Alfred HitchcockSecret Agent (1936)

From IMDb: During the first world war, novelist Edgar Brodie is sent to Switzerland by the Intelligence Service. He has to kill a German agent. During the mission he meets a fake general first and then Elsa Carrington who helps him in his duty.

Stars: John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll and Robert Young

This item is part of the collection: Feature Films

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Production Company: Gaumont British Picture Corporation
Audio/Visual: Mono, Black & White
Language: English
Keywords: Hitchcock; suspense; spy

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: Zeke - - November 8, 2007
Subject: There is no Hitchcock

Howdy!

In some of his early British films he did not make an appearance. Or as it says in Wikipedia "before his move to Hollywood, his appearances were sporadic."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hitchcock_cameo_appearances

Reviewer: bearpuf - - August 21, 2007
Subject: I Couldn't Find Hitchcock

The details of the storyline seem so haphazard that one would wonder how any spy might survive. However, Peter Lorre is terrific as a semi-psychotic lecher/axman, whom you'd be fearful to let stand at your front door for ten seconds. Even though I sometimes had trouble following the dialogue the total effect held my attention the whole way.

Reviewer: surfvh - - August 14, 2007
Subject: Kind of weird, but not bad.

A Very English example of that era with the brittle romance between the two leads, and Robert Young chiming in in his usual way as the cheery foil. Peter Lorre plays a very strange character who gets axed in an odd way. All in all, a quirky but enjoyable early Hitchcock film; much better than the films he made after he came to the US of A. It only suffers from the stage-bound, low-budget problems of most English films of that era. If it could have been outdoors more, it might have ranked in there with '39 Steps', its more famous big brother. Has to be watched in the context of the times. Also, I must admit to being a sucker for early English 'B' films.