Rent Secret Agent (1936)

3.3 of 5 from 73 ratings
1h 22min
Rent Secret Agent Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
  • General info
  • Available formats
Synopsis:
Hitchock filmed Somerset Maugham's WWI spy story Ashenden with his typical mix of ironic humour and suspenseful set pieces. Novelist Edgar Brodie (John Gielgud) has his death faked by British Intelligence. Giving him a new identity as Richard Ashenden, they persuade him to undertake an espionage commission in Switzerland. Accompanied by beautiful Elsa Carrington (Madeleine Carroll), posing as his wife, and the General (Peter Lorre), an insane professional killer, Brodie/Ashenden becomes embroiled in murder, intrigue and a pursuit through the Swiss Alps.
Actors:
, , , , , Florence Kahn, ,
Directors:
Writers:
Campbell Dixon, W. Somerset Maugham
Studio:
Carlton Video
Genres:
Thrillers
Collections:
10 Films to Watch if You Like: Operation Mincemeat, A History of Cinemas in Films, Alfred Hitchcock's British Films, Cinema and the First World War, Drama Films & TV, Films by Genre, Hitchcock in the 1940s, A Brief History of Film..., Top 10 Films About Trains: Thrillers, What to Watch Next If You Liked Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
BBFC:
Release Date:
07/07/2003
Run Time:
82 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
Colour:
B & W
Bonus:
  • Interactive menus
  • Scene selection

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Reviews (1) of Secret Agent

Includes spoiler. - Secret Agent review by Steve

Spoiler Alert
Updated 24/02/2021

Loosely based on a couple of Somerset Maugham's Ashenden stories; three British operatives are detailed to assassinate a German agent before he leaves to meet contacts in the middle east in a politically troubled Europe readying itself for WWII.

It is another Hitchcock comedy thriller, but with a sliver of moral deliberation on war and espionage. There's a particularly  great moment of visual storytelling in the murder of the wrong man by Peter Lorre on a mountain, viewed distantly by a morally disavowing John Gielgud through a telescope.

The main debit is a rather disinterested display from Gielgud who mysteriously fails to shine in the reflection of another feisty performance from a stunning Madeleine Carroll. The German double agent played by Robert Young shares far more chemistry with her.

It's fine Hitchcockian entertainment, with inventive use of sound, invigorating visual set pieces, and many thrilling moments, particularly at the climax as the train leaves Switzerland, exposing the British spies to danger without the protection of neutrality.

1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.

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