Bogart was in good form as a racketeer, who comes up against Nazi spies, headed by Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre, and Judith Anderson, and prefers patriotism to the profits of crime
Several things seriously frightened the film's success It was released very shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a bad time for portraying a quasi-realistic spy tale in a laughable manner
The film also suffered from an overt case of "cuteness" in its dialog, with such lines as ' Say, there's more here than meets the FBI.,' being uttered all too frequently by Bogart and his comic retinue which included Frank McHugh, William Demarest, Jackie Gleason, and Phil Silvers
Another weak point in the film was completely unbelievable "cliffhanger" ending which found Veidt driving a speedboat loaded with explosives toward a battleship
In spite of these minor irritants, the film did give Bogart a chance to do some very creditable comedy work and on the whole it still entertains
Several things seriously frightened the film's success It was released very shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a bad time for portraying a quasi-realistic spy tale in a laughable manner
The film also suffered from an overt case of "cuteness" in its dialog, with such lines as ' Say, there's more here than meets the FBI.,' being uttered all too frequently by Bogart and his comic retinue which included Frank McHugh, William Demarest, Jackie Gleason, and Phil Silvers
Another weak point in the film was completely unbelievable "cliffhanger" ending which found Veidt driving a speedboat loaded with explosives toward a battleship
In spite of these minor irritants, the film did give Bogart a chance to do some very creditable comedy work and on the whole it still entertains