Sussex Agricultural Express (04/Sep/1936) - Secret Agent
Details
- article: Secret Agent
- newspaper: Sussex Agricultural Express (04/Sep/1936)
- keywords: Alfred Hitchcock, John Gielgud, Madeleine Carroll, Peter Lorre, Robert Young, Secret Agent (1936), W. Somerset Maugham
Article
Secret Agent
Regal Cinema, St. Leonards
"Secret Agent," an espionage drama lifted to exciting entertainment by the directorial genius of Alfred Hitchcock and the intelligent co-operation of its talented cast heads the programme all next week.
Human interest and humour are the perfect complement to the thrills and the gripping illusion is rounded off by an atmosphere of tense authenticity.
The stars are Madeleine Carroll, John Gielgud, Peter Lorre and Robert Young, respectively in the roles of a thrill-seeking girl spy; a British officer turned secret agent; a villainous little Mexican, as adept at killing a man as at wooing a woman; and an American play-boy.
This combination of players present a thrilling and intriguing story concerned with their endeavours to "remove" a German spy.
The film is based on the novel "Ashenden," by W. Somerset Maugham. John Gielgud as Ashenden, is sent to Switzerland to join forces with a ruthless little Mexican, Peter Lorre, to prevent an unknown German spy from leaving for the Near East with valuable information which would prejudice the Allied cause.
In Geneva he finds that a girl, Madeleine Carroll, is in his apartments masquerading as his wife. She has been sent by the Secret Service to help him in his task. The two discover the spy, and after the Mexican has callously pushed him over a precipice it is discovered that they have killed the wrong man.
The cast for "Secret Agent" is one of the finest ever assembled for a British picture.
