''Spy for Germany'' (german: Spion für Deutschland) is a 1956

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by Werner Klingler that stars

Martin Held Martin Held (1908–1992) was a German television and film actor. Partial filmography * '' Dark Eyes'' (1951) - Alexander Grabner * ''Homesick for You'' (1952) - Direktor Petermann * '' Canaris Master Spy'' (1954) - Obergruppenfuehrer Heydrich ...

, Nadja Tiller and

Walter Giller Walter Giller (23 August 1927 – 15 December 2011) was a German actor. He was very successful in the 1950s and 1960s, when he was often seen as a comedic leading man. One of his most successful and more serious roles was in ''Roses for the Pros ...

.BFI.org
/ref> Based on a book by Will Berthold, the film depicts the mission of a German spy Erich Gimpel during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

to discover how far the American nuclear programme had progressed. It was shot at the

Tempelhof Studios The Tempelhof Studios are a film studio located in Tempelhof in the German capital of Berlin. They were founded in 1912, during the silent era, by German film pioneer Alfred Duskes, who built a glass-roofed studio on the site with financial bac ...

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

and on location in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and New York in America. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Hans Kuhnert and Paul Markwitz.

Plot

In 1944, with defeat imminent, German counter-intelligence is desperate to know how soon the US will have nuclear bombs. Experienced agent Erich Gimpel is assigned the mission, but he says he cannot pass for an American. He is given an immature American defector, Billy Cole, as colleague and the two are dropped from a submarine on the coast. Hiding out in a seedy New York hotel, Gimpel tries to find leads to scientists working on the nuclear programme, but his cover is blown when Cole defects back to the FBI. After astutely recovering the case with his radio and money that Cole had deposited, he bumps into an old colleague who offers him the use of his empty apartment. This gives him perfect cover to pursue his enquiries, the only flaw being that a key to the apartment has also been given to another friend of the owner. This is Joan Kenneth, an attractive young woman who is setting up a dress shop. She accepts the presence of the mysterious stranger, and begins to fall in love with him. Gimpel at last gets through to a scientist, who tells him that he is too late as nuclear bombs will very soon be ready to drop on America's enemies. He decides to abandon his mission and defect to South America with the willing Joan. At the airport desk he is arrested and, on being convicted as a spy, sentenced to hang. The death of President Roosevelt imposes a moratorium on executions, so his penalty is commuted to life imprisonment. Joan is ready to wait for him and, when he is released after 11 years, he takes her back to Germany.

Cast

as Erich Gimpel * Nadja Tiller as Joan Kenneth *

as Billy Cole * Viktor Staal as Oberst Sommerfeld * Claude Farell as Inge Hagen *

Gustav Knuth Gustav Knuth (7 July 1901 – 1 February 1987) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1935 and 1982 and starred in the TV series '' Alle meine Tiere''. He was married to the actress Elisabeth Lennartz. Selected ...

as Roger Bentley * Heinz Drache as Jim Newman * Stanislav Ledinek as Mr. Brown *

Martin Kosleck Martin Kosleck (born Nicolaie Yoshkin, March 24, 1904 – January 15, 1994) was a German film actor. Like many other German actors, he fled when the Nazis came to power. Inspired by his deep hatred of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, Kosleck made ...

as Griffins * Günter Pfitzmann as Korvettenkapitän Hilbig *

Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur (6 March 1886 – 13 May 1960) was a German film actor. Early life Stahl-Nachbaur was born in Munich, Germany and died at age 74 in Berlin. Selected filmography * ''Das Geschlecht der Schelme. 1. Teil'' (1917) * ''Das ...

as Atomprofessor

References

External links

* 1956 films 1950s spy thriller films West German films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Werner Klingler Films set in 1944 Films set in 1945 Films set in the United States World War II spy films Films based on biographies Films about nuclear war and weapons German spy thriller films 1950s German films Films shot in Boston Films shot in New York City Films shot at Tempelhof Studios German black-and-white films German thriller films {{1950s-thriller-film-stub