They Came to Blow Up America (1943)

Because of his German parentage, government agent Carl Steelman is assigned to by his chief, Craig, to join the Nazi Bund, to obtain information on the underground activities of the group. ... See full summary »

Director:

Edward Ludwig

Writers:

Michael Jacoby (story), Aubrey Wisberg

Stars:

George Sanders, Anna Sten, Ward Bond

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
George Sanders	...	Carl Steelman / Ernst Reiter
Anna Sten	...	Frau Reiter
Ward Bond	...	FBI Chief Craig
Dennis Hoey	...	Col. Taeger
Sig Ruman	...	Dr. Herman Holger
Ludwig Stössel	...	Papa Julius Steelman
Robert Barrat	...	Capt. Kranz
Poldi Dur	...	Helga Lorenz (as Poldy Dur)
Ralph Byrd	...	Burkhardt
Elsa Janssen	...	Mama Henrietta Steelman (as Else Janssen)
Rex Williams	...	Eichner
Charles McGraw	...	Zellerbach
Sven Hugo Borg	...	Cmdr. Ullrich Hauser
Kurt Katch	...	Schonzeit
Otto Reichow	...	Adam, S.S. Trooper

Storyline

Because of his German parentage, government agent Carl Steelman is assigned to by his chief, Craig, to join the Nazi Bund, to obtain information on the underground activities of the group. Steelman is welcomed and becomes a trusted member of the group. His father, Julius Steelman, unaware of this son's real mission, drives him from their home. The government agents raid a Bund meeting and Steelman assumes the identity of one of the members who was about to depart to Germany for training. In Berlin, Steelman meets and falls in love with Helga Lorenz, a member of the German underground. In order to hide his true identity and complete his mission, Steelman has to betray the girl to the Gestapo, but later manages to rescue her and see her safely on her way to England. Frau Reiter, wife of the man whose identity Steelman has assumed, threatens to turn him over to the police. He convinces the Gestapo that she is crazy and she is confined to an insane asylum. His training completed, Steelman...

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Plot Keywords:

submarine | time bomb | world war two | nazi germany | double agent | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 May 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

School for Sabotage

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

When the German U-Boat surfaces near the U.S. coast, it is attacked by American bombers. The first two shots of the stock footage utilized show the attacking aircraft from the sub commander's view, the first through binocular- boxing on screen, are a trio of Lockheed Hudsons. But the overhead shot of the attack shows three Martin PBM Mariner flying boats, and then bombs are shown dropping out of a bomb-bay which the PBMs did not have.

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Connections

Edited into All This and World War II (1976)

User Reviews

My, how Hollywood attitudes have changed!

This is a fine example of the kind of patriotic films that were produced by Hollywood during the Second World War, a far cry from the anti-American, terrorist-sympathetic views being promoted by contemporary filmmakers.

George Sanders, a successful mining engineer working in South America, returns home to visit his German immigrant parents, who are unashamedly patriotic about the USA. They are dismayed to find that Sanders is working for the German-American Bund, a pro-Nazi group active in the early years of the war.

But there is more to the story. The plot gets more involved, as secret missions and identities are revealed, and betrayals threaten the lives of the main characters. In the end, a gang of Nazi saboteurs is rounded up and executed, much to everyone's satisfaction.

THEY CAME TO BLOW UP America (what an ominous title for us today!) reveals how attitudes have changed in the film industry over the past 60+ years. This film is not ashamed to be overtly pro-American. No one hesitates when it comes to punishing members of anti- American organizations. And no one bats an eye when a teacher talks about using his belt to keep ornery grade school kids in line! This is a fine example of a WW2 espionage movie designed to stir the sentiments of the American viewing audience.