''Contraband'' is a 1940 wartime

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 ...

by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, which reunited stars

Conrad Veidt Hans Walter Conrad Veidt ( , ; 22 January 1893 – 3 April 1943) was a German and British actor. He attracted early attention for his roles in the films ''Different from the Others'' (1919), ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920), and ''The Man ...

and Valerie Hobson after their earlier appearance in ''

The Spy in Black ''The Spy in Black'' (US: ''U-boat 29'') is a 1939 British spy film, and the first collaboration between the British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. They were brought together by Alexander Korda to make the World War I spy th ...

'' the previous year. On this occasion, Veidt plays a hero, something he did not do very often, and there is also an early (uncredited) performance by

Leo Genn Leopold John Genn ( ; 9 August 1905 – 26 January 1978) was an English actor and barrister. Distinguished by his relaxed charm and smooth, "black velvet" voice, he had a lengthy career in theatre, film, television and radio, often playing a ...

. The title of the film in the United States was ''Blackout''. Powell writes in his autobiography, ''A Life in Movies'', as saying that the U.S. renaming was a better title and he wished he had thought of it.

Plot

It is November 1939: the

Phoney War The Phoney War (; ; ) was an eight-month period at the outset of World War II during which there were virtually no Allied military land operations on the Western Front from roughly September 1939 to May 1940. World War II began on 3 Septembe ...

stage of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

is still neutral, but Danish Captain Andersen and his freighter ''Helvig'' are stopped in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

by Lt. Commanders Ashton and Ellis for a cargo inspection in a British

Contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") is any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It comprises goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes of the leg ...

Control Port. He receives two shore passes for himself and his First Officer Axel Skold to dine with Ashton and Ellis, but the passes (and ''Helvig''s motorboat) are stolen by passengers Mrs. Sorensen and

talent scout In professional sports, scouts are experienced talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports, and they determine whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the s ...

Mr. Pidgeon. From a cut-out newspaper train schedule, Andersen is able to figure out they are taking a train to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and catches up with them; but, when the train arrives in the blacked-out metropolis, he is only able to hold on to Mrs. Sorensen. He invites her to dine at the restaurant of Skold's brother Erik. Then she takes him to the home of her aunt, where they are captured by a

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

spy ring led by Van Dyne, a man Mrs. Sorensen has already had unpleasant dealings with in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Van Dyne knows Mrs. Sorensen and Pidgeon are British agents. Van Dyne finds a message hidden on one of Mrs. Sorensen's

cigarette paper Rolling paper is a specialty paper used for making cigarettes (commercially manufactured filter cigarettes and individually made roll-your-own cigarettes). List of rolling papers, Rolling papers are packs of several cigarette-size sheets, often f ...

s, identifying her as "M47" and listing the names of neutral ships under which two German vessels are traveling. He decides to replace one of the names with that of an American ship to cause trouble, the United States being neutral at this time. Mrs. Sorensen and Andersen are tied up, but the captain manages to escape. He brings back reinforcements in the form of Erik Skold's staff and is able to free Mrs. Sorensen and knock out Van Dyne. With everything cleared up, Capt. Andersen and Mrs. Sorensen resume their sea voyage.

Cast

as Capt. Andersen * Valerie Hobson as Mrs Sorensen *

Hay Petrie David Hay Petrie (16 July 1895 – 30 July 1948) was a Scottish actor noted for playing eccentric characters, among them Quilp in ''The Old Curiosity Shop'' (1934), the McLaggen in '' The Ghost Goes West'' (1935) and Uncle Pumblechook in ''Grea ...

as Axel Skold/Erik Skold *

Joss Ambler Joss Ambler (23 June 1900 – 1959) was an Australian-born British film and television actor. He usually played somewhat pompous and irascible figures of authority, particularly in comedy films. He was an effective foil to George Formby in both ...

as Lt. Cmdr. Ashton, RNR *

Raymond Lovell Raymond Lovell (13 April 1900 – 1 October 1953) was a Canadian actor who performed in British films. He mainly played supporting roles, often somewhat pompous characters. Lovell initially trained as a physician at Cambridge University, but g ...

as Van Dyne * Esmond Knight as Mr Pidgeon * Charles Victor as Hendrick *Phoebe Kershaw as Miss Lang * Harold Warrender as Lt. Cmdr. Ellis, RN *

John Longden John Longden (11 November 1900 – 26 May 1971) was a British film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1926 and 1964, including six films directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Biography Longden was born in the West Indies, the son of ...

as Passport Officer * Eric Maturin as Passport Officer *Paddy Browne as Singer in "Regency" *

Dennis Arundell Dennis Drew Arundell OBE (22 July 1898 – 10 December 1988)"Arundell, Denni ...

as Lieman * Molly Hamley-Clifford as Baroness Hekla *

Eric Berry James Eric Berry (born December 29, 1988) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a Safety (gridiron football position), safety for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played co ...

as Mr Abo * Olga Edwardes as Mrs Abo

Cast notes

and

Peter Bull Peter Cecil Bull, (21 March 1912 – 20 May 1984) was a British actor who appeared on the stage and in supporting roles in such films as '' The African Queen'', '' Tom Jones'' and '' Dr. Strangelove''. Peter Bull wrote twelve books. Biograph ...

as two of Van Dyne's associates * Bernard Miles in an amusing scene arguing with two air raid wardens *

Esma Cannon Esma Ellen Charlotte Littmann (''née'' Cannon; 27 December 1905 – 18 October 1972), credited as Esme or Esma Cannon, was an Australian-born character actress who moved to Britain in the early 1930s. Although she frequently appeared on televis ...

as Hay Petrie's niece *

Michael Shepley Arthur Michael Shepley-Smith (29 September 1907 – 28 September 1961), known professionally as Michael Shepley, was a British actor, appearing in theatre, film and some television between 1929 and 1961. He was born in Plymouth, Devon. Shepl ...

as the helpful man in the club *

Milo O'Shea Milo Donal O'Shea (2 June 1926 – 2 April 2013) was an Irish actor. He was twice nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performances in ''Staircase'' (1968) and '' Mass Appeal'' (1982). Early life O'Shea was born and ...

made his film debut, in the uncredited role of an air raid warden.

Production

''Contraband'' was intended as a followup to Powell and Pressburger's ''

'', which was filmed at the end of 1938, but was not released by

Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; ; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)

for almost a year. The current film was in production from 16 December 1939 through 27 January 1940 at

Denham Film Studios Denham Film Studios (''later dubbed Anvil Studios)'' was a British Film studio, film production studio operating from 1936 to 1952, founded by Alexander Korda, in Buckinghamshire. Notable films made at Denham include ''Brief Encounter'' and D ...

, with location shooting in

at Chester Square in

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dangerous pla ...

, and in

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

Critical reception

The ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' online review called it "An odd little comic thriller - who, except perhaps

Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company Powell and Pressburger, The Archers, they together wrote, produced ...

, would cast 47-year-old '' Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920) star

as a light

romantic hero The Romantic hero is a literary archetype referring to a character that rejects established norms and conventions, has been rejected by society, and has themselves at the center of their own existence. The Romantic hero is often the protagonist i ...

?" '' Time Out'' wrote that "Less stylish than ''The Spy in Black'', this espionage thriller is more fun, with its tongue-in-cheek plot revelling in

Hitchcockian Hitchcockian films are those made by various filmmakers, with the styles and themes similar to those of Alfred Hitchcock. Characteristics Elements considered Hitchcockian include: *Climactic plot twist. *The cool platinum blonde. *The presenc ...

eccentricities". ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' describes it as "A neat Second World War espionage thriller that depicts a London crawling with spies". Dennis Schwartz of Ozus' World Movie Reviews had mixed feelings, giving it a grade of B−. "The brisk pace and its added touches of quaintness, made the film endearing of the lack of any character study and the one-dimensional tone of the villains." However, he wondered "how much better a more romantically inclined hero would have fared in his eidt'srole."

References

External links

''Contraband''
reviews and articles at th
Powell & Pressburger Pages
* * * . Full synopsis and film stills (and clips viewable from UK libraries). {{Powell and Pressburger 1940 films 1940s spy films British spy films 1940s English-language films British black-and-white films World War II films made in wartime World War II spy films Films set in 1939 Films set in London Films shot at Denham Film Studios Films by Powell and Pressburger Films scored by Richard Addinsell Films scored by John D. H. Greenwood British war films 1940s war films English-language war films