- Film Review
- Reviewed By David Parkinson
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4 out of 5
John Gielgud might not be everyone's ideal Hitchcock hero, and contemporary critics were quick to point out his lack of derring-do, but, in fact, he acquits himself admirably in this engaging thriller. A script based on a play that was itself adapted from a clutch of Somerset Maugham's Ashenden stories was bound to have more than its fair share of loose ends, but such is the committed playing, particularly by Robert Young and the amazing Peter Lorre, and the director's genius for generating suspense out of ordinary situations and locations, that they scarcely seem to matter.
Plot Summary
A novelist discovers British intelligence has faked his death so he can carry out a mission on their behalf. Assisted by a female agent and a professional assassin, he is sent to Switzerland to identify and eliminate a German spy. Alfred Hitchcock's First World War espionage thriller, starring John Gielgud, Peter Lorre and Madeleine Carroll.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Edgar Brodie / Richard Ashenden
- John Gielgud
- Elsa Carrington
- Madeleine Carroll
- The General
- Peter Lorre
- Robert Marvin
- Robert Young (1)
- Caypor
- Percy Marmont
- Mrs Caypor
- Florence Kahn
- Lilli
- Lilli Palmer
- "R"
- Charles Carson
- Coachman
- Michel Saint-Denis
- Manager
- Andrea Malandrinos
- Captain Anderson
- Tom Helmore
Crew
- Director
- Alfred Hitchcock
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