This 1941 spy thriller, Jules Dassin's first feature film, is distinguished mainly by Veidt's virtuoso performance and its remarkable deep focus B&W photography by Henry Stradling, Sr., one of the great cinematographers of Hollywood, a favorite of everyone from Alexandra Korda to Barbra Streisand. Although it was budgeted as a B picture, destined to be the bottom half of a MGM double feature, Stradling has given it all the high gloss of the studio's best A pictures, helped greatly by the art department that dressed even a minor vehicle like this, lavishly. Dassin would go on to more demanding often pretentious projects in Europe after he was blacklisted, but this first film proves he was a solid craftsman. He, along with others like Fred Zimmerman, learned their trade making shorts at MGM. An excellent school for directors.
Review of Nazi Agent
