GManfred I didn't read the book but this must one of Graham Greene's weaker novels. Either that or the Director made a hash out of it, because there is simply too much plot here to make a coherent story. There are several subplots at work that detract from the main storyline - which, truth be told, doesn't seem that interesting or compelling to start with. Not much chemistry between the two principals, and Bacall's is the weakest performance in the picture. There are lots of notable character actors who try their best; Peter Lorre, Victor Francen and Katina Paxinou, to name a few. Ultimately, I felt the plot was obscured and Charles Boyer was not a strong presence. I rated it on potential and on the sterling cast.

MartinHafer Often, in the good old days of classic Hollywood, folks were oddly cast and occasionally accents simply made no sense at all. A couple examples that come to mind are Barbara Stanwyck in "The Plough and the Stars" where she didn't even try to do the appropriate Irish accent and Katharine Hepburn with her pathetic attempt to be Chinese in "Dragon Seed"! Here in "Confidential Agent", A French actor (Charles Boyer) is supposed to be a Spaniard visiting Britain, where very, very few of the folks sound British! The silliest was Lauren Bacall...who sounds about at British as fondue. Overall, it's like accent goulash and certainly is a strike against the movie at the onset.This film is set just before WWII begins. Luis (Boyer) is in Britain to try to raise money for the cause of the Spanish Republic (the folks who were fighting against Franco and the Nazis). However, throughout his mission, he's attacked, beaten up and shot at....so all in all, he's NOT a happy man! Along the way, he meets up with Rose (Bacall) and together they have less chemistry than most folks have with their proctologists! As a result, it's an amazingly dull film...one that sure could have been a lot better and had more energy. The only thing I DID like was Peter Lorre playing a wonderfully pusilanimous character who is about to be shot near the end...that was pretty good. Of course, Lorre is another actor wasn't the least bit British but was Slovakian!By the way, the same studio (Warner) also made "Fallen Sparrow" with a similar sort of plot. It was far better and more effective....though that isn't saying much considering I only score "Confidential Agent" a 3...which is sad, as I love Boyer films normally.

theowinthrop It could have been a better film. It does drag at points, and the central story shifts from Boyer completing his mission to Boyer avenging Wanda Hendrix's death, but Graham Greene is an author who is really hard to spoil. His stories are all morality tales, due to his own considerations of Catholicism, guilt and innocence (very relative terms in his world view), and the human condition.Boyer is Luis Denard, a well-known concert pianist, who has sided with the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. He has been sent to England to try to carry through an arms purchase deal that is desperately needed. Unfortunately for Denard he is literally on his own - everyone of his contacts turns out to be a willing turncoat for the Falagists of Spain. In particular Katina Paxinou (Mrs. Melendez) a grim boarding house keeper, and Peter Lorre (Mr. Contreras) a teacher of an "esperanto" type international language. Wanda Hendrix is the drudge of a girl (Else) who works for Mrs. Melendez. The local diplomat, Licata (Victor Francken) is already a willing associate of the Falangists.The Brits (Holmes Herbert, Miles Mander, and best - if not worst - of the lot, George Coulouris) don't give much hope to Boyer's cause (which he soon grasps may be Britain's before long). Herbert and Mander just retreat behind the official policy of neutrality ordered by the Ramsay MacDonald's and Stanley Baldwin's governments during the Civil War. Coulouris here is a typical Col. Blimp type - always impeccable in his native English diction, he is sharp in showing his dislike for foreigners in general.The one ray of hope is Lauren Bacall (Rose Cullen), here trying to play her role as well as she can - but she can't really. She's an aristocrat - the daughter of a Press lord. It was Bacall's second film, and (sad to say) almost sank her long career. She does act well, but the spark she showed in her first film was due to the dual effect of starring with Humphrey Bogart and being directed by Howard Hawks. Boyer is a fine actor, but he's not Bogie, and Herman Shumlin is not Hawks. Her next film returned her to Bogie and Hawks again, and her star resumed it's ascendancy.It's a bleak film (as was the novel). Boyer's mission never succeeds, as he has too many hidden foes all over the place. But the villains are likewise also losers - frequently with their lives.With Dan Seymour as a suspicious foreign tenant of Katina Paxinou (and the man who destroys her). It is well worth watching to catch the Warner's lot of character actors doing their best given the weakness in direction.

David Atfield This enjoyable minor noir boasts a top cast, and many memorable scenes. The big distraction is the complete disregard for authentic accents. The Spanish characters in the film are played by a Frenchman (Boyer), a Belgian (Francen), a Greek (Paxinou) and a Hungarian (Lorre)! And to top it all off Bacall is supposed to be an English aristocrat! Despite these absurdities, the performances are all very good - especially those of Paxinou and Lorre. But the scene in which Boyer, Paxinou and Lorre meet, and talk in wildly different accents, is a real hoot! And I guess, seeing as how they were alone, that they should actually have been speaking in Spanish anyway! It seems pretty weird that the Brothers Warner couldn't find any Spanish speaking actors in Los Angeles! Of course Hollywood has often had an "any old accent will do" policy - my other favorite is Greta Garbo (Swedish) as Mata Hari (Dutch), who falls in love with a Russian soldier played by a Mexican (Ramon Novarro). Maybe they should have got Novarro for "Confidential Agent" - he would have been great in Boyer's role or at least in Francen's (which would have saved greatly on the dark make-up budget).