Secret Agent

Based on the Ashenden stories by W. Somerset Maugham, Hitchcock’s 1936 spy thriller has all the elements in place that would characterise some of the director’s best films in the genre, most notably North By Northwest – where a regular citizen reluctantly finds himself caught up in the murky world of international espionage affairs, linked to a glamorous leading lady, and having to deal with a ruthless killer of ambiguous morals and a suave, but dangerous villain.


Set in 1916, the reluctant spy in Secret Agent is famous novelist Edgar Brodie (John Gielgud), a captain in the army, who has been brought back from the front to find that the newspapers are carrying reports of his death. A Minister called only ‘R’, informs him that under his new identity of Richard Ashenden his assistance is required in preventing a German agent upsetting the delicate diplomatic negotiations going on in Palestine. Believed to be currently in Switzerland awaiting instructions, the unknown and unidentified German agent is due to travel any day to Arabia via Constantinople. Ashenden is to make contact with their agent in Switzerland to identify the agent and eliminate him before he leaves the country. It’s a dirty business, but it’s vital for the strategic aims of the war that the balance in the East doesn’t slip into the control of the Germans.

Arriving in Switzerland, with a rather disagreeable character known as The General (Peter Lorre), who has been assigned to him as an assistant, and finding that he has even been set up with a “wife”, Elsa (Madeleine Carroll), Ashenden does indeed find it all a dirty business, having to deal in a ruthless manner with particularly ruthless enemy, but for Hitchcock the situation is one to relish. He has great character types to play with; Geilgud’s Ashenden oozes with the sophistication required of a British Agent, and has a sense of moral rectitude that is in complete contrast to the ruthless, womanising, hissy-fit prone General, comically overplayed by Peter Lorre; while Madeline Carroll’s glamour plays the romantic element off between her “husband” and the fresh young man she has met in the hotel (Robert Young).


Hitchcock has no trouble with the dramatic switches between drama, comedy, romance and suspense that these characters provide in a tense wartime situation, where unknown threats and danger lie all around. With fluid ease, the director, blends all these contrasting and contradictory elements through his characteristic use of visual and auditory linking elements, creating an amazing sense of tension and suspense from their conflict. This would certainly become a familiar device and be handled with a great deal more sophistication in the director’s US films, but they are no less accomplished here. This intercontinental spy-thriller may never really get far beyond neutral Switzerland, and in reality look as if it never even saw the outside of the studio, with its rather dubious and evidently fake models and backdrops, but Hitchcock’s mastery of suspense, as he takes the characters and their all their personal doubts and conflicts into enemy territory – by train evidently - surrounded by dubious looking foreigners and the imminent threat of death, never fails for a moment to hold the viewer in its thrall.

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DVD
This edition of Secret Agent is only available as part of Network’s Alfred Hitchcock: The British Years 10-disc collection. The set is in PAL format, and is encoded for Regions 2 and 4.

Video
Considering the age of the film, the print used for this edition of Secret Agent is in reasonably good condition. The image is inevitably slightly soft, but detail holds up well even in wider shots. The greyscale tones aren’t bad at all, with a good range between black and white that doesn’t look boosted or manipulated. There are a few marks and dustspots here and there and only a few stray tramline scratches, but damage is minor and only troubles a few passages in the film. A few dark scenes don’t hold up so well and show banding and low-level noise, but overall this progressively encoded transfer stands up fairly well.


Audio
The audio track is not so good. It’s low and slightly muffled in places, particularly during the start of the film, and you’ll strain to catch all the dialogue. There is a slight crackle on the edge of voices, but no real issues with distortion or stability. The sound seems to improve slightly as the film progresses, or perhaps it’s just that it takes time to adjust to.

Subtitles
There are no subtitles provided.

Extras
Extra features are basic, but worthwhile. The Charles Barr Introduction (4:01) can be watched before the film without fear of spoilers and sets the film up well, giving pointers on what to look for in the film in terms of Hitchcock’s use of sound and visual signifiers. An Image Gallery (0:48) shows 16 lovely promotional stills, some with Hitchcock on set, and the UK poster design.

Overall
It may not have the sophistication of later Hitchcock suspense and espionage thrillers, but Secret Agent is nonetheless a fine early example of the director’s craft. Network’s UK DVD release as part of their Alfred Hitchcock: The British Years collection, is for the most part a more than adequate presentation of the film.