utgard14 Fine WWI spy thriller featuring two of my favorites, the great Boris Karloff and lovely Margaret Lindsay. The story centers around a German secret agent (Lindsay) going undercover at the home of a British cabinet minister (Holmes Herbert), whose scar-faced butler (Karloff) is really a double agent. A few twists & turns keep this one interesting. Set in WWI, the plot and dialogue is applicable to WWII as well. No doubt that was intentional. It's a fine B movie with a crisp pace, short runtime, and great cast. Try not to read too much about it or you're sure to come across some spoilers that might ruin some of it for you.

Theo Robertson France 1917 and every British offensive is met by abject failure almost as though the Germans have been getting prior notice of every British plan to deal a knockout blow to the enemy . A spy is suspected within British headquarters and steps are taken to find him It goes without saying the thinking behind this film released by Warner Brothers in 1940 but I'll say it anyway that Europe was at war and just like last time it's the Germans who were the bad guys . There was one slight difference and that was America wasn't strictly neutral this time . You can say that she wasn't neutral in 1914-18 either but it wasn't cut and dried that America wouldn't join the side of France and Britain in 1917 since it had a very large influx of German and Irish migrants and the slaughter of the American Civil War was still within living memory and was being played out in Europe on an even bigger scale and if it wasn't for the Zimmerman telegram America probably wouldn't have joined the conflict America didn't join the Second World War until December 1941 when the attack on Pearl Harbor and a subsequent declaration of war by Nazi Germany led to American siding with Britain but it did have an empathy with Britain to a degree and this film unashamedly shows it . The Germans are of course inherently bad and live up to every single stereotype of being arrogant . We're shown very early in the film a German stating " we will rule the world and if we don't rule it now with the Kaiser we will rule it later and with someone else " . I suppose if you want to rule the world then a Boheminan corporal is a good substitute for royalty ENEMY AGENT does contain a few good scenes but suffers from trying to do a bit too much . Obviously being a propaganda piece a population not yet at war might get slightly bored with seeing arrogant Germans strutting about on screen all the time so we get corny scenes where a British pilot declares his love for a French nurse by saying " I've fallen in love with you " which will elicit a groan . It should also be pointed out that the British stereotypes match their German counterparts by either being posh boys or chirpy cockneys guv

mark.waltz Did the butler do it? That's what you'll be wondering the minute you see Boris Karloff opening the door with a sinister air about him. There's so much double-talk and divided loyalties that it is difficult to figure out is on what side, at least until the end. The lovely Margaret Lindsay adds some class to this pre-war spy drama (set in World War I) that tries to be complex but sadly remains simple but confusing. While there are some suspenseful moments, the remainder of the film is hard to sustain major interest. Had this been made at the Hollywood Warner Brothers studio rather than its British cousin (or even at Monogram), it might have been more thrilling, but the obvious Hollywood touch is missing. Karloff draws everything he says out to death, and that is what the viewer is ultimately bored to.

csteidler As one spy to another, Boris Karloff offers some advice: "The only way to be someone you are not is to be that person always, even in the presence of friends." This is a picture that keeps us guessing—just who is each person? It's a clever and very entertaining wartime thriller in which no one's identity is clear.Set in 1917, the action is presented as directly relevant to the current events of 1940; more than one speech steps aside from the actual plot and appeals to an audience who would know exactly what was meant by references to future wars and to future lunatics who would again want to take over the world. The film's final speaker actually turns straight on to the camera for his inspirational closing sentences—the kind of exhortation that was frequent in WWII era films, that we rarely if ever see in pictures from any other era, and that can be strangely stirring even at this great distance.Boris Karloff and Margaret Lindsay are both excellent, especially in their scenes together: their eyes are wonderfully expressive as they watch each other, play their roles, calculate loyalties and next moves.Favorite moment: the late scene at the center of which Karloff purrs, "Excellent. But I'm afraid it won't quite do." Definitely a spy vs. spy quickie worth watching.