In the Secret Service (1931)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | In the secret service |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1931 |
| length | 106 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Gustav Ucicky |
| script | Walter Reisch |
| production |
Noé Bloch Gregor Rabinowitsch for UFA , Berlin |
| music | Werner Schmidt-Boelcke |
| camera | Carl Hoffmann |
| occupation | |
and Aenne Görling , Paul Mederow , Alexander Murski , Georg H. Schnell , Walter Steinbeck , André Mattoni | |
In the secret service is a 1931, German drama film from the war espionage milieu at the time of the First World War . Directed by Gustav Ucicky , Willy Fritsch , Brigitte Helm and Oskar Homolka play the leading roles.
action
First world war . The year is 1916. The opposing Allied side has rejected the German peace offer, and since the OHL in Berlin fears that the ailing Russian tsarist army will rebel, the German secret service becomes active at the end of the year . The top agent Agent Thomas Hagen is supposed to travel to St. Petersburg under the guise of an American violin virtuoso named Thomas Higgins in order to uncover the Russian plans to attack German positions. The offensive is expected in the spring of 1917. In Russia, a hitherto unknown German spy is said to identify himself through a certain musical symbol, a triad, Thomas.
Foreigners are viewed with the greatest suspicion in Tsarist Russia at these times , and so the Okhrana scrutinizes the stressedly harmless "American" immediately after arriving at the Hotel Astoria in Petersburg . When Higgins aka Hagen returns from a visit to the US embassy , he finds his hotel room ransacked. Then suddenly the mysterious Dubbin appears, who at first appeared to be Hagen's main opponent on the other side, and reveals himself to him as the very German liaison that Hagen had been waiting for. Higgins / Hagen now begins to establish contacts with the fine circles of the old Russian upper class and is introduced to the “best society” of St. Petersburg as an American artist and music lover who performs here in Russia. He hopes to get to know high-ranking military officials and learn something about the spring offensive in this way. Hagen met Vera Lanskaja, the German wife of the Russian General Lanskoi. She is torn between loyalty to her Russian husband and her old homeland. When she falls in love with Thomas, her German beating heart finally breaks through, and she tries to help the German master spy.
Her husband, the major general, however, quickly began to suspect, had Higgins / Hagen monitored and thus tracked down the wrong US musician. While Dubbin can finish his job, Hagen has to hurry to avoid falling into the hands of the other side. The result is a breathtaking chase through the Petersburg snowstorms, over bridges and steps until the injured Hagen can escape his captors from the Ochrana at the last moment. Deeply disappointed in his wife, Lonskoi causes Vera to leave Russia. She travels to Stockholm, where she receives her new love, Thomas Hagen, who is being treated in a hospice. With her she has the latest information from Dubbins hand about the Russian offensive plans for next Easter. This news will save the lives of thousands of German soldiers.
Production notes
The shooting began in February 1931 in the Ufa studios in Neubabelsberg and in Denmark (exterior shots). The premiere took place on August 14, 1931 both in Berlin ( Ufa-Palast am Zoo ) and in Breslau. Five days later, the secret service also started in Vienna.
The film structures come from Robert Herlth and Walter Röhrig . Eduard Kubat served as manager , Hermann Fritz Ching took care of the sound.
Reviews
In Oskar Kalbus ' Vom becoming German cinematic art it says: “The world war gave birth to heroes of all kinds, like every heroic struggle. Controversial heroism is that born from the secret service, from espionage (...) The film 'In the Secret Service' takes place in this world, but is somewhat impressed by the 'War in the Dark', which was a silent film with Garbo several years ago that gave strong impressions . At Ucicky, a young person travels to Petersburg as a concert violinist on behalf of the German government to investigate the Russians' plans (1916) against the Germans. Willy Fritsch cuts a fine figure in the role of the military spy thanks to his likeable masculinity and natural informality. The strongest acting performance in this film is offered by Oskar Homolka as General Lanskoi, a figure from one piece. (...) Here the director triumphs over the actors. The director Gustav Ucicky unrolls the whole espionage painting with a compelling, dramatic security. Not a single meaningless picture: everywhere action, movement, life. Photo and sound montage are at the highest level. "
The Österreichische Film-Zeitung reported in its edition of August 22, 1931: "The secret transmission behind the scenes of world history - it has always been of interest, especially since the great war. And in this film the audience has ... the opportunity to take a look behind the scenes to do, and to find confirmation of the image that it creates of the hidden springs, under whose pressure worlds collapse. How it really was? (…) Higgins is Willy Fritsch, winning as always, Brigitte Helm plays in her pictorial Beauty with the most economical means of expression the role of Landskaya. Homolka is a general of relentless severity and force, Diehl and Loos give the roles of Dubbins and Captain Vasiliev their decisive ability. "
“Miss Helm's acting as the German wife of a Russian officer, whose love for her fatherland lets her betray her husband's country, and who finally falls in love with the German spy, is good. Mr. Fritsch is as successful as you would expect from any film spy, and Messrs. Homolka and Loos are equally competent. The camera work and the sound design are admirable, but there are also a number of blunders in the details. "
Individual evidence
- ^ Oskar Kalbus: On the becoming of German film art. Part 2: The sound film. Berlin 1935. pp. 55 f.
- ↑ "In the Secret Service". In: Österreichische Film-Zeitung , August 22, 1931, p. 4 (online at ANNO ).
Web links
- Secret Service in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- In the secret service at filmportal.de