StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Tockinit not horrible nor great

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Benas Mcloughlin Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

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.

ksf-2 C Boyer and his THICK french accent is a Spaniard on a mission from his home country traveling to London during the Spanish Civil War. Lauren Bacall (Love. Her.) is supposed to be a British Lord's daughter, who becomes Boyer's sidekick. who knows WHAT accents P. Lorre & D. Seymour were supposed to have... interesting flick, in spite of the bad accents. the script kind of goes all over the place, kind of like The Big Sleep. Almost two hours, but fun to watch, except for when they smack the maid around over and over... was a little disturbing. A thin Dan Seymour (was Inspector Renard in To Have and Have Not) comes in to investigate. Written by Grahame Greene, who wrote TONS of stuff.. check it out!

David (Handlinghandel) It could have been better had it been directed by someone with more experience. Shumlin didn't do a bad job but it is not a great work of cinematic art.It is, however, a beautiful movie. I have loved it since local channels used to show it. Graham Greene is one of my favorite writers of the last century. Some pretty bad movies were made from his novels and stories. (Many love "The Fallen Idol" but I am not among them. I think I saw "Brighton Rock" once many years ago and liked it but maybe I'm simply thinking fondly of the novel.) This is superbly cast. Charles Boyer does not, it's true, come across as Spanish. But he seems to have the perfect temperament for this character -- tired, wary, caring. Lauren Bacall is appealing as the British girl who falls for him. But the supporting players are the best: Katina Paxinou is excellent. Her performance is a little Grand Guignol, but I attribute that to the director. Peter Lorre, whom we first meet as he gives Boyer a lesson in an Esperanto-like universal language, is excellent -- as always.And Wanda Hendrix could break the hardest heart. She comes across as a precocious early teenager. The character wants to be helpful. She does her best.I recommend this movie highly. Not without reservations. The reservation is, primarily, that it is a little stolid. But the story and acting can scarcely be bettered.

Pamsanalyst but it's worth watching for Boyer, Lorre and Paxinou. Greene's entertainments that were filmed during the war either required transplanting to American shores, as in This Gun for Hire, or the use of American actors in roles where they did not fit. Bacall fits that part here. I kept waiting for her to whistle and bring Bogie to life; her tone of voice is simply all wrong for an upper class Englishwoman. But listen to the dialogue! No, people don't talk that way except in books, but Greene was sending a message about an England that needed to wake up to the dangers of the world. One other positive note: Greene's range of characters were kept whole. While Mr. Mukerjee resembled more a Brahamin, at least his nationality was kept, and his final conversation with Paxinou is priceless.