User Reviews

After fleeing to the United States because of the repressive Nazi government in Germany, Conrad Veidt made quite a career for himself playing evil Nazis in American propaganda films dedicated to boosting support for the war effort. In this case, however, Veidt plays TWO roles! And, the film goes a direction I never had anticipated.

The film begins with Veidt working for the German consulate in America as a leader of a unit of spies. He has a brother who's lived in the US for several years because this brother hates the Nazis. Surprisingly, the nice Veidt gets a visit from his evil twin with the consulate--and it's to blackmail the nice one into working for the Nazis. This continues for a bit, but when the evil Veidt pushes too far, his patriotic and America-loving twin kills him--and assumes his identity in order to undermine the Reich's efforts to destroy America. Where all this goes next, you'll need to see for yourself--but it was surprisingly sentimental and understated. Well made and interesting compared to the average propaganda film--and made a bit better since Veidt was such an excellent actor. Worth seeing.

In 1926 Veidt made another film in which he played a good brother and a bad brother--The Brothers Schellenberg. They both came from an educated but penniless class; the good brother founded a commune and the bad one was a ruthless, social-climbing capitalist. The good brother, as I recall, had a beard and wore rumpled clothes, while the bad one was clean-shaven and and had an elegant wardrobe of evening clothes.... In Nazi Agent, the two brothers have similar physical distinctiveness but now they of the landowning class: the gentle academic driven from Germany by the Nazi aversion to historical truth, and the potently Nazi German Consul in "State City."

The twist is that the good brother must disguise himself as the bad brother in order to make his contribution to the anti-Nazi effort by breaking up a nest of spies. It seems to me that the twin-substitution plot usually involves women, not men--with the notable exception of Dead Ringers...? Veidt gets to do what Jeremy Irons did, play twin A pretending to be twin B in such a way that the audience, but not twin B's associates, sees the difference. Even old Fritz, who has known the twins from childhood, recognizes Otto by a scar, not by his manners.

The film seems to have been made before Pearl Harbor and released afterwards; in the world it depicts, Canada has joined the war but the U.S. is still on somewhat friendly terms with Germany.

Another viewer commented that Veidt is not sexually attractive. Hmm. I think that the character he plays in this film is not supposed to be very sexually aggressive--the big romantic scene does not even involve a kiss, and the bookseller twin has been up to this time someone who is more interested in rare stamps than in women. But one might check out his two films for Michael Powell, or Escape, or A Woman's Face, in all of which his character is supposed to be, and is, extremely sexually attractive. It is interesting that in both Escape and A Woman's Face he at first appears as sexy and charming, in different ways, a real Prince Charming for the very different heroines of the two films. Then, towards the end of the films, he reveals himself for the ruthless Nazi he is, showing extreme cruelty of various kinds.

So although Veidt could turn on and off the sexiness and otherwise vary his characters, he made three films in this period in which he is the good German (OK, Scandinavian in A Woman's Face) and the bad Nazi: Escape, A Woman's Face, and Nazi Agent. By this time, I believe, he was a British citizen, contributing generously to the war effort, but it's interesting that he was not playing The Hun who tosses babies out the window, as Von Stroheim did during WWI, but two men, one who loves music and women and knowledge, the other who sees Nazism as the only path to success and riches, and who has been utterly corrupted by it.

(Some Spoilers) Checking the production dates for the movie "Nazi Agent" I noticed that it was finished filming on December 16, 1941 just five days after Germany's Fuhrer Adolph Hitler declared war on the US. That was in accordance with Hitler's Germany military alliance with Japan that bombed Pearl Harbor just four days earlier. This would make the movie "Nazi Agent" the first WWII film produced by a Hollywood studio that was released when the US was actually at war with the Nazi Regime! Unlike the many other anti-Nazi Hollywood made films, like "Confession of a Nazi Spy", that were released before the US was even at war with Germany. Thus making them subject, by anti-war and US isolationists groups, to accusations of being nothing more them warmongering propaganda in an effort, by Hollywood, to get the natural US into the war in Europe on the side of Great Britain and later the USSR.

The film has kindly bookstore owner and stamp collector Otto Becker, Conrad Veidt, try to start a new life in the US after he was forced to flee his homeland-Germany-after the Nazi's took over. Living the American dream Otto's life is turned upside down when his brother Hugo, also played by Veidt, who's a die in the wool Nazi pops into his house. Hugo a German diplomat is working undercover to damage US shipping in the Atlantic in an effort to get Great Britain, who at the time is getting military aid from the natural US, to give up its fight against the Nazis.

Playing alone with Hugo's demands who's blackmailing his brother, in having him possibly deported back to Germany if he doesn't go along with him, Otto tries to tip off the FBI in what Hugo and his fellow Nazi's in America are up to. This sham on Otto's part falls apart when Hugo confronts him in his home and pulls a gun on him in order to get him back into line. Hugo who's killed in the struggle with Otto has his brother, his identical twin, take over Hugo's identity and infiltrate the Nazi spy & sabotage ring that he was in charge of. Working on the inside Otto uses his disguise as Hugo to stymie the Nazi's in their attempt, through short-wave radio contact, to have their fleet of U-Boats in the Atlantic sink US shipping. Otto does this by secretly tipping off the authorities to what exactly the spy & sabotage ring are planning to do.

Not acting like the mindless and comical buffoons as their almost always depicted in most movies made about them at the time the Nazi's that includes Otto's assistant in the German consulate Kurt Richten, Martin Koslek,realize that there's a spy in their mist and start to zero in on Otto. Caught with his hands in he cookie jar Otto tries to save himself in implicating, for what he actually did, US hoodlum-who's working for the Nazis-Joe Aiello (Marc Lawrence) in the stopping of the US supply ship SS Farrington from parking itself in the locks of the Panama Canal. The Nazis planned to use the explosive laden SS Farrington, with an explosive timer hidden in it, to blow the canal sky high! Thus cutting off the US Pacific and Atlantic fleets from each other in the event of the US entering into the war.

****SPOILERS*** With his cover blown Otto could have just taken off to the Federal Authorities for protection but instead agreed to go back to Nazi Germany, and certain death, to save his lover-who works for the German consulate in New York- French fashion designer Karren De Relle, Anne Ayars. You see Karren wasn't really a Nazi but was forced, with her family back in Nazi occupied France, to go along with them in order to save both her and her families lives or, even worse, from being sent to a Nazi concentration camp.

It was this quite an courageous act on Otto's part, willingly giving up his life to save the one that he loves, that sets him apart from the the usual blood and guts heroes that Hollywood depicted in it's movies in fighting WWII, at home as well as abroad, all over the globe. This act of unselfish courage made Otto the most unique and believable, as well as tragic, of all war or peace time movie heroes coming out of Hollywood.

Conrad Veidt's career in European (and American) film from 1919 - 1939 was one as a notable star. He had played Cesar the Sonabulist in THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI in 1919, and been a star ever since. In the silent film period it was easy for him to have an international audience as Gwynplaine in THE MAN WHO LAUGHS and as King Louis XI of France in BELOVED ROGUE (with John Barrymore). But he was anti - Nazi and Veidt left Germany in 1933 and settled in England, where he remained a star. His last film in England of greatness was as the evil vizier Jafar in THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD. Then he went to Hollywood.

Most Americans recall him for his American films, although he did not make many in his last three years (1940 - 1943). These included a comic villain in WHISTLING IN THE DARK, a selfish Swedish scoundrel in A WOMAN'S FACE, and Nazis in CASABLANCA (his best recalled performance - as Major Strasser), ESCAPE, and ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT. Twice he portrayed anti-Nazi Germans: ABOVE SUSPICION (where he is aiding Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray, and the villain is Basil Rathbone!), and this film - probably the most interesting of the movies he made in Hollywood.

The plot is simple. Veidt plays twin brothers, one of whom has been living in the U.S. since World War I, having gotten sick of the militarism and racial crap at home. The younger brother remained behind as a dedicated careerist Nazi. The younger brother has been sent to the U.S. as a "diplomat" but in reality to head a sabotage ring. He uses some of his agents to locate the older brother, and blackmail him into acquiescing into working for the Vaterland again. The older brother is forced by circumstances (relatives in Germany may be executed or tortured if he refuses). But when he learns of the various sabotage acts planned, and when the ring members kill one of his closest friends, the older brother fights back. He confronts and kills the younger brother, and pretends he is the younger brother. Then he proceeds to destroy the sabotage ring.

Veidt's Nazis were quite convincing, as he obviously based them on the people he met in Berlin in the 1920s and 1930s. Major Strasser, for example, is very businesslike - see how he confronts Rick with his file at the start of CASABLANCA and shows little concern when Rick starts reading it - and usually intelligent. He is also ready to turn into a subtly deadly threat, as when he tells Elsa about the cheapness of life in Casablanca. So the young careerist is quite true to form.

But the older brother is fascinating. The issue of the "good German" was difficult to get across after 1941, as most Americans saw Hitler's Germany as a real, viable threat. It was rare, in the movies of those years, to think of making a film about Germans who were decent (it was actually easier to show Italians who were decent - see Forunio Bonanova's Italian general in FIVE GRAVES TO CAIRO). If a German was good or sympathetic, he or she might have been Jewish. But Veidt's two brothers are upper crust junkers. They are part of the establishment. The older brother was in the army (unlike the younger one), so he knew what was expected of the German nobility. But he got to dislike the arrogance of the class towards all others. So he fled his native land to escape what he hated.

Veidt's not the only good German in the film. For every younger brother, and Martin Kosleck, and Deborah Tree, there is a Frank Reicher and Anna Ayars who supports the decency wiped away by the Nazi regime. Veidt's older brother fall for Ayars, and in one sweet moment one sees what the Nazis have destroyed. They are seated in a car alone, and have put on the radio. The moon is out, and it is a moment for love-making. But the radio plays a piece by Felix Mendelsohn (who was Jewish, and whose music was forbidden by the Nazi regime in Germany). Ayars, sadly, says "Verboten.", and starts turning it off. Veidt gently stops her and says, "Just this once." They cuddle listening to the music.

Veidt also demonstrates a trait which (oddly enough) he can share with the Nazi Kosleck. The older brother's hiding spot in America was discovered by Marc Lawrence, who has sold his services to the Nazis. But later (after the older brother has begun impersonating the dead younger one), Lawrence returns to squeeze more money out of his German employers. Kosleck tells this to Veidt (and it is obvious that Kosleck is disgusted by this greedy American). Veidt says he'll speak to Lawrence. He does open the safe and give Lawrence the money without a word. Then after Lawrence puts the money in his pocket, Veidt grabs him around the neck and with a fierce look in his eye tells him never to ask for another extra cent beyond his salary again if he knows what is good for him. Lawrence is thoroughly frightened of his "employer" after that - and the viewer actually sides with Veidt at that moment even if he had been the younger brother instead of the older one.

NAZI AGENT was a programmer, but it shows what would have been Veidt's ability to play a hero in American films. If he had survived World War II he probably would have been a star along the lines of his French contemporary Charles Boyer, playing good characters as well as bad ones. He did not have the fortune to survive, but we know what he might have been like.

Jules Dassin already shows great flair in his first full-length feature film. From the opening montage, you know you're in the hands of a director who has a strong visual and dramatic sense.

Conrad Veidt does double duty as two contrasting characters, and pulls it off with aplomb. The supporting cast is also strong.

However, NAZI AGENT suffers from a hackneyed and completely implausible script. It relies heavily on coincidence, and on what Roger Ebert would call an "idiot plot." (That's a plot that would unravel early on if even one character would behave logically...in this case, Otto Becker.) The first 20 minutes or so is promising. Even later in the movie there are some nice ideas and plenty of tension. But the overall idiocy of the central concept spoils the effect.

Do you believe that a humble old stamp dealer has enough makeup in his office to turn himself into a different character on the spur of the moment, while thugs wait at the bottom of the stairs? Do you believe that anyone would blindly assume the character of a man without having the faintest clue about his job, his colleagues, or who and what he might be expected to know and do? Or that a meek-mannered little man can successfully pose as a cold-blooded Nazi? If you can believe all this, you'll probably give NAZI AGENT a ten.

Summary: Patriotic But not Soapy *** This review may contain spoilers ***

This is the story of twins who may have looked identical and grown up in the same household in pre-WWII Germany, but who are worlds apart, well, in just about everything. One immigrated to America while the other remained in Germany to serve the Nazis. While Otto was kind and caring, loving his adopted country, Hugo was more than eager to carry out Nazi plans to sabotage American interests. It must have been amazingly difficult to produce a movie which shows true patriotism without making the moviegoer roll his eyes. Somehow, most of us seem to have been programmed against such films. But this film was patriotic without being soapy.

SPOILER ALERT: The last scene tore at my heart. Okay, the music in the scene was a little too much, but if you'll mute your TV and watch the look on Veidt's face when on the way to his death he sees the Statue of Liberty, well, it made me remember that America really is worth fighting for. I needed to see that movie. Perhaps you need to as well.

And how ironic. Conrad Veidt had few opportunities to play anything other than an evil Nazi (this film being one of them). And yet all the while, most of his paychecks were spent to support the allies against the forces of his own native land, Germany! As I read a little about Veidt after watching the movie, I wondered if perhaps this film was the only real opportunity the man ever had as an actor to display his incredibly strong love of freedom.

I saw this movie as a teen (they used to show it on T.V.) a lot and always loved it. Conrad Veidt plays twins - good versus evil. I taped it last year (2002)from Turner Classic Movies (after calling them and asking them to play it). It's still a wonderful movie.

Conrad Veidt is a Nazi you love to hate. (Casablanca, Escape, A Woman's Face, All Through the Night) Playing twins, you see the angst in the good brother (Otto Becker) knowing his twin (Herr Baron) is a Nazi trying to destroy the U.S. - precisely why Otto left Germany.

Herr Baron seeks out his brother in N.Y. to use his bookstore as part of his Nazi operation. Of course, Otto refuses to no avail and winds up a powerless pawn. He lives above the store under constant surveillance.

One night, Herr Baron gets lonely and pays Otto a visit alone. An argument/struggle ensues, and Otto kills the Baron. Thinking fast, he decides the only way out is to impersonate his brother to save our country.

He manages to fool everyone, except for the Baron's man-servant Fritz who came over with him. Otto's cover is blown when he emerges from the shower and Fritz spots a tell tale scar on his back. When Otto emerges in a bathrobe, Fritz has a glass of warm milk waiting for him, as in the old days. Otto's fears are unnecessary as Fritz' loyalty to him is undying.

Otto succeeds in foiling all Herr Baron's plans but subsequently pays the price when he has to give himself up in order to save someone's life. Watch his face when he is being deported back to Germany and he passes the Statue of Liberty. The pain and tears he fights back are real.

Nazi Agent was made right before the US entered World War II. It's not your ordinary propaganda film due to a plot that while far-fetched was also quite clever.

The film has two things going for it right off the bat. It was directed by the notable noir director Jules Dassin and stars Conrad Veidt (most famous for his role as Major Strasser in Casablanca).

Veidt plays the kindly German expatriate stamp dealer Otto Becker who owns a little shop in New York City. When the newly appointed German consul, twin brother Baron Hugo von Detner (also played by Veidt) shows up and demands to use his shop as a cover for espionage activities, Otto wants no part of it.

But the Baron threatens to reveal to US authorities that Otto entered the country illegally which will get him deported. Otto reluctantly agrees to allow his Nazi brother to use the shop for nefarious purposes.

The suspense ratchets up when Otto, watched constantly by the Baron's henchmen including Miss Harper (Dorothy Tree)-his assistant now revealed to be a German agent-attempts to surreptitiously send a letter to the police by having his good friend Professor Jim Sterling (Ivan F. Simpson) deliver it but without looking at it until he leaves the shop.

As it turns out the Nazis figure out that Otto is attempting to alert the police and get a hold of the letter. The Baron pays his brother a visit and prefaces the startling news about the fate of Otto's friend with a sinister tale of a family back in the old country. It's a tale of how a son turned in his father to the Nazis as the father was discovered to be a dissident by the son.

The Baron makes it clear that the Professor had to be killed due to Otto's "traitorous" decision. In a very suspenseful scene, Otto, enraged by the news of his friend's murder, attacks his brother. The Baron pulls out a gun, but Otto grabs it and kills him.

This is where the entire neat but far-fetched premise kicks in. Otto decides to assume his brother's identity. He shaves off his beard and now looks exactly like the Baron. Harper walks up the stairs when she hears the shot but Otto orders her to go back down and wait.

Somehow there is a coffin-sized container there used for book deliveries presumably which Otto uses to place his brother's body in. You'll have to suspend your disbelief that Harper doesn't get the idea to examine the body, but I guess she's following the orders of the Baron who she believes shot his brother (and not the other way around).

Various posters here couldn't buy the idea that Otto gets away pretending to be his brother. And of course, in real life to pull something like that off would be almost impossible. But the way the film scenarists depict how Otto tricks all those who believe he's really the Baron almost seems plausible.

As it turns out, Otto is helped by the family manservant Fritz (Frank Reicher) who reveals that his allegiance was always to Otto and not to the cruel, sadistic brother (Fritz realizes it's not the Baron when he sees Otto has a scar on his back after getting out of the shower).

The rest of the plot revolves around Otto in his position as the Baron attempting to prevent the German spies and American collaborators from carrying out espionage activities. He phones the police on several occasions and eventually ends up sending them a list of Nazi spies as well as preventing a bomb exploding on a ship scheduled to pass through the Panama Canal.

There is also an excellent sub-plot involving the disillusioned spy Kaaren De Relle (Ann Ayars) who has been forced to work for the Nazis as she fears they will retaliate against her family in occupied France. Otto never reveals to Kaaren who he is but repairs the relationship that had devolved between her and the Baron.

Ironically after Otto is blackmailed by his aide at the embassy Kurt Richten (Martin Kosleck-a dead ringer for Josef Goebbals), he strikes a bargain with Richten in which he agrees to return to Germany (where he'll be executed) so that he won't turn Kaaren into the FBI.

One kind of hopes for a happy ending at this point where Otto grows his beard back and resumes his life at the shop but given the circumstances the patriotic Otto realizes he has no choice if he wants to save Kaaren.

Veidt is great in both roles and the rest of the cast playing Nazi and American spies are quite believable. Nazi Agent might be far-fetched but has quite a bit of suspense.