BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

DigitalRevenantX7 The year 1917. Helene Von Lorbeer, a British secret agent infiltrating German intelligence & posing as one of their spies, is given the task of supporting one of their top agents, the shadowy Franz Steindler, who is working in British territory. Steindler has been responsible for the death of a British spy & has been highly successful in spilling British military secrets to the Germans. Going under the name of Frances Hautry, Helene arrives in Britain as a French refugee from German territory. Settling into the household of Arthur Bennett, a lawyer working with the British war cabinet, Hautry is contacted by Bennett's butler Valdar, who is actually a German agent posing as a British spy, although what nobody in the house knows is actually Steindler himself. Valdar & Hautry team up to attempt to assassinate the entire British cabinet but the local police, under the command of Colonel Yeats, are closing in on them fast.British Intelligence (known in some places as Enemy Agent) is a British wartime spy thriller made in 1940 – in the midst of World War II – but actually set in World War I. It is a remake of a 1930 film, which in turn was based on a play named Three Faces East.Not much of a fan of WWII-era spy thrillers, I was expecting this to be an average affair. But the film surprised me. It is taut, very suspenseful & had more twists than a bag of pretzels. The film is also filled with good acting, particularly from Boris Karloff, who plays a triple agent working for the Germans. The film might have been set in WWI but there are tell-tale signs of its era – at the end Leonard Mudie delivers a monologue claiming to hate war but saying that it is necessary in case any tyrant arises who threatens world peace – a clear reference to Nazi Germany & its evil tyrant Hitler.The film is quite unusual in that its pace is quite fast for a spy thriller – at little over an hour long it doesn't overstay its welcome & the climax with Karloff caught & trying to escape, only to become a victim of his own side's Zeppelin bombs, is exciting enough to make this a good example of the 1940s wartime spy thrillers. It might not be a masterpiece but it is definitely better than something like Submarine Alert, which came out around the same time.

SimonJack This movie came out in the U.S. on January 29, 1940. It was nearly two years before America would go to war, but Europe was in it. Britain and France declared war on Germany on Sept. 3, 1939, after Germany had invaded Poland on Sept. 1. But the clear signs of Nazi aggression were apparent as far back as 1936. On March 7, 1936, Germany broke the Versailles Treaty from World War I when its troops marched into the Rhineland. That area west of the Rhine had been off limits to German military. On March 11, 1938, Germany annexed Austria. On Sept. 30, the Munich Agreement with Britain and France allowed Germany to take part of Czechoslovakia. On Aug. 23, 1939, the Nazis and Soviets signed a non-aggression agreement. And, after Germany invaded Poland, the Soviet Union moved into Poland from the east. All of this history helps put into perspective this and other movies that Hollywood was making at the time related to war. And, it may help one understand some of the studios reasoning. Did they foresee the real likelihood of America soon going to war? A couple of other reviewers noted that this film seemed to be a combination of a WWI movie and a prophecy of WW II. Of course, as already noted, WW II was well underway when this film came out. The production qualities of this film seem to suffer some. Some of the sets seem very stagy (it is based on a stage play). The dirigible bombing of London seems amateurish. The bombing scenes appear to have been made with a table model. Antiaircraft lights appear to be white strips of paper pasted on a black background. But it is an interesting story of espionage and a good look at early British security efforts. The plot is very good and suspenseful. In the opening, it has some good use of WWI film footage. None of the cast are exceptional, but all do a good job. Boris Karloff is toned down in his menacing, monster-like glares, so he is believable as a refugee butler, Valdar. Margaret Lindsay is good as Helen von Lorbeer. I don't think this is as much a propaganda film as it is a cinematic warning to Americans. And, it's wrapped in a cloak of espionage for entertainment. Perhaps it tweaked minds of audiences back then about what to expect in another world war.

deschreiber It's hard to imagine a lamer spy movie than this one. The number of times the characters shift from German agent to British double-agent to German triple-agent to British quadruple-agent is ridiculous; it becomes mechanical and almost laughable. And, holy mackerel, how did the Germans ever lose that war if London was so chock full of spies - every other person in the movie involved in sending messages back to Berlin. Some commentator here was impressed by how the story is set in WWI but applies to WWII. Well, yes, my dear, that's because, although the original play it was based on ran in 1918, the movie was made during WWII. The "contemporary" references are incredibly artificial and awkward. At first, I wondered about my historical knowledge when the action stopped, the other characters in the room fell silent and a German officer went glassy-eyed, staring into the air and making a lengthy speech about fighting so that Germany could rule the world. Huh? World War I? Germany rule the world? That wasn't the purpose of Germany in that misbegotten conflict. But after a few more similar set speeches, such as someone predicting that after the current war a power-mad ruler would arise and start another war, or an earnest discussion of how the Germans commit atrocities, but we don't - well, after that, I got the picture. These were simple-minded propaganda add-ons to a play that was already pathetically weak. This is really not worth 61 precious minutes of anyone's life. I'm sorry I let it waste my time.

dbborroughs A creaky WW2 film about German spies in England. Boris Karloff plays a German agent trying to put the kibosh on the Allied war plans. Most of the movie is centered in the home a minister where Karloff is working as an butler.The source is a stage play and it shows. Despite several locations this could very easily have played on the stage.I found the movie slow, and at only 60 minutes thats not something you really want to hear. It opens with a long prologue going back to the First World War which is interesting up to a point, but it goes on way too long.Its also so mechanical you've picked the next three plot points as each event happens.Personally I'm mixed. It sits squarely on the fence between something that I can say see and something I can say avoid. I'm inclined to say if you see it on TV fine (Turner Classics is running it in the next couple of months) I don't know if you'd want to actually buy it. Not that you won't like it, you just may not watch it more than once.Two Stars- Its up to you...PS My Dad really liked it so what the hell do I know.