''Rendezvous'' is a 1935 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 ...

set in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, directed by William K. Howard, starring

William Powell William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor, known primarily for his film career. Under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the ''The Thin Man (film), Thin M ...

and

Rosalind Russell Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907November 28, 1976) was an American actress, model, comedian, screenwriter, and singer,Obituary '' Variety'', December 1, 1976, p. 79. known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in ...

and featuring

Binnie Barnes Gertrude Maud Barnes (25 March 1903 – 27 July 1998), known professionally as Binnie Barnes, was an English actress whose career in films spanned from 1923 to 1973. She was known for as a leading lady in films such as ''The Private Life of He ...

, Lionel Atwill,

Cesar Romero César Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost 60 years. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lover (stereotype), Latin lovers, historical ...

and Samuel S. Hinds. Powell plays an American

cryptologist This is a list of cryptographers. Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties called adversaries. Pre twentieth century * Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi: wrote a (now lost) book ...

who tangles with German spies while falling in love. The film's screenplay by P.J. Wolfson and George Oppenheimer was based on ''The Blonde Countess'', a 1933 novel by Herbert Yardley, founder and head of the

Black Chamber The Black Chamber, officially the Cable and Telegraph Section and also known as the Cipher Bureau, was the first peacetime cryptanalytic organization in the United States, operating from 1917 to 1929. It was a forerunner of the National Security ...

, as adapted by Bella and Samuel Spewack.

Plot

In April 1917, former newspaperman William Gordon (

) is commissioned in the U.S. Army. The day before he is to leave Washington, D.C. for France, he meets socialite Joel Carter (

) at an embassy gathering. The couple spend the day together where Gordon confides that because he once wrote a book on cryptography under a pen name, the army is searching for him to put him to work behind a desk, but he is eager to get into the fighting. Just before he boards his train, Gordon is ordered to report to Assistant Secretary of War John Carter ( Samuel S. Hinds). Over his objections, Carter assigns Gordon to the code-breaking room to help break an intercepted German message that Major Brennan ( Lionel Atwill), an experienced British cryptologist, has been unable to decipher. Gordon learns that Carter is Joel's uncle, and that she revealed his true identity to keep him in Washington. The U.S. is deeply concerned about the

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

threat to its troop and supply convoys headed to France. To defeat the threat, British escorts will meet American transports before they enter the most dangerous zone. The rendezvous point will not be given to the ships until the day before they meet, transmitted by wireless in a new code devised by Major Brennan. An ammunition ship is sent first to test the new system. However a German spy ring in the city has already gained access to the code and allows the ship through to lure more valuable troop transports into their U-boat trap. Gordon deciphers the intercepted message and realizing that the code has been compromised, alerts his superiors. A troop convoy has already sailed for France and in three days they will have to send it the rendezvous location in the no longer secret code. Brennan suspects his mistress, Olivia Karloff (

), has stolen his code. He catches her red-handed, but she shoots and kills him in panic. Her unhappy superiors order her to divert the Americans away from the spy ring. Although he has a circular mailed to Olivia that contains a message written in invisible ink, and has her brought in for questioning, Gordon releases her to lead him to the rest of the spies. Joel mistakenly thinks he has been enchanted by her seductive wiles. Olivia covertly warns Captain Nicholas Nieterstein (

), an attaché in a foreign embassy who is part of the spy ring, that the Americans have the circular, which requires use of a reagent to reveal the message. Olivia is told that the spy ring is going to betray Nieterstein to dupe the Americans into transmitting the rendezvous location to the troop convoy. Dining later with Gordon, Olivia "accidentally" drops one of Nieterstein's military medals in her possession into a glass of water, revealing the reagent and his complicity. The stolen code book is found in his possession, planted by his own compatriots, and he is arrested. Nieterstein commits suicide. Gordon forces Olivia to lead him to the spies in a hotel staffed by enemy agents. Joel jealousy follows them and becomes a hostage of the spies. Gordon is also captured and under duress pretends to decode the position message to the convoy. However he has given them coordinates of the hotel. When the spy ring passes along the information, the Americans intercept it, and Carter recognizes the address. Justice Department agents shoot their way into the hotel to rescue Gordon and Joel. Gordon resumes his journey to France, but as he is about to board his train, Joel again uses her influence to keep him in Washington.

Cast

as Bill Gordon *

as Joel Carter *

as Olivia Karloff * Lionel Atwill as William Brennan *

as Nieterstein * Samuel S. Hinds as Carter *

Henry Stephenson Harry Stephenson Garraway (16 April 1871 – 24 April 1956) was a British actor. He generally portrayed amiable and wise Gentleman, gentlemen in many films of the 1930s and 1940s. Among his roles were Joseph Banks, Sir Joseph Banks in ''Mutiny ...

as Ambassador Gregory *

Frank Reicher Frank Reicher (born Franz Reichert; December 2, 1875 – January 19, 1965) was a German-born American actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Captain Englehorn in the 1933 film ''King Kong''. Early life Reicher was born in M ...

as Dr. Jackson * Charley Grapewin as Martin *

Leonard Mudie Leonard Mudie (born Leonard Mudie Cheetham; April 11, 1883April 14, 1965) was an English character actor whose career lasted for nearly fifty years. After a successful start as a stage actor in England, he appeared regularly in the US, and made ...

as Roberts *

Howard Hickman Howard Close Hickman (February 9, 1880 – December 31, 1949) was an American actor, director and writer. He was an accomplished stage leading man, who entered films through the auspices of producer Thomas H. Ince. Career In 1900, Hickman debu ...

as G-man *

Charles Trowbridge Charles Silas Richard Trowbridge (January 10, 1882 – October 30, 1967) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 230 films from 1915 to 1958 principally playing patrician authority figures. Biography Trowbridge was born in Verac ...

as Secretary of War Baker *

Murray Kinnell Murray Kinnell (24 July 1889 – 11 August 1954) was a British-born American actor, recognized for playing smooth, gentlemanly, although rather shady characters. He began acting on the English stage in 1907, toured in the United States from 1912 ...

as de Segroff *

Sterling Holloway Sterling Price Holloway Jr. (January 14, 1905 – November 22, 1992) was an American actor who appeared in over 100 films and 40 television shows. He did voice acting for The Walt Disney Company, playing Mr. Stork in ''Dumbo'', Adult Flower in ...

as Taxi Driver (uncredited) * Larry Steers as Partitioner (uncredited) *

Milburn Stone Hugh Milburn Stone (July 5, 1904 – June 12, 1980) was an American actor, best known for his role as "Doc" (Dr. Galen Adams) on the Western (genre), Western series ''Gunsmoke''. Early life Stone was born in Burrton, Kansas, to Herbert Stone an ...

as Carter's Aide (uncredited) Cast notes: * A 15-year-old

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Ninnian Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nearly nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last survivi ...

and the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chi ...

' frequent comic foil

Margaret Dumont Margaret Dumont (born Daisy Juliette Baker; October 20, 1882 – March 6, 1965) was an American stage and film actress. She is best remembered as the comic foil to the Marx Brothers in seven of their films; Groucho Marx called her "practically ...

– as the woman who auctions off a kiss from Joel Carter – have uncredited bit parts.Nixon, Rob
"Rendezvous (1935)" (article)
on TCM.com

Production

''Rendezvous'' was originally intended as a comedy-mystery vehicle for frequent costars Powell and

Myrna Loy Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. As a performer, she was known for her ability to adapt to her screen partner's acting style. Born in Helena, Monta ...

, but Loy was "on strike" at the time, in order to get better pay from MGM.

was still fairly new to Hollywood, having been at MGM for barely a year when she was cast to replace Loy. Russell recalled:

I felt self-conscious. Powell and Loy had been a hit in ''
The Thin Man ''The Thin Man'' (1934) is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in a condensed version in the December 1933 issue of '' Redbook''. It appeared in book form the following month. A film series followed, featuring the main ...
'', they were an unbeatable team, so my first day on ''Rendezvous'', I tried to apologize. 'I know you don't want me, you'd rather have Myrna.' Powell denied it: 'I love Myrna, but I think this is good for you, and I'm glad we're doing it together.' He was not only a dear, he was cool. If an actor thought he could get any place by having tantrums, watching Bill Powell would have altered his opinion. I remember a story conference during which he objected to a scene that he felt wasn't right for him. He was at once imperious and lucid. 'It's beyond my histrionic ability to do this,' he said. I thought that was delicious.

The picture had several working titles including ''Blonde Countess,'' ''White Bird,'' and ''Puzzle Man''. It was shot in five weeks from June 24 to July 29, 1935, although production was suspended for a time due to an attack of appendicitis suffered by Binnie Barnes."Notes"
on TCM.com When it was reported in the press that the studio was going to scrap the picture and rewrite and reshoot it, director William K. Howard responded that, in fact, they were only concerned about the ending of the film, which had been unsatisfactory from the beginning. The studio wanted to see what the audience response was in previews to guide it in crafting a new ending. Howard also announced that he was leaving the production due to a contractual obligation. Cinematographer William H. Daniels also left: they were replaced by

Sam Wood Samuel Grosvenor Wood (July 10, 1883 – September 22, 1949) was an American film director and producer who is best known for having directed such Hollywood hits as ''A Night at the Opera (film), A Night at the Opera'', ''A Day at the Races (fi ...

and

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 ...

, respectively, neither of whom received credit for their work. The studio brought in Herman Mankiewicz and Howard Emmett Rogers to work on the script; it was also reported that George S. Kaufman was involved in script meetings as well. As a result of the rewrites, 17 new sets were built to shoot the new ending, which took place from September 6 to 26, with Wood directing and Howe behind the camera. The film as released, at 94 minutes, was 12 minutes shorter than the preview version, which ran 106 minutes.

Critical response

At the time it was released, ''The New York Times'' film critic Andre Sennwald wrote: "With Mr. Powell at his debonair best, ''Rendezvous'' emerges as a lively and amusing melodrama", although he referred to Russell as "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's second-string Myrna Loy." ''Variety'' wrote: "The comedy is cleverly worked into the action and becomes a part of it instead of an interpolation, and herein lies its success. Interest is never diverted from the thread of the story. Powell is at ease as the nonchalant decoder who can face danger with a grin and teams perfectly with Russell. She has both looks and intelligence, playing the willful girl with delightful spirit."

Adaptations

In 1942, the story was updated to World War II and filmed as '' Pacific Rendezvous'' with Lee Bowman and

Jean Rogers Jean Rogers (born Eleanor Dorothy Lovegren; March 25, 1916 – February 24, 1991) was an American actress who starred in serial films in the 1930s and low–budget feature films in the 1940s as a leading lady. She is best remembered for ...

in the Powell and Russell roles. Yardley's book was not credited as a source, nor were adapters Bella and Sam Spewack, but the two original screenwriters, P.J. Wolfson and George Oppenheimer, were given credit for the remake's screenplay.

References

Notes The many lives of Herbert O Yardley (PDF) https://www.nsa.gov/portals/75/documents/news-features/declassified-documents/cryptologic-spectrum/many_lives.pdf

External links

* * * {{Samuel and Bella Spewack 1935 films American black-and-white films Films based on biographies American spy films World War I spy films Films directed by William K. Howard Films directed by Sam Wood Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1930s spy films 1930s American films 1930s English-language films Films scored by William Axt