''Spy Train'' is a 1943 American

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by Harold Young and written by Leslie Swabacker and

Bart Lytton Bart Lytton (born Bernard Shulman, October 4, 1912 – June 29, 1969)was an American business executive, Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party fundraiser, writer, public relations executive and philanthropist. He was a founder of Lyt ...

. The film stars Richard Travis,

Catherine Craig Catherine Craig (born Catherine Jewel Feltus; January 18, 1915 – January 14, 2004), sometimes credited as Kay Craig, was an American actress. Early years Catherine Jewel Feltus was born in Bloomington, Indiana, where she was a member of Phi ...

Chick Chandler Fehmer Christy "Chick" Chandler (January 18, 1905 – September 30, 1988) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 130 films from 1925 through the mid-1950s. Chandler was known for his starring role as Toubo Smith in ...

Thelma White Thelma White (born Thelma Wolpa; December 4, 1910 – January 11, 2005) was an American radio and film actress. White is best known for her role in the 1936 exploitation film ''Reefer Madness''. Early life and career Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, ...

Evelyn Brent Evelyn Brent (born Mary Elizabeth Riggs; October 20, 1895 – June 4, 1975) was an American film and stage actress. Early life Brent was born in Tampa, Florida and known as "Betty." When she was 10 years old, her mother Eleanor ( Warner) die ...

and

Warren Hymer Edgar Warren Hymer (February 25, 1906 – March 25, 1948) was an American theatre and film actor. Early life He was born in New York City. His father, John Bard Hymer (1875/1876 – 1953) was a playwright (with nine Broadway plays to ...

. The film was released on July 9, 1943, by

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

Plot

Bruce Grant is the author of ''Darkest Germany'', an exposé about

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. He and his friend Stew Stewart board a train in the United States to go meet Max Thornwald, owner of a chain of newspapers. Nazi agents in America have fabricated a photograph showing Thornwald's daughter, Jane, having lunch with

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

and

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

, and have successfully blackmailed Thornwald into suppressing Bruce's articles exposing Nazi atrocities. Bruce wants to know why his items aren't being published. Jane and her maid, Millie, happen to be on the train as well. Meanwhile, Nazi husband-wife spy team Hugo and Frieda Molte have left a suitcase bomb in the train station's baggage check. Other spies have managed to steal evidence of the Molte's espionage activities, and left it in a suitcase at the baggage check as well. The Moltes' henchman, Krantz, is to retrieve the evidence. By coincidence, Krantz's girlfriend is Millie. Krantz holds a ticket stub for Millie's suitcase and the suitcase bomb. Krantz gives Mille the wrong ticket stub, and she unwittingly retrieves the bomb (as both suitcases are identical). After the train departs, Bruce spots the Moltes aboard the train and realizes they are spies. Krantz realizes his error and sends a telegram to the Moltes. Herman Molte tries to retrieve the suitcase from Millie's compartment, but discovers an Italian spy and stabs him to death. A porter (Fred Toones) interrupts him before he can remove the suitcase. Bruce discovers the body, and plants it in the Moltes' compartment. The Moltes find it, and plant it in Bruce's compartment. Stew is left to guard Millie's bag, and Molte stabs him and grabs the suitcase. A conductor sees Stew is wounded, and confronts Bruce just as the Italian's body falls out of the closet. Bruce is placed under arrest, but escapes. The conductor telegraphs ahead for a doctor and the police. The train comes to an unscheduled stop, and two detectives and a physician come aboard. Frieda Molte finally receives Krantz's telegram. Before she can decode it, Bruce enters her compartment and holds the Moltes at gunpoint. He grabs the telegram, reads it, and permits the Moltes to flee the train with the suitcase. They do, and try to open it once they are off the train. They die in a horrible explosion. Jane clears Bruce's name, Krantz is arrested trying to retrieve the evidence bag, and the spy ring's headquarters are raided. With the fake photo of Jane exposed, Thornwald eagerly publishes Bruce's anti-Nazi articles. Bruce and Jane marry.

Cast

* Richard Travis as Bruce Grant *

as Jane Thornwall *

as Stew Stewart *

as Millie *

as Frieda Molte *

as Herman Krantz *Paul McVey as Hugo Molte *

Herbert Heyes Herbert Harrison Heyes (August 3, 1889 – May 31, 1958) was an American film actor. He appeared in nearly 100 films between 1915 and 1956, including the famed 1947 film '' Miracle on 34th Street'', in which he played an ahistorical "Mr. Gimbel ...

as Max Thornwald *Stephen Roberts as Anderson #1 *

Forrest Taylor Edwin Forrest Taylor (December 29, 1883 – February 19, 1965) was an American character actor whose artistic career spanned six different decades, from Silent film, silents through Sound film, talkies to the advent of Color motion picture fil ...

as Anderson #2 *

Dick Rush Richard T. Rush (August 16, 1882 - March 11, 1956) was an Australian-born American character actor of the silent and sound film eras. During his 28-year career, he would appear in between 160 and 300 films (depending on the source). The large ma ...

as Sam *Bill Hunter as Detective *Barbara Mace * Caroline Burke *William Kellogg as Detective *George Bronson *

Fred Toones Fred "Snowflake" Toones (January 5, 1906 – February 13, 1962) was an American actor and comedian. He appeared in over 200 films in his career spanning 23 years. Career He appeared in over 200 films between 1928 and 1951. His standard cha ...

as Pullman Car Porter *

Napoleon Whiting Napoleon Whiting (September 21, 1910, Mississippi – October 22, 1984, Los Angeles, California), was an American character actor. He played many bit parts, often uncredited, as a menial worker such as the African American butler, a stereotypic ...

as Club Car Porter

References

External links

* {{Harold Young 1943 films American crime films 1943 crime films Monogram Pictures films Films directed by Harold Young (director) World War II spy films World War II films made in wartime Films set on trains American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films English-language crime films