Film Snail

6.9

Contraband

NR·1940·91m

Thriller

War

Thriller

War

Summary

When a neutral Danish merchant ship is forced to put into port after trying to evade British wartime contraband control, its captain becomes involved in a beautiful British Naval Intelligent agent's efforts to capture a group of German spies operating from a London cinema.

Cast

Conrad Veidt

Capt. Andersen

Valerie Hobson

Mrs. Sorensen

Hay Petrie

Axel Skold

Joss Ambler

Lt. Cmdr. Ashton

Raymond Lovell

Van Dyne

Esmond Knight

Mr. Pidgeon

Charles Victor

Hendrick

Phoebe Kershaw

Miss Lang

Harold Warrender

Lt. Cmdr. Ellis

John Longden

Passport officer

Eric Maturin

Passport officer

Dennis Arundell

Lieman

Molly Hamley-Clifford

Baroness Hekla

Eric Berry

Mr. Abo

Paddy Browne

Singer in 'Regency'

Henry Wolston

First Danish Waiter

Julian Vedey

Second Danish Waiter

Sydney Moncton

Third Danish Waiter

Hamilton Keene

Fourth Danish Waiter

Leo Genn

First Brother Grimm

Stuart Latham

Second Brother Grimm

Peter Bull

Third Brother Grimm

Olga Edwardes

Mrs. Abo

Toni Gable

Miss Karoly

Desmond Jeans

First Karoly

Eric Hales

Second Karoly

J.P. Roberts

Hanson

Manning Whiley

Manager of 'Mousetrap'

Frank Allenby

Patrick Barr

Undetermined Role (uncredited)

Esma Cannon

Erik Skold's Niece

Albert Chevalier

Erik Chitty

Cloakroom Attendant (uncredited)

Mark Daly

Taxi Driver

John England

Cameron Hall

Naval Officer

Haddon Mason

Bernard Miles

Man Lighting Pipe

Milo O’Shea

Air Raid Warden

Nicholas Phipps

Man in Car

Johnnie Schofield

Waiter at the Cab Drivers Shelter

Michael Shepley

Man in Club

Torin Thatcher

Sailor

Townsend Whitling

Ben Williams

Man Selling Torches

Duncan Ross

Milo O’Shea

Air Raid Warden (uncredited)

Crew

Director, Scenario Writer

Michael Powell

Scenario Writer

Brock Williams

Writer

Emeric Pressburger

Reviews

Geronimo1967

June 23, 2022

When Conrad Veidt's Danish freighter is routinely stopped by the Royal Navy in search of contraband; he is held over for 24 hours. He manages to get hold of two shore passes for himself and his first mate, but they are stolen and as he investigates, he encounters Valerie Hobson, the mysterious "Mrs. Sorensen" and soon is embroiled in a top secret Nazi espionage conspiracy. Just as with "the Spy in Black" (1939) the two stars gel well, Weidt has a sort of suave, debonair style about him that complements his stylish co-star well and the writing gives ample opportunity for some humour as the gently suspenseful, if maybe just a tad too contrived, mystery moves along. Set at the start of WWII, the storyline lacks some of the more sinister aspects of later British-made war films, and much of the style and pace of the story still depicts an optimism that the conflict would be short-lived.