Contraband (1940)

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

***SPOILER***Made weeks after the start off WWII has Danish sea captain Andersen, Conrad Veidt, of the freighter "Helvig" get involved with a German spy ring in London that's trying to embroil the UK into a war with the USA in a false flag attack on American shipping and making it look like the Briish not Germans were responsible for the attacks. Capt. Andersen who, in being Danish, is a neutral party in all this gets involved when two of his passengers Mrs. Sorensen and Mr. Pidgeon, Valerie Hobson & Esmond Knight, who ship out with the only two off shore passes that the British Government gave Capt. Andersen as well as his 2nd in command Alex Skold, Hay Petrie, to go out on shore leave for the night.It soon becomes evident that a Nazi spy ring is in operation in London headed by Herr Van Dyne, Raymond Lovell, who just happens to be at the home of Sorensen's aunt where both her and Capt. Andersen are headed. It was Capt. Andersen who earlier tracked her down at the 3 Viking restaurant that's run by Axel Skold's twin brother Eric,also played by Hay Petrie, who's trying to make ends meet with the war, and nightly blackouts, cutting in on his profits. Taken prisoner by the Nazis all Sorenson and Capt. Andersen can do is twiddle their thumbs and bide their time trying to figure where the Nazis are by listening to the music and banjo playing at the night club that the Nazis are using as a front to their spying operation.****SPOILERS*** It restaurateur Erik Skold and his employees of cooks and waiters who come to both Capt. Andersen and Mrs. Sorenson as well as Pidgeon's, who was later kidnapped by the Nazis, rescue, with pots and pans and tubs of boiling water they use in fighting the Nazis. More like a comedy then a serious wartime movie that in all the fighting the only one person who got killed was the one that deserved it most Nazi spy ring leader Van Dyne. The movie was filmed before the Nazi invasion of Denmark in April 1940 which in a way, if taken seriously, warned the Danes what the Nazis had in store for them. The film also showed how serious the Nazi threat to the free world was at that time early in the war in them willing to go so far as tricking the British future allies the USA to go to war against each other! That in a series of planned false flag attacks on US shipping and miking it look like the British were behind them!

"Contraband" is a Powell/Pressburger collaboration, and a lot of the techniques they use are reminiscent of later films, such as the 49th Parallel and "The Red Shoes."The story concerns a Dane, Captain Anderson (Conrad Veidt) on a freighter that is stopped for inspection by a British warship. He asks for passes for himself and his first officer, but when he is ready to leave, he finds that the passes have been stolen by two passengers, Mrs. Sorenson (Valerie Hobson) and Mr. Pidgeon (Esmond Knight). He rows to shore and finds Mrs. Sorenson and decides to stick to her like glue. Before long he's involved with a German spy ring.This is a good film with both Veidt and Hobson giving wonderful performances. They have good chemistry and the script gives them the opportunity for some repartee. The background of the movie is interesting. One message was to to elicit compassion from the Scandinavians, as they emerge here as the heroes. Obviously it was before Denmark was invaded, and the British hoped to have their help. The last scenes are quite exciting. This doesn't come up to a 39 Steps but it's still enjoyable.

A gem of early war propaganda, this adventure/comedy is a light-hearted but serious look at Nazi espionage and smuggling. Cast against type, Conrad Veidt plays a heroic Danish ship's captain, a seemingly sinister fellow who is actually a humorous chap on the side of peace. He is seen early in the film harshly admonishing a passenger for not wearing a life preserver. Teaming up with beautiful Valarie Hobson, he finds himself involved in exposing nasty Nazi's, much like his own spy in the brilliant "All Through the Night" where his suave character tried to blow up an American Navy ship.The amazing Veidt is a German actor worthy of a movie biography because of his anti-Nazi sentiments while playing many of them, being married to a Jewish woman and escaping his homeland because of his love for her. With a sinister voice and demeanor hiding his true persona, Veidt here is as suave as Cary Grant and as courageous as Bogart. As the Captain, Veidt expresses a love for his homeland that he sadly realizes has been taken over by a monster. Outstanding photography and witty dialog add to the excitement of the film.

One of my favourite P+P outings - but then there are so many of 'em!Where to begin? A delicious feast of a film. A perfectly seasoned mix of pace, humour and suspense - not to mention a surprisingly strong undercurrent of bondage/S+M eroticism for a 1940s British product. (WARNING - SPOILER) A mere 5 minutes in, and in the very first verbal exchange between the two central characters, Captain Andersen (Conrad Veidt) says "Tell me, Mrs Sorensen: have you ever been put in irons?" (/SPOILER)From there on, their fractious, edgy relationship - essentially a battle of wits to find out which shall be the dominant partner and which the submissive - carries a smouldering erotic charge that drives the story and makes it compellingly watchable. Veidt and Hobson make a brilliant double-act: move over, Steed and Mrs. Peel!I won't go on at length about the quirky, typically P+P story elements, the expressionist camera/lighting work or the distinctly Hitchcockian touches (look out for the conversation on the bus, folks), because others have said it far better than I could. Instead, I'll just say...WATCH THIS FILM - YOU WON'T REGRET IT!