Contraband (1940)

Director:

Michael Powell

Writers:

Emeric Pressburger (original story & screenplay)
Michael Powell (scenario) ...

Release Date:

29 November 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

Stop that man and woman! His mission is deadlier than that of the enemy in the sky. Her beauty is a dangerous weapon of war!

Plot:

Early in World War II, Danish sea captain Andersen, delayed in a British port, tangles with German spies.

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Danish | Blackout | Sea Captain | One Word Title

Cast

Conrad Veidt	...	Capt. Andersen
Valerie Hobson	...	Mrs.Sorensen
Hay Petrie	...	Axel Skold / Erik Skold
Joss Ambler	...	Lt. Cmdr. Ashton, RNR
Raymond Lovell	...	Van Dyne
Esmond Knight	...	Mr.Pidgeon
Charles Victor	...	Hendrick
Phoebe Kershaw	...	Miss Lang
Harold Warrender	...	Lt. Cmdr. Ellis, RN
John Longden	...	Passport Officer
Eric Maturin	...	Passport Officer
Paddy Browne	...	Singer in 'Regency'
Henry Wolston	...	First Danish Waiter
Julian Vedey	...	Second Danish Waiter
Sydney Moncton	...	Third Danish Waiter

Also Known As:

Blackout (USA)

Runtime:

92 min | USA:80 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Danish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Sweden:15 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Chester Square, Belgravia, London, England, UK

Company:

British National Films

Trivia:

When Michael Powell and the crew went on location to Ramsgate (Eastgate in the film), they sent all their luggage and equipment in cases boldly marked "Contraband". Luckily the local wartime Contraband Controllers saw the funny side and when they arrived at the hotel they found their cases had stamps and stencils all over them saying things like "Explosives", "Examined", "Condemned".

Quotes:

Captain Anderson: Big ships, small adventures; small ships, big adventures.

Movie Connections:

References Spione (1928)

Hitchcockian? More like 'camp' expressionism

Hobson and Veidt co-starred in "Spy in Black" in 1938 (released in '39), a beautiful WWI drama about spies and counterspies made by Alexander Korda's London Films. This film was the first pairing of director Michael Powell and scripter Emeric Pressburger who would soon come to be known as The Archers.

1940 saw the release of "Contraband", also featuring the same stars, as well as director and screenwriter. Technically, this film is superior to "Spy in Black", but if one is expecting a Hitchcockian romance-thriller laced with sparkling wit, a la "The 39 Steps" or "The Lady Vanishes," one is in for a big disappointment. Conrad Veidt, only three years away from death, looks much older than forty-seven in "Contraband". It is sad to see him cast as a 'romantic lead' having to occasionally spout some inane, undignified dialogue. Try to imagine Humphrey Bogart playing the lead in "Casablanca" in 1956 instead of 1942, and you have the idea. Even between "The Spy in Black" and "Contraband" Veidt had aged considerably.

The acting, direction, and camera-work are superb---diminutive Hay Petrie steals every scene he is in, as he did in "The Spy in Black" and "Knight Without Armour" (1937). Had he worked in Hollywood, he would likely have been a successful character lead, as was Claude Rains. It is Emeric Pressburger's script which ultimately sinks "Contraband". There are many potentially dramatic moments which are undermined by campy dialogue and situations, so much so that one cannot take the film seriously at all. The same occurs to a lesser degree in the otherwise excellent "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" and "A Matter of Life and Death". Pressburger, a Hungarian emigrè, also ham-fistedly telegraphs an appeal for sympathy towards all non-Brits in the aforementioned UK films.

I much prefer the Korda-produced films to the work of The Archers for the above reasons.