In 1940, when they brought
CONTRABAND to the screen,
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger hadn't quite yet jelled into the
writer-director-producing team they would be within a few years. But
with Pressberger scripting and Powell directing this delightful romantic
wartime espionage thriller, which takes place mostly in the inky
darkness of the London blackout, The Archers' touch is apparent.
Hawk-faced Conrad Veidt, the Austrian actor best known for playing
villains (the evil vizier in the Powell-directed portions of THE THIEF
OF BAGDAD and the nasty Nazi in CASABLANCA) delivers a rare heroic,
romantic and comic turn as the no-nonsense Danish captain of a neutral
freighter delayed overnight by British authorities checking for wartime
contraband. That night, two of the ship's passengers - the beautiful,
headstrong Mrs. Sorensen and the mousy Mr. Pidgeon – sneak ashore to
nighttime London. The captain tags along to learn their game and
stumbles into a nest of Nazis being pursued by British agents. Oh, and
the agents are Mrs. S and Mr. P? I won't give away more about the plot
except to say how much I like the film’s refreshingly mature angle on
romantic sparring between the Captain and the Lady Agent:
Mrs.S: Did you ever try being married? That can be quite a big adventure.
Captain: [sighs] Why do women always say that? Marriage ends adventure.
Mrs.S: [copies sigh] Why do men always say
that?
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