Spione [Spies] **** (1928, Rudolph Klein-Rogge, Gerda Maurus, Willy Fritsch) – Classic Movie Review 3005

The great Austrian producer-director Fritz Lang’s epic 1928 German silent classic spy thriller yarn is packed full of intrigue, chases, romance, seduction, betrayal, espionage atmosphere and fascinating characters.

Rudolph Klein-Rogge stars as crippled banker Haghi, the criminal mastermind head of the spy ring who sends sultry Russian lady Sonya Baranilkowa (Gerda Maurus) to trap a foreign agent, No. 326 (Willy Fritsch). But she falls in love with him. Haghi also wants to get hold of a Japanese peace treaty in the possession of cunning Doctor Masimoto (Lupu Pick), whose mistress Kitty (Lien Deyers) works for Haghi too.

An inspired Lang is in his element here. With criminal mastermind theme, it is a variant on Lang’s Doctor Mabuse, which also starred Klein-Rogge.

The cameraman is Fritz Arno Wagner and the production is designed by Otto Hunte.

Also in the cast are Fritz Rasp, Craighall Sherry, Julius Falkenstein, Georg John, Paul Rehkopf, Paul Horbinger, Hertha von Walther and Louis Ralph.

The full-length film is 178 minutes and the DVD edition is 144 minutes. This restored version was assembled from several 35mm nitrate copies, using the guidance of a deteriorated copy from the Prague archive that was the most complete. This is 50 minutes longer than previously circulating versions.

Production company UFA insisted on the film being low budget as Lang’s costly previous film Metropolis had plunged the studio into financial trouble. So Lang filmed most of the shots in narrow settings with lots of close ups, avoiding big sets. Spione was a huge success.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 3005

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