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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
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Victor Saville Herbert Mason (Assistant Director) Frank Sherwin Green (Assistant Director)
Screenplay by	Ian Hay W. P. Lipscomb Edmund Gwenn
Based on	I Was a Spy by Marthe Cnockaert
Produced by	Michael Balcon
Starring	Madeleine Carroll Herbert Marshall Conrad Veidt
Cinematography	Charles Van Enger
Edited by	Frederick Y. Smith
Music by	Louis Levy (music director)
Production company	Gaumont British Picture Corporation
Distributed by	Woolf & Freedman Film Service (UK) Fox Film Corporation (USA)
Release dates	4 September 1933 (1933-09-04) (UK) 15 December 1933 (1933-12-15) (USA)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

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.[2]

Plot

In German-occupied Belgium in 1914, a local woman nurses injured German soldiers while passing information to the British.[3]

Cast

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.[4][3][5]

The script was written by Edmund Gwenn who also portrayed the burgomaster.[6]

Release

I Was a Spy was screened at the Lyric.[7]

Reception

In a poll conducted by the magazine Film Weekly, the film was voted the best British movie of 1933,[5][8][9] and Madeleine Carroll's performance was voted the best in a British movie.[10][11]

The Daily Mail (21 November 1933) described it as "the most splendid film produced in this country."[11] The Daily Despatch (21 November 1933) described it as a film "equal to Hollywood's best."[11] Variety and motion picture critic Mordaunt Hall (for The New York Times) praised Carroll's acting.[11]

William Troy for The Nation said, "It is the kind of picture calculated to make us believe that there is something beautiful and touching about war, after all."[12]

Film historian and critic Paul Rotha for Cinema Quarterly said, "It is the kind of picture calculated to make us believe that there is something beautiful and touching about war, after all."[12]Really? Two reviewers said the same thing? Check citation please

The Evening News (Rockhampton) (30 May 1934) praised the acting and described it as "[spectacular] in its sweep, human in its emotions, dramatic in its intensity and profoundly gripping in its appeal."[13]

Although it was very successful at the box office,[3] 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."[14]

Halliwell's Film & Video Guide described the film as "[good] standard war espionage melodrama."[15]

Adrian Turner for Radio Times said that, "Fans of vintage British cinema will enjoy this sprightly espionage yarn, set during the First World War and bearing a close resemblance to the Mata Hari legend."[16]

In 2021, film critic and author, Derek Winnert praised the cast and their performances.[3]

Home media

I Was a Spy was released on DVD on 19 May 2014.[3][11]

References

Citations

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Film Weekly, 4 May 1934, p. 9
• Daily Despatch, 21 November 1933
• Daily Mail, 21 November 1933
• The Sun (Sydney), 13 May 1934
• The Evening News (Rockhampton), 30 May 1934

Secondary sources

• Balcon, Michael. (1969). Michael Balcon Presents...A Lifetime of Films. Hutchinson & Co Ltd
• McFarlane Brian. (ed). The Encyclopedia of British Film. Methuen (2nd edition)
• Moseley, Roy. (2000). Evergreen: Victor Saville in His Own Words. Southern Illinois University Press
• Pascoe, John. (2020). Madeleine Carroll: Actress and Humanitarian, from The 39 Steps to the Red. McFarland. Paperback
• Walker, John. (ed). (1998). Halliwell's Film & Video Guide 1998. HarperCollins Entertainment. 13th edition

External links

• I Was a Spy at IMDb
• I Was a Spy at BFI
• I Was a Spy (1933) at Britmovie | Home of British Films
• I Was a Spy at Park Circus
• I Was a Spy at Rotten Tomatoes

На других языках

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[de] Ich war Spion

Ich war Spion ist britisches Spielfilmdrama aus dem Jahre 1933 mit Conrad Veidt und Madeleine Carroll in den Hauptrollen. Regie führte Victor Saville.

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- [en] I Was a Spy

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