''The Two-Headed Spy'' is a 1958 British

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''e ...

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

Andre de Toth Endre Antal Miksa de Toth, known as Andre de Toth (; May 15, 1913 – October 27, 2002), was a Hungarian-American film director, born and raised in Makó, Austria-Hungary. He directed the 3D film House of Wax (1953 film), ''House of Wax'' (1 ...

and starring

Jack Hawkins John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mili ...

Gia Scala Gia Scala (born Josephine Grace Johanna Scoglio; March 3, 1934 – April 30, 1972) was a British and American actress. Early life Scala was born March 3, 1934, in Liverpool, England, to Sicilian father Pietro Scoglio, and Irish mother Eileen ...

Erik Schumann Erik Schumann (15 February 1925 – 9 February 2007) was a German actor. He appeared in 100 films and television shows between 1942 and 1997. He was most successful during the 1950s and 1960s, when he played leading roles in several German f ...

Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He was known for his "bald head and intense, staring eyes," and played more than 250 stage, film, and television roles across a nearly sixty-year career. Pleas ...

and

Alexander Knox Alexander Knox (16 January 1907 – 25 April 1995) was a Canadian actor and writer. He appeared in over 100 film, television, and theatrical productions over a career spanning from the 1920s until the late 1980s. He was nominated for an Oscar ...

. The film, which has elements of

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

and is set in the

Second World War 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 ...

, was based on a story by J. Alvin Kugelmass called ''Britain's Two-Headed Spy'' and is notable for having been scripted by blacklisted writers.

Plot

In 1939, Alex Schottland, a colonel in charge of supplies in the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

, is a long-entrenched British agent planted toward the end of the

First World War 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 ...

. He is growing weary of being a spy, but is urged to continue by his friend and fellow British agent, Cornaz, who is posing as an antique dealer. In 1941 Schottland passes on information that Germany is about to invade the Soviet Union. Captain Reinisch, a

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

agent and Schottland's suspicious aide, discovers that Schottland has changed his original name and is of British ancestry. However, his superiors already know about Schottland's past and scoff at the possibility that he is a spy. To deflect suspicion and boost his own credibility as a loyal Nazi, Schottland claims at a staff meeting that "defeatists" inside the German high command have leaked military information to the enemy. Cornaz is arrested after their courier to the British is intercepted. Schottland, as a customer at the antique shop, is summoned to headquarters for questioning, and is forced to watch as Gestapo officer Müller tortures Cornaz. The brutal torture kills Cornaz before Müller can get any evidence to incriminate Schottland. Though he is arrested, the General is soon released on the intervention of a high-ranking Nazi,

Ernst Kaltenbrunner Ernst Kaltenbrunner (4 October 1903 – 16 October 1946) was an Austrian high-ranking SS official during the Nazi era, major perpetrator of the Holocaust and convicted war criminal. After the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in 1942, and a ...

, who had been convinced of his sincerity when Schottland seemingly damaged his own position with his accusation of defeatism among the General Staff. Cornaz's replacement as a relayer of military information to the British is the attractive singer Lili Geyr. Though drawn to each other, they agree not to get involved emotionally, but Schottland pretends to be having an affair with her while actually passing on information. The pretence further antagonizes Reinisch, who is in love with Geyr himself. Schottland wishes to pass on news of the attempt to break through Allied lines in the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

, but Geyr no longer has means of communicating the information to the British. When Schottland is ordered to the front, he drives off the main road and tries to contact the Allies via a radio transmitter, but is forced to shoot a corporal who interrupts him. Schottland returns to Berlin and, now unable to transmit vital news, decides to sabotage the German war effort by tricking Hitler into making strategic military blunders. He does this successfully by catering to Hitler's vanity and deluded sense of the realities of the military situation. With the war nearing its end, Schottland sends Geyr to cross over to the Allies. The plan is that once safely behind the lines she is to stay there, and after the war she and Schottland will re-unite at a pub named ''The Fiddlers Three'' in London and live together, at last acknowledging the strength of their relationship. Geyr is intercepted by Reinisch, who follows and shoots her, in the process getting his hands on incontrovertible evidence of Schottland's involvement in giving away German military secrets. Reinisch does not immediately act on what he has learned, however. His attempt to contact his superiors in the Gestapo fails because the communication network is in chaos. When he finally confronts Schottland the next morning at Schottland's home, they fight, struggle for a dropped gun, and Schottland kills Reinisch. He then requests an immediate meeting with Hitler, where he implicates capable German generals as defeatists so that they will be relieved of their duties, and also casts suspicion on Müller, who as a result is also arrested. Having volunteered to contact a missing general to assist in the defence of Berlin, Schottland is driven along an autobahn. Orders are received to pursue him, but he cuts across the forest towards the Allied lines. Camouflaged troops capture him, and on realising they are British his face breaks into a relieved smile. The war ends with Germany surrendering, and now in London, Schottland is saluted while entering ''The Fiddlers Three''.

Cast

as General Alex Schottland *

as Lili Geyr *

as Captain Kurt Reinisch *

as Gestapo Leader Müller *

Felix Aylmer Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television. Aylmer made appearances in films with comedians such as Will Hay and George Formby. Early life ...

as Cornaz *

Walter Hudd Walter Hudd (20 February 1897 – 20 January 1963) was a British actor and director. Stage career Hudd made his stage debut in ''The Manxman'' in 1919, and later toured as part of the Fred Terry Company; first attracting serious attention pla ...

Admiral Canaris Wilhelm Franz Canaris (1 January 1887 – 9 April 1945) was a German admiral and the chief of the ''Abwehr'' (the German military-intelligence service) from 1935 to 1944. Initially a supporter of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, Canaris t ...

Edward Underdown Charles Edward Underdown (3 December 190815 December 1989) was an English theatre, cinema and television actor. Early Life Underdown was the son of Harry Charles Baillie Underdown and Rachel Elizabeth Orr. Born in London, he was educated at Et ...

Laurence Naismith Laurence Naismith (born Lawrence Johnson; 14 December 1908 – 5 June 1992) was an English actor. He made numerous film and television appearances, including starring roles in the musical films '' Scrooge'' (1970) and the children's ghost fil ...

as General Hauser *

Geoffrey Bayldon Albert Geoffrey Bayldon (7 January 1924 – 10 May 2017) was an English actor. After playing roles in many stage productions, including the works of William Shakespeare, he became known for portraying the title role of the children's series '' C ...

as Dietz *

Kenneth Griffith Kenneth Griffith (born Kenneth Reginald Griffiths, 12 October 1921 – 25 June 2006) was a Welsh actor and documentary filmmaker. His outspoken views made him a controversial figure, especially when presenting documentaries which have been ca ...

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 ...

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14 March 1933) is a retired English actor. Known for his distinct Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films over Michael Caine filmography, a career that spanned eight decades an ...

as Gestapo Agent * Martin Benson as General Wagner *

Ronald Hines Ronald Charles Andrew Hines (20 June 1929 – 28 March 2017) was a British television actor. He had a lengthy career, but possibly his most prominent roles were as Henry Corner in three of the four series of '' Not in Front of the Children' ...

as German Corporal *

as General Hardt *

Martin Boddey Albert Martin Boddey (16 April 1907 – 24 October 1975) was a British film and television actor. Boddey started acting when he was nearly 40, often portraying irritable authority figures such as police officers or magistrates. He was a fo ...

as General Optiz *

Victor Woolf Victor John Woolf (1911–1975) was an English actor, both on stage and on screen. Stage credits include the stage manager in the 1969 West End production of ''Mame''. Select appearances Film * ''The Harvest Shall Come'' (1942) * ''The Two-He ...

as Secondhand Shop Owner

Production

Lt. Col.

Alexander Scotland Alexander Paterson Scotland, (1882–1965) was a British Army officer and intelligence officer. Scotland was noted for his work during and after World War II as commandant of London Cage, an MI19 interrogation facility that was subject to fre ...

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

served as technical advisor to the film. Although the film was ostensibly based on a true story, and Scotland was known as "Schottland" during his service with German forces in Africa at the turn of the century, the film was not based on Scotland's experiences. He served during World War II as commandant of the "

London Cage The London Cage was an MI19 prisoner-of-war facility during and after the Second World War to mainly interrogate captured Germans, including SS personnel and members of the Nazi Party. The unit, which was located within numbers 6, 7 and 8 Ke ...

", an

MI19 MI19 was a section of the British Directorate of Military Intelligence, part of the War Office. During the Second World War it was responsible for obtaining information from enemy prisoners of war. It was originally created in December 1940 as ...

facility that interrogated captured Germans. Filming took place in 1958 on location in London and Berlin and in

Elstree Studios Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios ha ...

in Borehamwood.

appears in a bit-part as a Gestapo officer, and

plays a German general. Screenwriters Michael Wilson and Alfred Levitt were not given credit because of the blacklist. The credit instead was given to James O'Donnell. Their credits were restored in 1999.

Dalton Trumbo James Dalton Trumbo (December 9, 1905 – September 10, 1976) was an American screenwriter who scripted many award-winning films, including ''Roman Holiday'' (1953), '' Exodus'', ''Spartacus'' (both 1960), and '' Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' (194 ...

, also blacklisted, was a story consultant.Peter Hanson,
Dalton Trumbo, Hollywood Rebel: A Critical Survey and Filmography
', McFarland, 2001. p. 219

References

External links

* *
''The Two-Headed Spy''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

''The Two-Headed Spy'' at ''Variety''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Two Headed Spy 1958 films 1950s spy thriller films British spy thriller films Films shot at Associated British Studios Films directed by Andre de Toth World War II spy films Films with screenplays by Michael Wilson (writer) Films set in 1939 Films about Nazi Germany Columbia Pictures films 1958 drama films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films English-language spy thriller films