IMDb > Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939)

Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) More at IMDbPro »

Overview

User Rating:
6.6/10   401 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 23% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Anatole Litvak
Writers:
Leon G. Turrou (book)
Milton Krims (writer) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Confessions of a Nazi Spy on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
6 May 1939 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama more
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.... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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Awards:
1 win more
NewsDesk:
Abbott & Costello, Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland Screenings
 (From Alternative Film Guide. 9 November 2009, 10:52 PM, PST)
User Comments:
Overlong propaganda...with some great moments. more (20 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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)
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
104 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English | German
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono | Vitaphone
Certification:
Norway:16 (1945) | Norway:(Banned) (1939 - 1945) | Australia:G | Sweden:(Banned) | USA:Approved (PCA #5084)
Company:
First National Pictures more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Some well-known actors (including Anna Sten and Marlene Dietrich) refused to be in the movie fearing reprisals against relatives living in Europe. Many who did appear changed their names for the same reason, accounting for large number of aka's in the cast list. more
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." more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "The Waltons: The Seashore (#6.5)" (1977) more
Soundtrack:
America more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
15 out of 17 people found the following comment useful.
Overlong propaganda...with some great moments., 5 September 2002
Author: LoveCoates from Los Angeles

Not a bad film, particularly in its historical importance. Reportedly, the Warner brothers and Edward G. Robinson all fought to make this film, which was made at a time when Americans, remembering the devastation of WWI, were still wary about entering another European conflict.

Structured a little strangely -- we don't get enough of our favorite character, Robinson's, who is a prototype of the thirties G-Man. He has some great lines, particularly when cutting down the bad guys. It's interesting to see him on the right side of the law for once, and equally interesting to see Paul Lukas, best known for playing the anti-Nazi hero of Watch on the Rhine, playing a German sympathizer.

An almost-unrecognizable George Sanders steals the show (doesn't he always?) as a hardcore Nazi soldier.

The movie is heavy-handed propaganda which becomes almost comical with its over-dramatic narration and failure to recognize the irony in its supposed hate of propaganda. The narrator does offer up the movie's most hilarious line, describing how the Germans manufacture "mass stupidity."

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