''Confidential Agent'' is a 1945 American

spy film The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a film genre, genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many Jame ...

starring

Charles Boyer Charles Boyer (; 28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American fi ...

and

Lauren Bacall Betty Joan Perske (September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014), professionally known as Lauren Bacall ( ), was an American actress. She was named the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the America ...

which was a

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

production. The movie was directed by Herman Shumlin and produced by Robert Buckner, with

Jack L. Warner Jack Leonard Warner (born Jacob Warner; August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978) was a Canadian-born American film executive, who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's ca ...

as executive producer. The

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

was by Robert Buckner, based on the 1939 novel '' The Confidential Agent'' by

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

. The music score was by

Franz Waxman Franz Waxman (né Wachsmann; December 24, 1906February 24, 1967) was a German-born composer and conductor of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre. His film scores include ''Bride of Frankenstein'', ''Rebecca (194 ...

and the cinematographer was

James Wong Howe Wong Tung Jim, A.S.C. (; August 28, 1899 – July 12, 1976), known professionally as James Wong Howe (Houghto), was a Chinese-born American cinematographer who worked on over 130 films. During the 1930s and 1940s, he was one of the most so ...

. The supporting cast included George Coulouris and

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, active first in Europe and later in the United States. Known for his timidly devious characters, his appearance, and accented vo ...

Plot

In the midst of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, Luis Denard (

), a former concert pianist and composer, travels to England as a confidential agent of the Republican government. His mission is to buy coal or to deny it to the

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

rebels. On the ship, he meets bored rich girl Rose Cullen (

), whose father, Lord Benditch ( Holmes Herbert), heads the firm with which Denard will negotiate. On the road to London, he is beaten and robbed by Fascist agents, who do not find the documents he hid in his shoe. At his hotel he enlists the aid of the young maid, Else ( Wanda Hendrix), who hides his documents in her stocking. When he meets his contacts, Contreras (

) and Maria Melandez ( Katina Paxinou), he finds they have sold out to the Fascists and want him discredited or killed. They kill the maid, for which Denard takes revenge. Contreras dies of a heart attack as Denard prepares to shoot him, after which Mrs. Melandez takes poison. Unable to buy any coal, Denard tries to persuade the miners to support their fellow workers in Spain, but they put work ahead of principle. His mission a failure, Rose gets an admirer to help him leave the country secretly. Reaching the coast at

Bexhill-on-Sea Bexhill-on-Sea (often shortened to Bexhill) is a seaside town and civil parish in the Rother District in the county of East Sussex in South East England. It is located along the Sussex Coast and between the towns of Hastings, England, Hastings ...

, he learns that Benditch's firm have repudiated their contract with the Fascists, so he has succeeded after all. On the ship, he finds Rose, to whose life he has given meaning.

Cast

as Luis Denard *

as Rose Cullen * Katina Paxinou as Mrs. Melandez * Victor Francen as Licata * Wanda Hendrix as Else * George Coulouris as Captain Currie *

as Contreras * John Warburton as Neil Forbes * Holmes Herbert as Lord Benditch *

Dan Seymour Dan Seymour (born Daniel Seymour Katz; February 22, 1915 – May 25, 1993) was an American character actor who frequently played villains in Warner Bros. films. He appeared in several Humphrey Bogart films, including ''Casablanca'' (1942), ...

as Mr. Muckerji * Art Foster as Chauffeur *

Miles Mander Miles Mander (born Lionel Henry Mander; 14 May 1888 – 8 February 1946), was an English character actor, writer, director and producer in the post-war period of early British cinema during the 1920s to mid-1930s, as well as a playwright an ...

as Mr. Brigstock * Lawrence Grant as Lord Fetting *

Ian Wolfe Ian Marcus Wolfe (November 4, 1896 – January 23, 1992) was an American character actor with around 400 film and television credits. Until 1934, he worked in the theatre. That year, he appeared in his first film role and later television, as ...

as Dr. Bellows * George Zucco as Detective Geddes * Gordon Richards as Immigration Officer (uncredited) * Marie De Becker as Miner's Wife (uncredited) *

John Goldsworthy John Goldsworthy (1884–1958) was a British-born stage and film actor. After emigrating to the United States he was active on Broadway appearing in a variety of plays, as well as several musicals.Bordman p.460 During the silent era he appeared ...

as Beggar (uncredited)

Production

The screenplay was based on a

novel of the same name. There is evidence of jump cuts, which suggest that some crude editing was done to get the running time under two hours. Though regarded as overly long, the film remains true to Greene's original story.

Reception

Critical response

According to "The Big Sleep Comparisons 1945/46", a featurette on the 2000 DVD release of Bacall's film '' The Big Sleep'', her reviews for ''Confidential Agent'', her second movie role, were largely negative, with particular aspersions cast on her performance as a "jaded industrial heiress". According to film historian Robert Gitt, host of the featurette, Warner studio head

was lobbied to have certain scenes in ''The Big Sleep'' re-shot, to rectify performance problems with Bacall identified in ''Confidential Agent'', which he did. In her own autobiography, Bacall said that she begged not to have to do the film, but couldn't break her contract that early, though her career never fully recovered from ''Confidential Agent''. In '' The Nation'' in 1945, critic

James Agee James Rufus Agee ( ; November 27, 1909 – May 16, 1955) was an American novelist, journalist, poet, screenwriter and film critic. In the 1940s, writing for ''Time'', he was one of the most influential film critics in the United States. His autob ...

wrote, "''Confidential Agent'' is a surprisingly serious translation of Graham Greene's thriller... this is in some ways an exciting and good picture, the best attempt yet, though still inadequate, to make the most of a Greene novel. Charles Boyer, imaginatively cast, gives the agent a proper balance of incongruous frailty, incompetence, tragic responsibility, and moral courage; Lauren Bacall is still amateurish and she is about as English as Pocahontas, but her very individual vitality more than make up for her deficiencies."

Graham Greene's response

Greene, generally critical of film adaptations of his works, disagreed with the critics. In 1979, when Philip Purser returned to the question of the casting of Bacall in ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Tele ...

'', Greene commended the acting of both Bacall and Boyer. He also praised Shumlin as the only American director to make a good film from one of his stories. In a letter to ''

'', titled "An Honourable Performance", Greene wrote: :Mr Philip Purser writes that Lauren Bacall was 'insanely miscast in her third picture ''The'' 'sic''''Confidential Agent'' and having given—as she admits—a lousy performance, she nevertheless bitterly resented the cool notices that came her way'. I also as the author of the book resent those cool notices. This remains the only good film ever made from one of my books by an American director and Miss Bacall gave an admirable performance and so did Charles Boyer.''The Sunday Telegraph'', January 28, 1979.

References

External links

* * *
''Confidential Agent''
film review by Dan Stumpf in Mystery*File * {{YouTube, pKt0i3XXFlI, ''Confidential Agent'' film trailer 1945 films 1940s spy drama films American spy drama films American black-and-white films Films scored by Franz Waxman Films based on British novels Films based on thriller novels Films based on works by Graham Greene Spanish Civil War films Warner Bros. films Films set in London Films set in Kent 1945 drama films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films English-language spy drama films