wes-connors At the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during World War II, mining company lawyer George Sanders (as Carl Steelman) has been taken to court. Supposedly, he brought eight Germans to the US (Amagansett, Long Island) to blow up America. The oddly-accented German-American Sanders has his story told in flashback. A suspected Nazi sympathizer, Sanders is recruited as a spy and goes to Germany. While posing as "Ernst Reiter", Sanders becomes romantically involved with attractive blonde Poldy Dur (as Helga Lorenz), another spy. Their relationship, as watched by the Nazis, is one of the more lively parts of the drama. Also interesting is when the wife of "Ernst Reiter" (Anna Sten) pays Sanders a surprise visit, and when his father (Ludwig Stossel) shares some exciting news from the FBI (Ward Bond) with his doctor (Sig Ruman). However, predictability takes away most of the story's excitement.***** They Came to Blow Up America (5/7/43) Edward Ludwig ~ George Sanders, Poldi Dur, Anna Sten, Ludwig Stossel

Robert J. Maxwell This is a hastily slapped-together but enjoyable fictional treatment of an incident from the early years of the war, in which half a dozen Nazi saboteurs land on the coasts of Long Island and Florida with instructions to attack aluminum plants and other targets.Some of the scenes are dragged out and lack pep despite the strutting and throwing of ceramics, but they're not really boring because the whole story is rushing headlong at such a pace. (A more important weakness is that these comic scenes are supposed to be funnier than they are.) The film needed an editing that it didn't get, probably because the incident itself took place in June, 1942, and the film was rushed through to cash in on the sensation. That's what I mean by "hasty." George Sanders is the fabricated FBI agent sent to Germany under another identity. His mission: attend the Nazi espionage school and find out what they're up to. But unexpectedly he finds himself ordered to keep an eye on a blond suspected of being a dissident -- Poldi Dur, who is a winning presence. He saves her from the jaws of death, so to speak, and then is assigned to lead the team of genuine saboteurs.The saboteurs land in a fog at Amagansett, Long Island, and begin to dispose of the evidence of their intentions. Two points about this scene.One is that I was glad they landed at Amagansett because the civilians there are all too comfortable. It's a tony residential beach-front settlement and everyone sits around and listens to Borodin, nibbles on the occasional amuse-bouche, and sips martinis while playing bridge. A little entropy never hurt anyone.The second point is that these miscreants are interrupted by the arrival of a Coast Guardsman, who appears to accept their lies and the three-hundred dollar bribe (the historical amount). However, this Coast Guardsman takes off and reports the entire incident to his superiors, leading to the ultimate capture of all eight of them, and the execution of six. I thought it was an accurate depiction of Coast Guard integrity. I spent four of the most productive years of my life in the U. S. Coast Guard, and everyone I worked with was a treasure. Well, except for one chief boatswain's mate whose name, Montmorency Queeg Malon, will go unmentioned here.I'm having fun at the expense of the movie but I'm following its spirit. None of it is to be taken seriously. The suspense is limited because it's evident from the start that nothing tragic will happen. And it doesn't. The good guys win. The bad guys are blown up.There are some decent documentaries available free on YouTube that deal with "Operation Pastorius," as the mission was called.

blanche-2 "They Came to Blow up America" looks to be a B movie. It stars the suave, always reliable George Sanders as Steelman, an American of German heritage who is recruited by the FBI to infiltrate the Nazis as a spy. Even his parents believe that he has joined the Nazi movement. He is given the identity of someone else and sent to Germany, eventually ending up on a saboteur mission.The film is told in flashback, with the FBI man who recruited Steelman (Ward Bond) explaining to an underling what really went on.Sanders is good. He played villains well, so during the war, he was often cast as a Nazi! The supporting cast includes Anna Sten and Ludwig Stossel, who plays Steelman's father.Ward Bond was a best friend of Clark Gable, and I couldn't help but notice the similarity of their voices in this film. Even their speaking rhythm was similar. Close your eyes, and you'd swear it was Gable.

bkoganbing If you want to know about Guantanamo and the precedent for all those enemy alien combatants being kept there, a viewing of They Came To Blow Up America is in order. Given the title and when it came out I found it to be more restrained in the flag waving than I thought.Not to say it doesn't have its problems and a more factual basis in the story might be in order if the tale is ever retold. They Came To Blow Up America finds George Sanders returning home from South America to New York, specifically the Yorkville area in Manhattan where German Americans predominated back in the day and where in some quarters the German American Bund was popular.Not in his household though, his parents Ludwig Stossel and Elsa Janssen are heartbroken over George going to the Nazis. In fact Ludwig takes to bed physically ill over it. Ludwig Stossel and Elsa Janssen the year before played Lou Gehrig's parents in Pride of the Yankees.Of course the Nazis recruit Sanders and he goes off to Nazi Germany in secret to their spy/saboteur school run by the Gestapo. Note the similarities of those training scenes to scenes later in our films about the OSS in 13 Rue Madeline, Cloak and Dagger, and OSS.But fear not Ludwig and Elsa, turns out this is all one big ruse by the FBI, George is working with them to sabotage the saboteurs and FBI agent Ward Bond is his handler in today's terms. Of course when Bond like a dope tells Stossel feeling sorry for the old gent, he nearly blows up their plans.It wasn't as bad a bit of flag waving as I thought it would be and the story does have a factual basis. Still everyone involved has done better work.After all Ward Bond did star in Hitler, Dead or Alive. Go screen that one before you criticize They Came To Blow Up America.