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2005-08-15 07:13:36 UTC
SECRET AGENT (1936) - 83 min, B&W
__________________________________
PLOT SYNOPSIS by Andrea LeVasseur
Based on the novels of W. Somerset Maugham, The Secret Agent is the
second in a trilogy of Alfred Hitchcock spy movies (along with The 39
Steps and Sabotage). Set during WWI, John Gielgud plays British novelist
Edgar Brodie who discovers that a government agency has faked his own
death. He is then given orders to go to Switzerland to kill a German
agent. He goes by the name of Richard Ashenden and travels with secret
agent Elsa Carrington (Madeleine Carroll), who poses as his wife.
Richard joins professional killer the General (Peter Lorre) to look for
clues, which leads them to suspect the tourist Caypor (Percy Marmont).
Elsa occupies Caypor's wife, Florence Kahn, while Richard and the
General attempt to complete their mission during a climbing trip in the
Alps. It turns out he was the wrong man, so the spies reluctantly start
another search for clues that leads them to the American charmer Robert
Marvin (Robert Young). Unfortunately, he has just boarded a train to
Greece with Elsa, so they have to get onboard and warn her. The
situation is complicated with an air attack, where several key players
meet their fate. The Secret Agent marked a rare instance where Hitchcock
was pressured into changing the ending from the more grim original.
__________________________________
REVIEW by Patrick Legare
Deception is the order of the day in this solid espionage thriller from
director Alfred Hitchcock. Based on Somerset Maugham's adventure stories
and a play by Campbell Nixon, Secret Agent is deceptive in every way:
characters hide their true intentions, beautiful locations mask the
sinister deeds that happen in them, even the film's title is tricky
since the story is about several agents rather than just one. All of
this duplicity helps develop the suspense normally associated with
Hitchcock's films, but Secret Agent falls a bit short of becoming one of
the director's classics. The picture's primary shortcomings lie with the
plot: John Gielgud is a spy whose assignment is to find and kill an
enemy spy in Switzerland. The fact that the hero of the film is told to
kill rather than save someone or steal something is a dark, edgy move,
but it weakens the viewer's connection to Gielgud's character. In one of
the most chilling sequences, Gielgud and Peter Lorre carry out the
assassination only to discover that they've killed an innocent man. To a
lesser degree, the cast is also a weakness. While the performances are
decent, Gielgud, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young seem out of place
in a Hitchcock film. Lorre is the bright, shining star, in the role of a
Mexican general whose twisted black humor matches his murderous tactics.
Lorre's character is neither a Mexican nor a general, but he steals the
show. The most exciting sequence is the climax, in which the real spy is
revealed amidst gunplay and a terrific train crash. Hitchcock had two
slightly different endings prepared for the film, but neither was used.
The director appears as a mourner during the fake funeral that opens the
film.
__________________________________
CAST:
Madeleine Carroll=A0- Elsa Carrington
Peter Lorre=A0- The General
John Gielgud=A0- Richard Ashenden
Robert Young=A0- Robert Marvin
Percy Marmont=A0- Caypor
Lilli Palmer=A0- Lilli
__________________________________
PLOT SYNOPSIS by Andrea LeVasseur
Based on the novels of W. Somerset Maugham, The Secret Agent is the
second in a trilogy of Alfred Hitchcock spy movies (along with The 39
Steps and Sabotage). Set during WWI, John Gielgud plays British novelist
Edgar Brodie who discovers that a government agency has faked his own
death. He is then given orders to go to Switzerland to kill a German
agent. He goes by the name of Richard Ashenden and travels with secret
agent Elsa Carrington (Madeleine Carroll), who poses as his wife.
Richard joins professional killer the General (Peter Lorre) to look for
clues, which leads them to suspect the tourist Caypor (Percy Marmont).
Elsa occupies Caypor's wife, Florence Kahn, while Richard and the
General attempt to complete their mission during a climbing trip in the
Alps. It turns out he was the wrong man, so the spies reluctantly start
another search for clues that leads them to the American charmer Robert
Marvin (Robert Young). Unfortunately, he has just boarded a train to
Greece with Elsa, so they have to get onboard and warn her. The
situation is complicated with an air attack, where several key players
meet their fate. The Secret Agent marked a rare instance where Hitchcock
was pressured into changing the ending from the more grim original.
__________________________________
REVIEW by Patrick Legare
Deception is the order of the day in this solid espionage thriller from
director Alfred Hitchcock. Based on Somerset Maugham's adventure stories
and a play by Campbell Nixon, Secret Agent is deceptive in every way:
characters hide their true intentions, beautiful locations mask the
sinister deeds that happen in them, even the film's title is tricky
since the story is about several agents rather than just one. All of
this duplicity helps develop the suspense normally associated with
Hitchcock's films, but Secret Agent falls a bit short of becoming one of
the director's classics. The picture's primary shortcomings lie with the
plot: John Gielgud is a spy whose assignment is to find and kill an
enemy spy in Switzerland. The fact that the hero of the film is told to
kill rather than save someone or steal something is a dark, edgy move,
but it weakens the viewer's connection to Gielgud's character. In one of
the most chilling sequences, Gielgud and Peter Lorre carry out the
assassination only to discover that they've killed an innocent man. To a
lesser degree, the cast is also a weakness. While the performances are
decent, Gielgud, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young seem out of place
in a Hitchcock film. Lorre is the bright, shining star, in the role of a
Mexican general whose twisted black humor matches his murderous tactics.
Lorre's character is neither a Mexican nor a general, but he steals the
show. The most exciting sequence is the climax, in which the real spy is
revealed amidst gunplay and a terrific train crash. Hitchcock had two
slightly different endings prepared for the film, but neither was used.
The director appears as a mourner during the fake funeral that opens the
film.
__________________________________
CAST:
Madeleine Carroll=A0- Elsa Carrington
Peter Lorre=A0- The General
John Gielgud=A0- Richard Ashenden
Robert Young=A0- Robert Marvin
Percy Marmont=A0- Caypor
Lilli Palmer=A0- Lilli