The Spy in Black (1939)

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The Spy in Black (1939) – M. Powell

This first collaboration between Powell and Pressburger already contains some of the lyricism that would feature so prominently in their later great films (I Know Where I’m Going!, The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, etc.).  Surprisingly, the film follows Conrad Veidt, a German U-Boat commander in WWI, when he is assigned to the small Scottish Orkney Islands as a spy.  His mission is to receive secret plans from a British traitor that would allow him to destroy the warships stationed here.  His control turns out to be Valerie Hobson, undercover as a schoolteacher in the small village (after the real incoming schoolteacher is disposed of in an unfortunate way).  But things are not always how they seem to be!  Powell moves smoothly and easily between the wartime U-Boat scenes and the close up personal drama in the village (where Veidt and Hobson may be falling in love!).  A memorable portent of things to come and a solid and engaging spy story on its own.