Week 18: 'Secret Agent' [1936]
Source: Amazon Video [streaming]
With 'The 39 Steps', Hitchcock took two steps forward. With 'Secret Agent', I feel he took one step back.
'Secret Agent' is set during the Great War (although the tone of foreign spies and plots makes it feel much closer aligned to the war that was brewing at the time). John Gielgud plays a British Captain who is persuaded to take on another man's identity and track down and eliminate a German spy. He is aided in his efforts by Peter Lorre and Madeleine Carroll, both former Hitchcock players.
If you liked 'The Man who knew too much', then you may find 'Secret Agent' to be just your cup of tea. It is more dialogue-driven than action-driven in the most part, and would probably have been much better with Robert Donat in the lead, as Hitchcock originally wanted. John Gielgud, fine actor though he was, is too stiff in this role which needed more of the impishness that Donat brought to 'The 39 Steps'. Comic relief is provided by Lorre, who seems to be having a great deal of fun in his role, but skirts hamminess on more than one occasion.
That's not to say that it's a complete waste of your time. There are enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, and a couple of set pieces are well-done. The scene in the church, with the ominous drone of the organ, is excellent, especially a POV shot from above the organ, and a murder is staged perfectly; we see the act through a telescope, cut with a scene of a formal drawing room. One of the murderer's accomplices, knowing what is taking place miles away, tries to act normally in front of the victim's wife. Meanwhile, the family dog is whining and scratching at the door to be set free, somehow intuiting his master's fate. The acting, editing and element of suspense is worth the price of admission alone.
There is also good use of sound effects in this film, notably ones that drown out the actors dialogue. Hitchcock's experience of silent films comes into play here, as in the aforementioned church scene, when the bell starts tolling, and more so in the chocolate factory, in which the deafening noise of the machinery turns the film dialogue-free for several minutes.
Ultimately, though, coming straight after the excellent '39 Steps', I found it slightly disappointing. I watched the 'Synergy Entertainment' version currently available on Amazon Video. I can confidently state that, as the company helpfully printed their watermark in the bottom right-hand corner for several seconds throughout the film. However, this wasn't the worst distraction, considering that the print itself was terrible. Some of the early Mill Creek releases looked and sounded better than this.