mark.waltz
San Francisco opens its golden gates to many foreign born citizens from other countries all hoping for their chance at freedom, and every once in a while, some bad apples sneak in, determined to cause damage. However, true freedom fighters, whether born here or not, will not let the evils of foreign lands (or those born here) ruin what the basis of what America was founded on. That includes, dramatically described here, the Jap's, the Kraut's and the Italians under the thumbs of evil tyrants and bullies. Freedom fighters know that the people being ruled by them are either slaves to their fascism or just as bad, so taking them down isn't just for democracies. It's for the safety of the world at large. This B propaganda expose on spies infiltrating San Francisco is just one of hundreds of films made between 1939 and 1945, from the fall of Paris to the bomb drops and Hitler's suicide. It's nothing that hasn't been done before and after, and better, but there's also been worse. There's some cleverness to this one, with alleged Nazi spy Don Terry undermining a sabotage plot while being suspected of being a spy. Irene Hervey is a canteen hostess with her own secret identity, with comical Andy Devine doing his best to tone it down for once in playing a jolly character who takes his job seriously and is far from a clown. Leo Carrillo (as Hervey's shady father in cahoots with the Nazi's) and Turhan Bey provide fine support in a film that strives to rise above ordinary and in spite of leading to the same conclusions as normal ends up being pretty decent entertainment that provides insight to what we need to do to retain freedoms in an ironically more dangerous era.
robert-temple-1
This rarity shot in late 1941 and released in the spring of 1942 deals with fifth columnists in San Francisco. A collection of Nazis are in league with the Japanese who 'are coming in, as soon as the Fuehrer gives the word'. In this respect, the film was prescient, as it was certainly scripted and probably also shot before Pearl Harbour. A rotund and jolly detective is played by familiar character actor Andy Devine, with his unmistakable rasping voice. The love interest, who is helping the San Francisco police (it is too early for the FBI yet to be thought of in this context), is Irene Hervey, who had made 'a picture or two' already and easily walked through this part. As a 'thrush', she has to keep singing 'Who Is Sylvia?', the famous song by Schubert, with lyrics by Shakespeare, every time a Nazi turns up at her bar on a boat at the docks. (The Schooner Club, Dock 12, in the days when the docks were still used by sailors and were dangerous and dark.) Whoever wrote the script didn't know San Francisco very well, because one of the spies says at one point: 'I've arranged for a speed boat at North Beach.' This is hilarious, considering that North Beach, despite its name, is nowhere near any water. (Those Los Angeles people, what do they know?) There are plenty of angles and double-crosses in the film, and one bad guy turns out to be 'a member of Canadian Intelligence', and a good guy after all. It is all great fun, lightly made, with an earnest effort to promote the causes of liberty and democracy, etc., with shots of Washington, Congress, etc., at the beginning, and all the credits including the title at the end of the film (a real shock!). There are no real San Francisco locations, as it is all studio stuff. The budget was probably five dollars. However, this is entertaining fare for the undiscriminating, everybody is having a good time, and let's not be too snobbish but just sit back and enjoy it on a rainy day.
