I Was a Spy
| I Was a Spy | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Victor Saville Herbert Mason (Assistant Director) Frank Sherwin Green (Assistant Director) |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Based on | I Was a Spy by Marthe Cnockaert |
| Produced by | Michael Balcon |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Charles Van Enger |
| Edited by | Frederick Y. Smith |
| Music by | Louis Levy (music director) |
Production company | Gaumont British Picture Corporation |
| Distributed by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
I Was a Spy is a 1933 British thriller film directed by Victor Saville and starring Madeleine Carroll, Herbert Marshall, and Conrad Veidt. Based on the 1932 memoir I Was a Spy by Marthe Cnockaert, the film is about her experiences as a Belgian woman who nursed German soldiers during World War I while passing intelligence to the British.[1]
I Was a Spy was also the first film dubbed in Poland (while there were earlier examples of films dubbed in Polish, they were recorded in Paramount studio in Joinville, France), released in 1935 as Siostra Marta jest szpiegiem, starring Lidia Wysocka as Martha Cnockhaert's voice. The screenplay was written by Edmund Gwenn.
Plot[]
In German-occupied Belgium in 1914, a local woman nurses injured German soldiers while passing information to the British.
Cast[]
- Madeleine Carroll as Marthe Cnockaert
- Herbert Marshall as Stephan
- Conrad Veidt as Commandant Oberaertz
- Edmund Gwenn as Burgomaster
- Gerald du Maurier as Doctor
- Donald Calthrop as Cnockhaert
- May Agate as Madame Cnockhaert
- Eva Moore as Canteen Ma
- Martita Hunt as Aunt Lucille
- Nigel Bruce as Scottie
- George Merritt as Captain Reichmann
- Anthony Bushell as Otto
Production[]
Filming took place in Shepherds Bush. Producer Michael Balcon sent Herbert Mason (who was initially production manager before becoming an assistant director) to take the script to Belgium and give it to Marthe Cnockaert to look at.[2]
Reception[]
In a poll conducted by the magazine Film Weekly, the film was voted the best British movie of 1932, and Madeleine Carroll's performance was voted the best in a British movie.[3]
Although it was very successful at the box office, this was not Saville's reaction. He watched the completed I Was a Spy with one of the Assistant Directors, Herbert Mason, and was devastated: however, Mason reassured him that it was his "best to date."[4]
Home media[]
I Was a Spy was released on DVD on 19 May 2014.
References[]
- ^ BFI Database
- ^ Balcon, 1969, p. 74
- ^ "BEST FILM PERFORMANCE LAST YEAR". The Examiner (LATE NEWS EDITION and DAILY ed.). Launceston, Tasmania. 9 July 1937. p. 8. Retrieved 4 March 2013 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Moseley, 2000, p. 69
Bibliography[]
- Moseley, Roy. (2000). Evergreen: Victor Saville in His Own Words. Southern Illinois University Press
- Balcon, Michael. (1969). Michael Balcon Presents...A Lifetime of Films. Hutchinson & Co Ltd
External links[]
- I Was a Spy at IMDb
- I Was a Spy BFI
- I Was a Spy (1933) Britmovie | Home of British Films
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- 1933 films
- English-language films
- 1930s spy thriller films
- British films
- British spy thriller films
- Western Front (World War I) films
- World War I spy films
- Films produced by Michael Balcon
- British black-and-white films
- Fox Film films
- Gainsborough Pictures films
- 1930s British film stubs
- 1930s thriller film stubs