The Silver Screen Oasis

Kingrat, I am sorry to read that TCM only had a beat-up print of The Spy in Black (1939) to show. Criterion brought out a very good print some time ago (along with Contraband, another entertaining Conrad Veidt-Valerie Hobson movie made by P & P). Miss G., you can see what looks like a public domain print of "The Spy..." at this link:
http://tinyurl.com/99ac742

One of the things that is so interesting about The Spy in Black is the presentation of a "good German" just as Britain was about to go to war again. It seems to anticipate some of the once-controversial, sympathetic portraits of Germans in both The 49th Parallel (esp. the submariner played by Niall MacGinnis and the Mennonites, represented by Anton Walbrook) and the Walbrook character in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. The Spy in Black is set in WWI, while the follow-up, Contraband (1940) takes place in the first months of WWII. Veidt plays the dreamy, war-weary German spy in the first and a Scandinavian sea captain in the second. Both films have a distinctive blend of playfulness laced through the underlying serious themes that seems to be characteristic of P & P movies. Here's the beginning of Contraband:

[youtube][/youtube]

I really enjoyed Contraband, so if Spy in Black is anything like, i'm sure I will enjoy it. Thank you!

P.S. Dark Journey is another pre-WWII movie about a German spy (Veidt) mixed up with an English agent (Vivien Leigh) and though they are "enemies", Veidt is not vilified in the movie. It can be seen below.

[youtube][/youtube]

MissGoddess wrote:I really enjoyed Contraband, so if Spy in Black is anything like, i'm sure I will enjoy it. Thank you!

I thought that The Spy in Black was a much better story than Dark Journey. While I realize that Valerie Hobson is no Viv, I think you will really like it. You found the best looking print of Dark Journey I've ever seen.

Contraband has some very odd, but funny scenes as well as "boy's life" action sequences. I think you'll like it, Kingrat.

I like all those movies, I'm particularly partial to Vivien's movie. Conrad Veidt, what an actor, he's great in all these.

SPY IN BLACK and CONTRABAND are fine, understated wartime espionage stories. I don't remember DARK JOURNEY. Not sure I've seen it. I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING is something else. There are fun movies. There are great movies. This soft, sweet, grown-up fairy tale is a work of art. It's the team's best effort that I know of. That's no small accomplishment!

Still haven't seen "One of our Aircraft..." Am I missing a good one?

If anyone's interested...some years ago I inteviewed David Pierce, who produced the Contraband DVD. You can read it here:

http://web.archive.org/web/200503052302 ... ndrev.html

RedRiver wrote: Still haven't seen "One of our Aircraft..." Am I missing a good one?

Just checked this off my P&P list this past year thanks to Youtube - I like it a lot; very similar to 49th Parallel - but you can judge for yourself:
[youtube][/youtube]

pvitari wrote:If anyone's interested...some years ago I inteviewed David Pierce, who produced the Contraband DVD. You can read it here:

http://web.archive.org/web/200503052302 ... ndrev.html

Thank you for mentioning this and providing a link. I love his description of Michael Powell, whom he met a few times, as "the embodiment of the spirit and whimsy of his films."

Jezebel38 wrote:

RedRiver wrote: Still haven't seen "One of our Aircraft..." Am I missing a good one?

Just checked this off my P&P list this past year thanks to Youtube - I like it a lot; very similar to 49th Parallel - but you can judge for yourself:
[youtube][/youtube]

Thanks, Jez. I haven't seen this one in years. It was one of the first P & P films I ever saw.

Oh my gosh, I just found this thread and am so happy you posted the link to OOOAIM, Jezebel. Like Moira, I haven't seen it in years. It had a profound impact on me at an early age.

It's Hitchcock on decaf! More subdued, a quiet kind of suspense. But it creeps up on you and the effect is genuine. By that time, you've come to care about the characters. That makes it even more exciting.

I agree Red. kingrat, I think the optimum word in your review is 'fun'. There's a lot of humor and a light touch that really helps this movie along, plus there is some nice chemistry between the leads especially when they are tied together. One has to appreciate that kind of sexiness in pre-war films. Makes you wonder why the British are always stereotyped as reserved.

I got a chance to see "I know where I'm going (1945)". I liked it a lot. I think it is best Powell-Pressburger I have seen. The effort they put in this film is brilliant.

JackFavell wrote:Oh my gosh, I just found this thread and am so happy you posted the link to OOOAIM, Jezebel. Like Moira, I haven't seen it in years. It had a profound impact on me at an early age.

How in the world (I'm like you Jack Favell) ... How I miss Konway's Thread? ... this is a gem of a thread and I love these films too!