Saturday, March 7, 2009

Secret Agent

A classic Hitchcock war mystery.
Edgar Brodie, a novelist and soldier in WWI, is recruited by British Military Intelligence to kill a German spy in Switzerland. Adaptation of a W. Somerset Maugham novel.

British Intelligence

During WWI pretty German master spy Helene von Lorbeer is sent undercover to London to live with the family of a high-placed British official where she is to rendezvous with the butler Valdar, also a spy, and help him transmit secret war plans back to Germany.

German Propaganda Newsreels

This is a compilation of vintage Nazi propaganda film reels, shown in German cinemas of the time.

Stukas! (1941)

"Stukas" is the story of a dive bomber squadron during the Battle of France in May-June 1940. The primary characters are the commander, played by Carl Raddatz, who here and in "Wunschkonzert" is the epitome of a Luftwaffe officer, and the flight surgeon, played by O.E. Hasse, best known as the confessed killer in Hitchcock's "I Confess." The pilot Smith described as "bored" is played by Hannes Stelzer, who ironically was killed later in the war.

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon

Working for the British government, Sherlock Holmes manages to spirit Dr. Franz Tobel out of Switzerland and into England before the gestapo are able to get to him. Tobel has devised an immensely accurate bomb site and while he is willing to make it available to the Allies, he insists on manufacturing it himself. Soon however, he vanishes and it is left to Homes, assisted bu the bumbling Dr. Watson, to decipher a coded message he left behind. Holmes soon realizes that he is up against his old nemesis, Professor Moriarty.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

London can take it

During the darkest days of the London Blitz American reporter Quentin Reynolds offers a sobering but poetic tribute to the resiliency and courage of citizens of Britain, who rally heroically in the face of five weeks of horrendous nighttime bombing by the Luftewaffe. Despite thousands of deaths and untold damage, Londoners endure.

The 49th Parallel

A damaged U-boat is stranded in a Canadian bay in the early years of World War II. The Fanatical Nazi captain and his crew must reach the neutral United States or be captured. Along the way they meet a variety of characters each with their own views on the war and nationalism.