Balcon 1933 films 1930s spy thriller films British spy thriller films Western Front (World War I) films World War I spy films Films produced by Michael Balcon British black-and-white films Fox Film films Gainsborough Pictures films Films shot at British International Pictures Studios 1930s English-language films 1930s American films 1930s British films