Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Tweekums It is 1917 and as yet another offensive is pushed back it becomes obvious that somebody is forwarding British plans straight to Germany! It is decided that the thing to do is bring Britain's top agent in Germany back home to uncover the master spy, Franz Strendler, but unfortunately these plans are also leaked. Months pass then spy Helene Von Lorbeer is sent to Britain by the Germans with orders to link up with Valdar and agent working under Strendler. Valdar is posing as a French butler working for cabinet minister Arthur Bennett. Von Lorbeer poses as refugee Frances Hautry and soon makes contact as she stays with the Bennetts. It soon becomes apparent that there are lots of German spies in the area although it is possible that there may be double agents amongst them. As the film approaches its end a trap is set; the question is who will it catch and who will be revealed as undercover heroes?While this film is set during the First World War it is clearly propaganda for the second; more than once people state that once this war is over it will only be a matter of time before another tyrant takes the world to war. These moments seem a little heavy-handed in these more peaceful times. The story is somewhat far-fetched with so many spies operating in the vicinity of the Bennett household and their lack of subtlety; one is exposed while using the clicking of a typewriter to pass on a code in a room with a military man present! Von Lorbeer also cared for the Bennett's son while undercover in a hospital in France; quite the coincidence. Strangely despite all these rather obvious flaws I enjoyed this film; there was a nice degree of tension and often we aren't sure who is a German spy and who is a British double agent posing as a German spy… or even a German triple agent! Margaret Lindsay is pleasant in the roll of Helene and Boris Karloff is nicely over the top as the limping, scar-faced Valdar. Overall this B-movie is hardly must-see but it is a decent enough way to pass an hour.

utgard14 Fine WWI spy thriller featuring two of my favorites, the great Boris Karloff and lovely Margaret Lindsay. The story centers around a German secret agent (Lindsay) going undercover at the home of a British cabinet minister (Holmes Herbert), whose scar-faced butler (Karloff) is really a double agent. A few twists & turns keep this one interesting. Set in WWI, the plot and dialogue is applicable to WWII as well. No doubt that was intentional. It's a fine B movie with a crisp pace, short runtime, and great cast. Try not to read too much about it or you're sure to come across some spoilers that might ruin some of it for you.

mark.waltz Did the butler do it? That's what you'll be wondering the minute you see Boris Karloff opening the door with a sinister air about him. There's so much double-talk and divided loyalties that it is difficult to figure out is on what side, at least until the end. The lovely Margaret Lindsay adds some class to this pre-war spy drama (set in World War I) that tries to be complex but sadly remains simple but confusing. While there are some suspenseful moments, the remainder of the film is hard to sustain major interest. Had this been made at the Hollywood Warner Brothers studio rather than its British cousin (or even at Monogram), it might have been more thrilling, but the obvious Hollywood touch is missing. Karloff draws everything he says out to death, and that is what the viewer is ultimately bored to.

dbborroughs A creaky WW2 film about German spies in England. Boris Karloff plays a German agent trying to put the kibosh on the Allied war plans. Most of the movie is centered in the home a minister where Karloff is working as an butler.The source is a stage play and it shows. Despite several locations this could very easily have played on the stage.I found the movie slow, and at only 60 minutes thats not something you really want to hear. It opens with a long prologue going back to the First World War which is interesting up to a point, but it goes on way too long.Its also so mechanical you've picked the next three plot points as each event happens.Personally I'm mixed. It sits squarely on the fence between something that I can say see and something I can say avoid. I'm inclined to say if you see it on TV fine (Turner Classics is running it in the next couple of months) I don't know if you'd want to actually buy it. Not that you won't like it, you just may not watch it more than once.Two Stars- Its up to you...PS My Dad really liked it so what the hell do I know.