Espionage Agent

1939 film

This article is about the film. For spies, see Espionage § Agents in espionage.

Espionage Agent

Directed by| Lloyd Bacon
Screenplay by| Robert Buckner
Warren Duff
Frank Donaghue
Michael Fessier
Starring| Joel McCrea
Brenda Marshall
Jeffrey Lynn
George Bancroft
Cinematography| Charles Rosher
Edited by| Ralph Dawson
Music by| Adolph Deutsch
Distributed by| Warner Bros.

Release date

* September 22, 1939 (1939-09-22) (U.S.)

Running time

| 83 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English

Espionage Agent is a pre–World War II spy melodrama produced by Hal B. Wallis in 1939. Directed by Lloyd Bacon, Espionage Agent, like many Warner Bros. movies, clearly identifies the Germans as the enemy. This was unlike many other movie studios during this period that did not want to antagonize foreign governments.

The film was released on September 22, 1939, the day after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Neutrality Act allowing "Cash and Carry" provisions for countries fighting Germany and a little over four months after another Warner Bros. anti-Nazi film Confessions of a Nazi Spy.[1]

## Plot

[edit]

The film opens with a description of the Black Tom explosion of a munitions supply located in Jersey City on the Hudson River. The explosion, which occurred during World War I was an act of sabotage by German agents.

Barry Corvall (Joel McCrea), the son of a recently deceased American diplomat, has just got married. When he discovers that his new wife (Brenda Marshall) is a possible enemy agent, he resigns from the diplomatic service to go undercover to expose an espionage ring planning to destroy American industrial capability before war breaks out.

Traveling on a train in Germany, Corvall attempts to steal a briefcase with documents in an attempt to prove that the Nazis have been infiltrating vital industrial centers in the United States. With the help of his wife, he tries to foil the plans of the Nazi spy (Martin Kosleck).

## Cast

[edit]

* Joel McCrea as Barry Corvall
* Brenda Marshall as Brenda Ballard
* Jeffrey Lynn as Lowell Warrington
* George Bancroft as Dudley Garrett
* Stanley Ridges as Hamilton Peyton
* James Stephenson as Dr. Anton Rader
* Howard C. Hickman as Walter Forbes
* Martin Kosleck as Karl Mullen
* Nana Bryant as Mrs. Corvall
* Rudolph Anders as Paul Strawn
* Hans Heinrich von Twardowski as Dr. Helm
* Lucien Prival as Decker
* Addison Richards as Bruce Corvall
* Edwin Stanley as Secretary of State
* Granville Bates as Phineas T. O'Grady

## Bans

[edit]

The film was banned in Norway in January 1940.[2] The Norwegian authorities did not provide any reason for the ban just issuing the following statement: The film above is not approved for public viewing in Norway.[2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Michael E. Birdwell, Celluloid Soldiers - Warner Bros.'s Campaign against Nazism ISBN 0-8147-9871-3 (New York University Press, 1999)
2. ^ a b Rolf Werenskjold (2019). "German pressure: Spy films and political censorship in Norway, 1914–40". Journal of Scandinavian Cinema. 9 (3): 366. doi:10.1386/jsca_00009_1.

## External links

[edit]

* Espionage Agent at IMDb
* Espionage Agent at the TCM Movie Database
* Espionage Agent at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Lloyd Bacon

1920s|

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* Say It with Songs (1929)
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1930s|

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* The Office Wife (1930)
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* Kept Husbands (1931)
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* Crooner (1932)
* Miss Pinkerton (1932)
* The Famous Ferguson Case (1932)
* You Said a Mouthful (1932)
* 42nd Street (1933)
* Picture Snatcher (1933)
* Footlight Parade (1933)
* Son of a Sailor (1933)
* Wonder Bar (1934)
* A Very Honorable Guy (1934)
* Here Comes the Navy (1934)
* He Was Her Man (1934)
* 6 Day Bike Rider (1934)
* In Caliente (1935)
* Frisco Kid (1935)
* Sons O' Guns (1936)
* Cain and Mabel (1936)
* Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936)
* Marked Woman (1937)
* Ever Since Eve (1937)
* San Quentin (1937)
* Boy Meets Girl (1938)
* Racket Busters (1938)
* A Slight Case of Murder (1938)
* Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938)
* Wings of the Navy (1939)
* The Oklahoma Kid (1939)
* Indianapolis Speedway (1939)
* Espionage Agent (1939)
* A Child Is Born (1939)
* Invisible Stripes (1939)

1940s|

* Three Cheers for the Irish (1940)
* Brother Orchid (1940)
* Knute Rockne, All American (1940)
* Honeymoon for Three (1941)
* Footsteps in the Dark (1941)
* Affectionately Yours (1941)
* Navy Blues (1941)
* Larceny, Inc. (1942)
* Wings for the Eagle (1942)
* Silver Queen (1942)
* Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
* The Fighting Sullivans (1944)
* Sunday Dinner for a Soldier (1944)
* Captain Eddie (1945)
* Wake Up and Dream (1946)
* Home Sweet Homicide (1946)
* I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now (1947)
* You Were Meant for Me (1948)
* Give My Regards to Broadway (1948)
* An Innocent Affair (1948)
* Mother Is a Freshman (1949)
* It Happens Every Spring (1949)
* Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949)

1950s|

* The Good Humor Man (1950)
* Kill the Umpire (1950)
* The Fuller Brush Girl (1950)
* Golden Girl (1951)
* Call Me Mister (1951)
* The Frogmen (1951)
* The Great Sioux Uprising (1953)
* The French Line (1953)
* She Couldn't Say No (1954)

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