CONFESSIONS OF A NAZI SPY: Blu-ray (Warner Bros., 1939) Warner Archive
The career of Warner Brother
stalwart, Edward G. Robinson was in flux in 1939, the year he made Confessions
of a Nazi Spy for director, Anatole Litvak. Only a scant few years before,
Robinson’s reputation as one of the studio’s stock thugs had been secure. It
mattered not, the introspective, cultured and art-loving Robinson, in life, was
the antithesis of this cigar-chomping/gruff-talking, street-wise mug,
inculcated as his persona for the screen. Ah, but then came Hollywood’s
self-governing code of ethics to stir the pot, or rather, to dismantle the
notion that crime – at least, on the big screen – might pay. In the studio’s
mad-dash to redirect the strengths of their contract talents like James Cagney,
Humphrey Bogart and Robinson, the new mantra under Jack Warner’s dominion became the retrofitting of tales of crime with a redemptive ‘last act’, meant to clarify for
the audience a certain demise for the criminal class. So, to gamble on Robinson
as a ‘good guy’ was a real/reel stretch in 1939. Confessions of a Nazi Spy is daring in
another way. Hollywood had made no official judgement call, much less to
publicly indict Adolf Hitler for his rising armies riding roughshod across the
European landscape. If National Socialism and its bombastic leader were not
exactly ‘championed’ in Tinsel Town in 1939, they were reticently tolerated as American audiences turned a blind eye to the advancing threat abroad,
indulging in escapist entertainments. Hollywood was only too happy to look the
other way – or, more directly - look back at a fanciful Europe from its
earlier, more glamorous epoch, unfettered by even vague glimmers of another war
brewing on its horizon.
To direct the picture, Jack Warner
turned to Ukrainian-born Anatoly Mikhailovich Litvak (professionally known as
Anatole, and affectionately referenced by his peers as ‘Tole’) who had
begun his career in Petrograd, Russia, but who moved to Germany at the dawn
of the talkies for better opportunities. In rapid
succession he directed 3 movies in Berlin, another in France, and then 3 more
in Berlin. Hitler’s appointment as Germany’s Chancellor put a period to this
fruitful early run. Nevertheless, Litvak’s 1936 version of Mayerling
was hailed as a masterpiece. It also brought Litvak to Jack Warner’s attention.
The decision to leave Europe was born of necessity as France fell
under Hitler’s Vichy puppet regime. After Confessions of a Nazi Spy, and
its ban in Germany, Italy and Spain, Litvak became a U.S. citizen and an
industry darling, achieving considerable success in his adopted land. In the
years when Russia was a wartime ally, Litvak was decorated by Soviet leader,
Joseph Stalin for his work, and honored similarly in the U.S. With very few
exceptions, he would remain one of the most versatile and popular directors of
his generation for decades yet to follow.
For authenticity, Confessions of
a Nazi Spy cast expats from Germany and other European countries presently
living the United States. To mitigate Hitler’s possible retaliation against them,
actors Hedwiga Reicher (Celia Sibelius), Wolfgang Zilzer (John Voigt), Rudolph
Anders (Robert Davis), Wilhelm von Brincken (William Vaughn), and Martin
Kosleck (uncredited) all appeared under aliases. John Wexley’s screenplay,
while creating a wholly fictional story, is directly based on events as detailed
to him by former FBI agent, Leon G. Turrou, investigating Nazi spy
rings operating in the U.S. just prior to the war. However, the core of Wexley’s prose
coats the real-life Rumrich Nazi Spy Case in a thin patina of fiction with
actor, Francis Lederer, as Schneider, playing Rumrich's alter ego. During pre-production,
Jack Warner was ‘encouraged’ by Washington’s Dies Committee to refrain from
making the movie...or, if it was to be made, to be stringently cautioned ‘against
besmirching the reputation of a ‘friendly country’. Undaunted, Warner
greenlit his movie, allowing Wexley to depict a moment from the real-life
incident in which 30 American Legion veterans were assaulted for protesting a
celebration of Hitler’s birthday in New York City. Confessions of a Nazi Spy
was, to say the least, a daring picture to make as, in some ways, it stripped
naked previous misconceptions about Hitler’s true intentions, and also forced
American isolationists to reconsider what remaining benign could ultimately mean for America and the world at large in the very near
future. The movie’s premiere was frontloaded with police and special agents to
ensure a peaceful release. No surprise, Confessions of a Nazi Spy was
banned in Germany, Japan and several Latin-American countries friendly to
Hitler as anti-Nazi propaganda. Hitler’s ban was far more aggressive. For the
duration of the war, no Warner Bros. movie could be shown in Germany. Curiously,
the picture failed to find its audience at home, despite winning 1939’s National
Board of Review Award for Best Film (and this, in a year rife with so many
heavy-hitters under consideration).
The picture opens with a shadowy
figure (John Deering) bringing the audience up to speed on several events
unfurling in Scotland, circa 1937. A postman (Ferdinand
Schumann-Heink) asks Mrs. Mary MacLaughlin
(Eily Malyon) for stamps off letters she has received from all over the world.
MacLaughlin forwards one of the envelopes to Dr. Karl Kassel (Paul Lukas) in
New York City. We find Kassel lecturing German-Americans about their national
pride at the Café Nuremberg. As Hitler has declared war, it is their duty to
create havoc on the American front to momentarily obfuscate Germany’s dreams of world
domination. Meanwhile, Kurt Schneider (Francis
Lederer), a jobless rebel, aspires to become one of Hitler’s spy. As German
Naval Intelligence considers Schneider a viable candidate for counterespionage, Bismarck
officer, Franz Schlager (George Sanders) is instructed to contact him upon his arrival in New York. Aboard the Bismarck, the Gestapo reigns with an
iron fist. Beauty operator, Hilda Kleinhauer (Dorothy Tree) informs on her
clientele, delivering coded messages for Schlager. Meanwhile, an American
Legionaire who challenges Kassel is brutally attacked and subdued. Schneider openly
boasts to a friend, Werner Renz (Joe Sawyer), he receives direct communications
from Hitler. With Renz’s complicity, Schneider obtains medical records to
expose troop strength in the city. Schneider also provides Schlager with intel
and is compensated with a handsome stipend, Mrs. MacLaughlin's address, and new
directives to follow.
After Kassel is recalled to Germany
he abandons his wife for mistress, Erika Wolff (Lya Lys) and is promoted as
overseer of all Nazi objectives in the U.S., generating propaganda, while strategically planting spies to infiltrate the military and corporate spheres
of influence. Mercifully, British Intelligence is tipped off about MacLaughlin
after a letter is intercepted from Japan, while U.S. army intelligence employs
the FBI’s Agent Edward Renard (Edward G. Robinson) on the case. Kassel visits Camp Horst
Wessel, a brain-washing/recruitment center for future Hitler youth. Using an
alias, Schneider obtains passports. But this creates suspicion and the FBI detain
him. Renard flatters Schneider to gain a confession; also, to learn the
whereabouts of Wenz, Kleinhauer and Kassel. Renard prevents Kassel from burning
his code key and confirms his connection to Schlager. Blackmailing Kassel with
information about Erika, Kassel breaks and reveals the intricacy and scope of
their spy ring. Upon his release, Kassel is kidnapped by the Gestapo, his fate
worse than death spared when everyone is intercepted by the FBI just outside
the apartment.
As Hitler annexes Austria, Renard forewarns
Kassell's wife the Gestapo have posted bail. Kassel, in the meantime,
rendezvous with Erika before returning home to pack a bag. Knowing of her
husband’s infidelity, Kassel’s wife does not warn him he is in imminent danger.
The Gestapo kidnap Kassel and take him aboard the Bismarck. Ordered by his high
command to feign having suffered torture at their hands, the FBI arrest
eighteen conspirators, making their charges stick to Schneider, Wenz,
Kleinhauer and Helldorf. US Attorney Kellogg (Henry O’Neill) lays the
groundwork for success at trial. Sometime later, Kellogg and Renard share a
quiet moment together where Kellogg confides his thoughts about the war and the
uncertainty of freedom-loving patrons across the globe. “When our basic
liberties are threatened, we wake up," he suggests. The scene fades as
credits roll to American the Beautiful.
Confessions of a
Nazi Spy is one of the most intricately woven spy/thrillers Hollywood has ever
produced, and, with sober, nee clairvoyant accuracy for the advancing threat of
the German war machine. Its darkly purposed drama was likely not what ‘then’
isolationist’ American audiences wanted to see. Understandably, the
picture’s ban in Germany and other Nazi-occupied territories abroad led to its
limited release. Thus, unlike other war-themed movies later to emerge, its
reputation as an important and influential movie was buried at the time. Viewed today, Confessions
of a Nazi Spy remains a miraculous achievement. It is a bold and decisive stand
taken by a major Hollywood studio against a tyrant soon to plunge both
hemispheres into battle for the preservation of mankind. The picture
is populated by expert players doing their early part for the ‘war effort’,
and, long before it was 'fashionable'. Interestingly, especially given
the picture’s negative impact at the box office, most of the actors emerged with their reputations and careers intact. Better still, Jack Warner
could take immense pride being at the forefront to mark the enemy as such
– and with ominous, if tragically astute precision.
Confessions of a
Nazi Spy arrives on Blu-ray via the Warner Archive (WAC) in a beautifully
restored hi-def master. This movie has not been seen practically anywhere for an
extremely long time and its absence has been of a considerable loss to film
fans and cultural historians. On those rare occasions when it did play, it
looked careworn, dirty and softly focused. WAC has managed to reverse those
ravages of time. The image here is smartly turned out, crisp, with exceptional
contrast, excellent gray scale and a light smattering of grain looking very indigenous
to its source. Sol Polito and Ernest Haller’s cinematography extols an uncharacteristically dark ‘noir-like’
atmosphere, yielding a grain-rich image that is free of age-related artifacts.
The 2.0 DTS mono audio is nicely turned out with solid clarity, showing off Max
Steiner’s underscore and main titles to their best effect. Bottom line: an important picture about the war has finally been given its due
in hi-def. Definitely one to belong on most every film-lover’s top shelf. Very
highly recommended!
FILM RATING (out
of 5 – 5 being the best)
4
VIDEO/AUDIO
4.5
EXTRAS
0
Comments