Secret Agent (1936)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

W. Somerset Maugham (novel)
Campbell Dixon (play)
(more)

Release Date:

15 June 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Mystery - Intrigue - Romance, burn a flaming trail among the gay capitals of Europe

Plot:

After three British agents are assigned to assassinate a mysterious German spy during World War I, two of them become ambivalent when their duty to the mission conflicts with their consciences.

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Switzerland | Murder | Assassin | WWI

Cast

John Gielgud	...	Richard Ashenden
Peter Lorre	...	The General
Madeleine Carroll	...	Elsa Carrington
Robert Young	...	Robert Marvin
Percy Marmont	...	Caypor
Florence Kahn	...	Mrs. Caypor
Charles Carson	...	'R'
Lilli Palmer	...	Lilli
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sebastian Cabot	...	Unconfirmed Role (unconfirmed) (uncredited)
Tom Helmore	...	Colonel Anderson (uncredited)
Andreas Malandrinos	...	Manager (uncredited)
Miles Malleson	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Howard Marion-Crawford	...	Karl (Lillis' Fiancee) (uncredited)
Michael Redgrave	...	Army captain (uncredited)
Michael Rennie	...	Unconfirmed Role (unconfirmed) (uncredited)
Michel Saint-Denis	...	Coachman (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
W. Somerset Maugham		(novel "Ashenden")
Campbell Dixon		(play)
Charles Bennett		(screenplay)
Ian Hay		(dialogue)
Jesse Lasky Jr.		(additional dialogue)
Alma Reville		(continuity)

Produced by
Michael Balcon	....	producer (uncredited)
Ivor Montagu	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Hubert Bath		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Bernard Knowles

Film Editing by
Charles Frend

Art Direction by
Oscar Friedrich Werndorff		(as O. Werndorff)

Costume Design by
Joe Strassner		(dresses) (as J. Strassner)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Pen Tennyson	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Albert Jullion	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Phillip Dorté	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Stephen Dade	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Reg Johnson	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Gerry Massy-Collier	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Louis Levy	....	musical director

Other crew
Alma Reville	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Gaumont British Picture Corporation

Distributors

• Gaumont British Distributors (1936) (UK) (theatrical)
• Gaumont British Picture Corporation of America (1936) (USA) (theatrical)
• Hal Roach Studios (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Madacy Entertainment (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Madacy Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Laserlight Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Video Film Express (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Future Film (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Century Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Cine Art Pictures (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (laserdisc)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LS Video (video)
• New Century Telecommunications (198?) (USA) (TV)
• Prime Time Entertainment (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Sociedade Universal de Superfilmes (SUS) (Portugal)
• Stokey Video (video)

Also Known As:

Laugh Track: Secret Agent (USA) (video title (redubbed comic version))

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1936) (original rating) | Finland:K-12 (1995) | Finland:K-16 (1936) (re-rating) | Australia:G (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Germany:12 | UK:U | Norway:16 (1937)

Filming Locations:

Frutigen, Kanton Bern, Switzerland

Company:

Gaumont British Picture Corporation

Trivia:

Alfred Hitchcock reflected (regarding John Gielgud's lack of heroics): "You can't root for a hero who doesn't want to be one."

Goofs:

Continuity: When the little dog is scratching at the door, he is facing left and is in front of the right-side door. When the elderly lady then (immediately) picks up the dog, he is facing right and is in front of the left-side door.

Quotes:

Edgar Brodie: Oh, I'm to have an assistant, am I?
'R': Yes, and in the circumstances, a very useful one. We call him the "Hairless Mexican".
Edgar Brodie: Oh? Why?
'R': Well, chiefly because he's got a lot of curly hair and isn't a Mexican. You can call him The General. He isn't a general, but he'll appreciate the compliment.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Breach (2007)

Brisk, well-acted thriller

A super film with probably the ideal balance of Hitchcockian control and cast contribution. The story is told at a good, brisk pace, slowed only to incorporate the three to four exemplary tension-ratcheting sequences. There's also ingenious use of the camera: the pick of the aforementioned suspense set-pieces involves intercutting between two characters on the Alps and a hotel room. Hitchcock's manoeuvre to the eye piece of the Alpine telescope and thence to the climbers would tickle the David Fincher of Panic Room.

The acting is solid gold. A young, terse John Gielgud cannot fail to capture (Hitchcock blonde) Madeleine Carroll's heart. Opposite this requisite lovematch are Robert Young's Yank charmer Marvin (his character manages to give the picture much needed sveltesse and glamour) but above all the unique contribution of Peter Lorre. Everyone knows Lorre from Casablanca; here he is a much more rounded, entertaining but no less interesting character.

A half-fumbled ending is symptomatic of the trust placed by the cast in the 'process', so this as other bumpy moments can be put down to Hitchcock and, in their turn, to contemporaneous technical limitations. It's a great matinée. 7/10