Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

clanciai This is a very clever thriller for its many fascinating details, its splendid dialogue and its total unpredictability. Anna Neagle makes a performance to go down in history, if all her other films will be forgotten, this one will not. Richard Greene also makes one of his best contributions, but the major male actor here is Albert Lieven as the Polish officer, who also makes probably his best performance. He was later to play the lead in "Beware of Pity" (on Stefan Zweig's famous and only novel) but is rather bleak there in comparison with this fascinating character; but this film is full of double characters, as if the major theme of the story and film was just that: double role play.Herbert Wilcox, director and producer and Anna Neagle's husband, made his mark by witty innovations and brilliant dialogue, which places this spy thriller on a higher level than most, especially of the period. The intrigue is fascinating all the way, as you never can guess what will happen next, the film actually starts off with a profound mystery, as a man is found dead where someone just has been signalling to the Nazis bombing London in the 1940 Blitz, a mystery which leaves you hanging, and it's not until late in the film when you almost already have forgotten it that it is resolved.The very introduction to the film is also worth a remark. Like in "Hamlet" two watchmen are chatting in the fog at night when the Blitz comes, but what they are discussing is Shakespeare. The other says Bacon, and there is an argument about it, until the second quotes Doctor Johnson: "If Bacon didn't write Shakespeare, he certainly missed his chance." The scene is London and Canada, that is Halifax in Nova Scotia, and you reach the other scene exactly half way into the film, where Anna Neagle is stranded as a suspect spy or as a security risk placed under constant surveillance, while there is much more to it than that, as the action will prove.Lucie Mannheim also makes a fascinating performance as the old lady Orlock, but the real original treat is Margaret Rutherford as one of her many delightfully eccentric old ladies - she dominates every scene she is in and gives a special relish of refreshment to the whole film. In brief, this is and remains a timeless treat for everyone who would enjoy being intrigued.

morrison-dylan-fan After an impressive run for most of 2016,I've been disappointed that the BBC have been showing less of the more obscure RKO creations. Taking a quick look at the film section on BBC iPlayer,I was thrilled to see that they had unearthed a rare RKO British Spy flick,which led to me getting this canary out of the pit.The plot: Going deep undercover for the British, blonde Sally Maitland boards a ship to Canada. On the ship Maitland meets Jan Orlock,who unknown to Maitland has been secretly sent to protect her. During the journey,the ship is stopped by a Nazi heavy cruiser that kidnaps Orlock,which leads to Maitland realising how deep in the pit of espionage this yellow canary is. View on the film:Flying in during the war,director Herbert Wilcox (who would soon get married to the star!) & cinematographer Mutz Greenbaum are unable to fully shake off the limitations of the times,with scenes in trains and chases being played out stage-bound instead of the great outdoors. Working within the limitations, Wilcox and Greenbaum display sharp eyes for building a Spiv atmosphere with stylised shots seeding doubt on who side Sally Maitland is on,from impressive tracking shots that go down every level of the boat,to overlapping shots following Sally's double dealing.Partly based on the real Hitler devotee Unity Mitford,the screenplay by P.M. Bower/Miles Malleson and DeWitt Bodeen delivers a clear message of the British public needing to be on the lookout for Nazis in their midst. Following Wilcox's path,the writers cut through the propaganda with an impressive level of ambiguity Spiv Film Noir,via allowing Sally to swing the pendulum of trust between the Nazis and the British. Pulling the feathers in every scene, Anna Neagle gives a fantastic performance as Sally,thanks to Neagle subtly using facial expressions to give doubt over which side this canary sings for.

JohnHowardReid Based on the case of Unity Mitford-Freeman, a blonde British lady whom Hitler took a fancy to, and who it now appears was a British agent all along, this story concerns a British socialite, Sally Maitland, who is reputed to be in the employ of the Third Reich. True, the real identities and characters of all concerned in this war-time, morale-boosting, spy thriller are obvious and the plot developments are as predictable as the dot of an "i", but it's well produced and by Herbert Wilcox's usual plodding standard, directed with pace and flair.Anna Neagle has bravely chosen to play her part the difficult way and she comes through with a success that makes it all seem easy. Lucie Mannheim is also impressive, but by and large, most of the other players tend to over-act, especially Greene, Lieven, Rutherford and Bailey. Admittedly, the Boys Own Paper dialogue is partly to blame, but then Neagle and Mannheim manage to surmount this obstacle to give restrained, realistic and convincing performances.Max Greene's superb cinematography with its elaborate noir lighting effects, especially in the ship-board and Halifax château scenes, was undoubtedly a key factor in the vigor of Wilcox's direction. The adroit skill of Vera Campbell's film editing with its elaborate dissolves effectively joining together short strings of tracking shots, must also be mentioned.There's a fair amount of action but much of it is spruced up with fairly obvious stock footage. Despite a few half-hearted attempts at comic relief and romance, the pace is commendably brisk — at least in the U.S. version, though it does disappointingly reduce Nova Pilbeam's role to a small bit at the finale!

reve-2 This film is pretty typical of the WW II spy genre. Performances are okay but nothing special. Most of the story takes place in Canada, where the RCMP are responsible for catching enemy agents. The entire scenario is very easy to figure out so there are no real surprises as the various characters show their true loyalties. The ending is neatly wrapped up in a satisfying manner.