Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939)

Director:

Anatole Litvak

Writers:

Leon G. Turrou (book)
Milton Krims (writer) ...

Release Date:

6 May 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Ed Renard is a G-Man investigating a huge Nazi spy ring in the United States. Contacts are discovered and arrested in the U.S....

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Nazi | FBI | Scotland | Patriotism

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Edward G. Robinson	...	Edward 'Ed' Renard
Francis Lederer	...	Kurt Schneider
George Sanders	...	Franz Schlager
Paul Lukas	...	Dr. Kassell (Credits) / Dr. Karl F. Kassel
Henry O'Neill	...	U.S. Atty. Kellogg
Dorothy Tree	...	Hilda Kleinhauer
Lya Lys	...	Erika Wolf (Credits) / Erika Wolff
Grace Stafford	...	Mrs. Helen Schneider
James Stephenson	...	British Military Intelligence agent
Hedwiga Reicher	...	Mrs. Kassell (Credits) / Mrs. Lisa Kassel (as Celia Sibelius)
Joe Sawyer	...	Werner Renz
Sig Ruman	...	Krogman (Credits) / Dr. Julius Gustav Krogmann (as Sig Rumann)
Lionel Royce	...	Hintze
Henry Victor	...	Hans Wildebrandt
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski	...	Max Helldorf (as Hans von Twardowski)

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Vitaphone

Certification:

Norway:16 (1945) | Norway:(Banned) (1939 - 1945) | Australia:G | Sweden:(Banned) | USA:Approved (PCA #5084)

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

The movie is based on an actual spy-ring trial in New York in 1938, which convicted four individuals of spying for the German government.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In one scene there is a large sign on a fence reading, "Fort Wentworth Base Hospital." The Army does not refer to its installations as "bases." A correct sign would have read "Post Hospital."

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Waltons: The Seashore (#6.5)" (1977)

Soundtrack:

German National Anthem (Das Lied der Deutschen)

Nothing Subtle in this film's message

Confessions of a Nazi Spy was made anticipating the fact that American involvement in World War II was inevitable so it is better to know thy enemy. Based on FBI files, Confessions of a Nazi Spy was a story about both the German American Bund and its links to the Nazi regime and the espionage and sabotage it tried to do.

The film is done in a documentary style, more popular over at 20th Century Fox than at Warner Brothers, with films like The House on 92nd Street and Calling Northside 777 as examples of the style.

The Nazis shown here are straight up villains be they respected physician Paul Lukas or disgruntled plebeian Francis Lederer. I think Lederer modeled his character on Bruno Hauptmann, the Lindbergh baby kidnapper and maybe the most unpopular man in America at one point. Hauptmann's appearance and voice were in newsreels to study and isn't it ironic that the man he wronged became a spokesman for appeasement.

On the other hand Edward G. Robinson is quite the stand up hero as the FBI agent investigating the Bund. Robinson was one of the bigger anti-Nazi activists in Hollywood and was proud to be included in what he considered a very important message.

No subtlety used in this film. For those not interested in the anti Nazi message, Confessions of a Nazi Spy does succeed on the entertainment level as well. But I will say that playing America the Beautiful over the end credits was a bit much even for audiences in 1939.