Sabotage Agent


Sabotage Agent
Directed by Harold S. Bucquet
Produced by Irving Asher
Written by John C. Higgins (short story)
John Lee Mahin
Howard Emmet Rogers
Miles Malleson (uncredited)
Starring Robert Donat
Valerie Hobson
Walter Rilla
Glynis Johns
Release date(s) October 1943
Running time 111 minutes (UK) / 103 minutes (US)
Country  United Kingdom
Language English

Sabotage Agent (American title: The Adventures of Tartu ) is a 1943 World War II spy film starring Robert Donat.

Contents

Plot

British Captain Terence Stevenson (Robert Donat) accepts an assignment even more dangerous than his usual job - defusing unexploded bombs. Fluent in Romanian and German and having studied chemical engineering, he is parachuted into Romania to assume the identity of Captain Jan Tartu, a member of the fascist Iron Guard. He makes his way to Czechoslovakia to steal the formula of a new Nazi poison gas and sabotage the factory where it is being manufactured.

However, his contact is arrested before he can arrange for a job in the factory. Tartu is assigned work as a foreman at a munitions plant instead. Among the other occupants of the house in which he resides are his landlady Anna Palacek (Phyllis Morris), her daughter Paula (Glynis Johns), who works in the plant, German Inspector Otto Vogel (Walter Rilla), and lovely Maruschka Lanova (Valerie Hobson), who makes herself popular with the German occupiers, especially Vogel and the local commandant.

Tartu gains Paula's confidence by providing her with an alibi after she shoots a German officer. He asks her for help contacting the Czech underground and is surprised to learn that Maruschka is one of them. She in turn contacts Dr. Novotny (Martin Miller), the leader of the local resistance group. Though Maruschka trusts Tartu, Novotny is more cautious.

When Paula is detected attempting to commit sabotage at the factory, she whispers to Tartu to denounce her to deflect suspicion away from him. She is then summarily shot. This, along with the death of Tartu's contact, causes the underground to believe that he is a Nazi agent and break off contact. Fortunately, Tartu is transferred to the gas plant without their help.

He goes to work for Dr. Willendorf (Percy Walsh), the head of the operation. However, he is dismayed to learn that the first shipment is due to leave the factory the next night. Desperate, he pretends to get drunk in a bar and blurts out that he knows the names of Czech resistance members who will be arrested soon, then staggers out into the dark street. As he had hoped, he is abducted by the underground. With a great deal of effort, he finally convinces them they are on the same side. He manufactures small bombs that, in the right places, are enough to demolish the plant.

The next day, he goes to work. Though his cover is blown soon afterwards, he manages to plant the bombs and escape from the heavily-guarded plant, which blows up as he drives off. Then, he, Maruschka, and a pilot steal a German airplane and fly away.

Cast

Reception

The New York Times review called Sabotage Agent a film that "frequently and unabashedly places a strain on the audience's credulity",[1] with a "script is so full of holes it could be used for a sieve".[1] However, it also admitted that "for all its excesses, it still packs a fair load of excitement"[1] and "is fun ... due largely to the gusto that Mr. Donat brings to the film."[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "The Adventures of Tartu (1943)". The New York Times. September 24, 1943. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&res=9400E4DC1438E33BBC4C51DFBF668388659EDE&oref=slogin. Retrieved on 2008-11-18.  (login required)

External links







stock | retire | vm
Why are we here?
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
This page is cache of Wikipedia. History