They Came to Blow Up America (1943)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Edward Ludwig

Writers:

Michael Jacoby (story)
Aubrey Wisberg (writer)

Release Date:

7 May 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

Because of his German parentage, government agent Carl Steelman is assigned to by his chief, Craig, to join the Nazi Bund...

Plot Keywords:

Time Bomb | Submarine | Parent Child Relationship | WWII | Nazi Germany

Cast

George Sanders	...	Carl Steelman / Ernst Reiter
Anna Sten	...	Frau Reiter
Ward Bond	...	FBI Chief Craig
Dennis Hoey	...	Col. Taeger of Nazi police
Sig Ruman	...	Dr. Herman Holger
Ludwig Stössel	...	Papa Julius Steelman
Robert Barrat	...	Capt. Kranz - sabotage school chief
Poldi Dur	...	Helga Lorenz (as Poldy Dur)
Ralph Byrd	...	Burkhardt - 2d saboteur with Steelman
Elsa Janssen	...	Mama Henrietta Steelman (as Else Janssen)
Rex Williams	...	Eichner
Charles McGraw	...	Zellerbach
Sven Hugo Borg	...	Cmdr. Ullrich Hauser
Kurt Katch	...	Schonzeit - sabotage lecturer
Otto Reichow	...	Adam, S.S. Trooper

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Based on a true incident that occurred in 1942 when nine Nazi saboteurs were put ashore on the coast of Long Island, New York, by submarine, with orders to blow up various defense installations. They were caught, tried, and several were executed.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Early in the film, a building in Berlin is shown with a sign that says "Abteilung Geheimdienst", which means "Secret Service". However, it was translated in the film as "Naval Intelligence". A more appropriate sign would have read "Marine Nachrichten Geheimdienst".

Movie Connections:

Edited into All This and World War II (1976)

George Sanders undercover

"They Came to Blow up America" looks to be a B movie. It stars the suave, always reliable George Sanders as Steelman, an American of German heritage who is recruited by the FBI to infiltrate the Nazis as a spy. Even his parents believe that he has joined the Nazi movement. He is given the identity of someone else and sent to Germany, eventually ending up on a saboteur mission.

The film is told in flashback, with the FBI man who recruited Steelman (Ward Bond) explaining to an underling what really went on.

Sanders is good. He played villains well, so during the war, he was often cast as a Nazi! The supporting cast includes Anna Sten and Ludwig Stossel, who plays Steelman's father.

Ward Bond was a best friend of Clark Gable, and I couldn't help but notice the similarity of their voices in this film. Even their speaking rhythm was similar. Close your eyes, and you'd swear it was Gable.