Nazi Agent
| Nazi Agent | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Jules Dassin |
| Produced by | Irving Asher |
| Written by |
Paul Gangelin John Meehan Jr. Lothar Mendes |
| Starring |
Conrad Veidt Ann Ayars Frank Reicher |
| Music by | David Snell |
| Cinematography | Harry Stradling Sr. |
| Edited by | Frank E. Hull |
| Distributed by | Metro Goldwyn Mayer |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Nazi Agent is a 1942 American spy film directed by Jules Dassin. It stars Conrad Veidt playing identical twins, one loyal to the United States (U.S.), the other a dedicated German Nazi.
Plot
The U.S. has not yet entered World War II when kindly stamp dealer Otto Becker (Conrad Veidt) is unexpectedly visited by his twin brother, Baron Hugo von Detner (also played by Veidt), the new German consul to the U.S. and one of the leaders of a spy ring engaged in sabotage. The brothers have not seen each other in years, but now von Detner wants to use Becker's shop to transmit and receive secret messages. Becker refuses, until von Detner threatens to have him deported back to Germany as an illegal immigrant and reveals that Becker's assistant, Miss Harper (Dorothy Tree), is actually a German agent.
Becker becomes a prisoner in his own store, watched constantly. When he gives his good friend and fellow stamp enthusiast, Professor Jim Sterling (Ivan F. Simpson), a message to go to the police, Sterling is killed in a "traffic accident". Von Detner then appears to deal with the betrayal by his brother; the two men struggle and the Nazi is shot dead. Thinking quickly, Becker assumes von Detner's identity.
Nobody detects the substitution except Fritz (Frank Reicher), an old family servant and lately von Detner's butler. However, he is faithful to Becker and keeps his secret. Meanwhile, as he continues to pass as von Detner, Becker starts feeding what he learns about the spy ring's operations to the police via anonymous telephone calls.
Becker becomes acquainted with Kaaren De Relle (Anne Ayars). She had been a secret agent loyal to the Nazis, but has become disillusioned by what she has seen and now continues with her duties for the spy ring only to prevent the Nazis from taking retribution against her family still in occupied France. She had spurned von Detner's romantic advances in the past. However, she finds the baron changed, and for the better, when Becker shows sympathy for her plight.
Information provided by Becker foils a plot to blow up a freighter loaded with explosive chemicals in the Panama Canal. He also learns the names of German agents working in America; he mails the list, omitting De Relle's name, to the FBI. Amid the betrayal and failure of their plans, some members of the spy ring turn against and kill each other; others are arrested.
Eventually, the only ones left are Becker, De Relle and Kurt Richten (Martin Kosleck), von Detner's aide at the embassy. Aware now of Becker's true identity and the fact that he was the informant, Richten threatens to punish him by notifying the authorities that De Relle is a spy. Becker sacrifices himself to save De Relle by offering to allow Richten to become Nazi hero by taking Becker, still in the guise of being Consul von Detmer, back to Germany to be turned over to the Nazis as a traitor.
Cast
- Conrad Veidt as Otto Becker/Baron Hugo von Detner
- Ann Ayars as Kaaren De Relle
- Frank Reicher as Fritz
- Dorothy Tree as Miss Harper
- Ivan F. Simpson as Professor Sterling
- Martin Kosleck as Kurt Richten
- Marc Lawrence as Joe Aiello
- Sidney Blackmer as Arnold Milbar
- Moroni Olsen as Brenner
- Pierre Watkin as Grover McHenry
- Jeff York as Keeler (uncredited)
External links
- Nazi Agent at the Internet Movie Database
- Nazi Agent at the TCM Movie Database
- Nazi Agent at AllMovie