The Spy in Black (1939)

NR08/03/1939War, Thriller1h 22m
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Today's U-boat terror makes this the year's timeliest picture!

Overview

A German submarine is sent to the Orkney Isles in 1917 to sink the British fleet.

Top Billed Cast

  1. Cast 1

    Conrad Veidt

    Captain Ernst Hardt

  2. Cast 1

    Sebastian Shaw

    Ashington

  3. Cast 1

    Valerie Hobson

    The School Mistress

  4. Cast 1

    Marius Goring

    Lieutenant Felix Schuster

  5. Cast 1

    June Duprez

    Anne Burnett

  6. Cast 1

    Athole Stewart

    The Rev. Hector Matthews

  7. Cast 1

    Agnes Lauchlan

    Mrs. Matthews

  8. Cast 1

    Helen Haye

    Mrs. Sedley

  9. Cast 1

    Cyril Raymond

    The Rev. John Harris

Valerie Hobson steals the show here in this dark, tense, wartime espionage drama about a German U-boat captain (Conrad Veidt) sent to the Orkney Islands in WWI to gather intelligence on the British Grand Fleet. Released at the start of the Second World War, this first outing for Powell/Pressberger delivers in a much more ominous tone than that of a mere piece of propaganda. There is a depth to the writing and a sinisterness to the story that is gripping for just shy of 90 minutes before culminating in the sort of "gallant" ending that I suspect would not have been considered appropriate five y...