I Was a Spy

I Was a Spy - 1933 | 82mins | War | B&W

The Production Team

Director: Victor Saville.
Producer: Michael Balcon.
Script: Ian Hay and W.P. Lipscomb. (from the autobiography by Martha McKenna)
Cinematography: Charles Van Enger.
Art Direction: Alfred Junge.
Costume Design: Gordon Conway.

The Cast

Madeleine Carroll - Marthe Cnockhaert
Conrad Veidt - Commandant Oberaertz
Edmund Gwenn - Burgomaster
Herbert Marshall - Stephan
Donald Calthrop - Cnockhaell
Gerald du Maurier - Doctor
Nigel Bruce - Scotty
George Merritt - Reichmann
Anthony Bushell - Otto
Martita Hunt - Aunt Lucille

Plot Synopsis

I Was a Spy begins by quoting letters from Churchill, and ends by using a messianic sermon about the coming of peace. The widely admired film tells the true-story of Belgium nurse, Marthe Cnockhaert (Madeleine Carroll) who uses her charm to spy for the Allies during the First World War. Along with secret service agent Stephan (Herbert Marshall) she tries to blow up a large arms dump to prevent a German gas attack. Ultimately she is caught, and the evil Commandant Oberaertz (Conrad Veidt) sentences her to be executed, but Stephan steps-forward and sacrifices himself on her behalf.