nhoorweg All the other comments posted here regarding the WW2 propaganda and double espionage aspects of this film are spot on. However, no one has mentioned the fact that there are a lot of ideas and scenes in the film that were later parodied in the 'Blackadder Goes Forth' series. If you are a fan of the show you may be interested in (or at least get a laugh from) seeing where some of the ideas must have come from. Doubtless there are other films of the period that include similar setups, but you will recognise them instantly in this one, and within the first ten minutes too. Otherwise, this is pretty standard fare for the era. Works as a serious film but fans of older style movie clichés will also enjoy it from a humour point of view.

LCShackley "British Intelligence" is a moderately successful WW1 espionage thriller, with perhaps too many coincidences and double-crosses for its moderate length. Spies change sides with such regularity that scorecards should have been passed out along with ticket stubs. This is a recycled stage play from 1918, obviously brought back for its propaganda value. That also explains why it's so claustrophobic. How many good spy movies spend most of their time in a few indoor locations?Having recently watched a number of spy films from 1939-1950, I'm left with the impression that London was virtually crawling with German agents, disguised as porters, milkmen, secretaries, butlers, etc. But historical evidence shows that the Abwehr was fairly inept at placing spies and saboteurs during WW2. (Check out "Agent Zigzag" by Ben McIntyre, a book which deserves to be a movie.) Most of the problems in these movies could be solved if high-ranking Brits would stop talking about secret plans in front of open windows, or sinister-looking office staff. Who was vetting these other employees?There are some fine aerial sequences to relieve the claustrophobia, especially the destruction of a munitions dump, and an eerie nocturnal zeppelin raid over London.Boris Karloff is given top billing for one of his least convincing performances. Of course, he has the chance to loom and lurk (his trademarks), but his French accent is so bad that any moron could tell he wasn't who he claimed to be. (And what about that name "Valdar" - sounding more like a Transylvanian than a Frenchman?) The ending of the film will come as no surprise to anyone who has watched more than a handful of spy films.Three speeches in the film (one by a German in spiked hat; two by Brits) were obviously inserted in this WW1 drama as warnings about the rise of Hitler. If there's any doubt, the final speech is delivered straight to the camera, reminding Britons that "we hate war, we despise it, but when war comes we must and will fight on and on and..." (fade to black).

cutterccbaxter At first the British Intelligence in "British Intelligence" doesn't seem very smart. The film begins with The Great War in full swing and London is crawling with German spies. As a matter of fact, there are so many German intelligence operatives darting about on the screen it would appear difficult to cross Abbey Road without bumping into one. Boris Karloff might be a German spy, and so might Margaret Lindsey, who has really great looking teeth by the way. I was hoping she wasn't spying for the Zeppelin flying guys mainly because of her nice teeth. I won't sour the ending by revealing who wins World War I, but I would have thought the Germans might have learned a lesson from that one and not started a sequel.

dbborroughs A creaky WW2 film about German spies in England. Boris Karloff plays a German agent trying to put the kibosh on the Allied war plans. Most of the movie is centered in the home a minister where Karloff is working as an butler.The source is a stage play and it shows. Despite several locations this could very easily have played on the stage.I found the movie slow, and at only 60 minutes thats not something you really want to hear. It opens with a long prologue going back to the First World War which is interesting up to a point, but it goes on way too long.Its also so mechanical you've picked the next three plot points as each event happens.Personally I'm mixed. It sits squarely on the fence between something that I can say see and something I can say avoid. I'm inclined to say if you see it on TV fine (Turner Classics is running it in the next couple of months) I don't know if you'd want to actually buy it. Not that you won't like it, you just may not watch it more than once.Two Stars- Its up to you...PS My Dad really liked it so what the hell do I know.