British agent

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Movie
Original title British agent
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1934
length 83 minutes
Rod
Director Michael Curtiz
script Laird Doyle
production Michael Curtiz for Warner Brothers
music Bernhard Kaun
Heinz Roemheld
camera Ernest Haller
cut Thomas Richard
occupation

British Agent is an American feature film with Leslie Howard and Kay Francis in the lead roles under the Regiev on Michael Curtiz . The film takes place shortly before and during the October Revolution and is roughly based on the memoirs of the secret agent RH Bruce Lockhart .

action

Stephan Locke came to Russia on behalf of the British government in 1917 to prevent the collapsing Tsarist Empire or its successor from concluding a separate peace with the German Empire. He meets Elena Moura, a noblewoman from Ukraine who has joined the revolutionaries. She works as a secretary for Lenin and is active on the Cheka side . Both fall in love, despite different ideas about politics and the human common good. Elena has great sympathy for the upheaval that is looming with the October Revolution .

"The people have found their voice, tomorrow the Red Army's takeover."

"The people have found their voice, tomorrow the Red Army will win."

Locke is much more cynical and says laconically:

"And the day after that the blue, then the white I suppose."

"And the day after, presumably the blues and then the whites."

As the story progresses, Locke tries to organize British support for the counterrevolution. Elena saves his life several times by lying for him. Stephen tries to convince Elena to switch sides. After all, England is fighting for the good of the entire world. She is unimpressed by it. The fight applies exclusively to “England's world. Not ours. "

Several entanglements later, the two meet again at a train station on the border. Elena warns Stephen of an assassination attempt that both survive. They flee together to England and into a happy future together.

background

Immediately after moving from Paramount to Warner Brothers in 1932, Kay Francis had risen to become a popular actress of independent, self-confident women who fight for their love and do not submit to standard moral codes. Since 1933, her career has been in serious jeopardy with some inferior appearances in B-movies. Most of the time, Francis was only offered roles that had previously been rejected by other established stars. In the case of British Agent , Barbara Stanwyck had previously refused to take on the role. The film brings considerable sympathy towards Elena's character, who is loosely based on Moura Budberg . While Locke is portrayed as a cynical opportunist and a man with no real principles, Elena has left her noble birthright behind, out of free conviction, and foregoing enormous wealth and a life of luxury in order to devote herself entirely to her ideals. Filming, directed by Michael Curtiz, was relatively relaxed, with Curtiz being able to deliver a relatively authentic adaptation despite a tight budget. The crowd scenes brought up to 1,500 extras to the screen and initially the studio even tried to shoot parts of the film in the Soviet Union, which was rejected by those responsible there.

The role of Stephan Locke was a very thinly concealed representation of the British secret agent RH Bruce Lockhart , who came to Russia in mid-1917 to prevent the upcoming peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk . During that time he met the Ukrainian baroness Moura Budberg, who had broken away from her family and joined the communists under Lenin. They both had an affair and Budberg probably worked as a double agent at times. Budberg left Russia some time later and began a relationship with the author HG Wells . In later years she acted as a consultant for several Hollywood productions, such as The Journey by Anatole Litvak and The Seagull by Sidney Lumet from 1968

criticism

Most of the critics liked the film, even if the somewhat artificial happy ending was criticized at the end.

So wrote Variety :

“The film calls for a tragic ending and if it had ended two minutes earlier with the death of the two main actors in an explosion, then it would have been a much better film. […] On the other hand, the film is good artistically and in terms of entertainment, the actors are excellent. Leslie Howard and Kay Francis are convincing. "

The New York Times was also impressed:

“Michael Curtiz staged the drama very well. He describes the violent revolution in a clever and intelligent way. Mr. Howard, who plays his role with nervous tension and desperate courage, is even better than in " Of Human Bondage " [...], while the dark-eyed and lively Miss Francis is an attractive undercover agent for the Cheka. "

Theatrical release

The studio invested a comparatively small amount of $ 475,000. British Agent proved to be very popular at the box office, grossing US $ 532,000 in the US, with a further US $ 390,000 from abroad. At $ 922,000, it became one of the most successful productions with Kay Francis to date.

source

  • Scott O'Brien - Kay Francis I Can't Wait to be Forgotten - Her Life by Film and Stage - ISBN 1-59393-036-4

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Picture cries out for a tragic ending, and had it been allowed to end two minutes earlier, with an explosion killing of both leads, it would be a much finer picture […] Otherwise the pic is both artistically and cinematically good entertainment… excellent acting… Leslie Howard and Kay Francis handle the two chief roles tellingly.
  2. ↑ Michael Curtiz has staged the drama capably, painting in the scenes of revolution and violence with swift and convincing strokes. Mr. Howard's performance, played in a key of high nervous tension and desperate courage, is all the more impressive after his totally different and equally fine performance in Of Human Bondage […], while the dark-eyed and vibrant Miss Francis makes a handsome undercover agent for the Cheka.