The Spy In Black

TCM's Dave Karger introduces The Spy In Black, 1939.

Ben Mankiewicz introduces The Spy In Black, 1939.

German fleet headquarters at Kiel, 1917, Conrad Veidt as Captain Hardt, arriving from 16 days on the sub with aide Schuster (Marius Goring), taking disappointments relayed by the concierge (Bernard Miles) in stride, from the first scene in Michael Powell’s The Spy In Black (a.k.a U-Boat 29), 1939.

Scotland, 1917, German submarine captain Hardt (Conrad Veidt) is the guest of Valerie Hobson, a German spy posing as the new schoolmistress, about to introduce him to the traitor Ashington (Sebastian Shaw) and plans to sink the British fleet, in Michael Powell’s The Spy In Black (a.k.a U-Boat 29), 1939.

Valerie Hobson is a German spy in the Ornkney Islands of Scotland, 1917, posing as the new schoolteacher, as German submarine captain Hardt (Conrad Veidt) approaches by motorbike, together tricking the local constable (Grant Sutherland), in Michael Powell’s The Spy In Black (a.k.a U-Boat 29), 1939.

Brilliant bit by director Michael Powell, working for the first time with screenwriter Emeric Pressburger, teacher Anne (June Duprez) thinks her trip to Scotland is being saved by a wealthy traveler (Helen Haye) and her chauffeur (Valerie Hobson), who are really German spies, in The Spy In Black (a.k.a U-Boat 29), 1939.