That's the analogy which FBI agent Edward G. Robinson of the espionage division makes as he reflects on the Nazi spy ring he's fought so cleverly to bring down. This ring goes everywhere, from a Scottish village where one of the townsfolk (Eily Malyon) acts as a Nazi postal agent for mail coming in and going out, to the manicurist on an Atlantic cruise ship. The Nazis range from blatant (George Sanders) to soft-spoken (Paul Lukas) to a variety of small fries doing the little errands that have a greater consequence in mind.
It's all done with the purpose of destroying democracy and evidence of its effectiveness can be seen in society today. This semi-documentary style drama was the first serious expose on Nazi evils to warn Americans of impending dangers. Totally passive/aggressive in its attempts to win innocent German Americans over to its side, the Nazi agenda here is more dangerous than any mob which Robinson ever ran (or fought to expose and destroy). You may find the film overly melodramatic in its method, but you won't be unaffected by it, especially if you value the democratic principals this country was founded upon and is desperately fighting to hold onto only slightly more than 70 years later.
If this film opens you up to reflect on how this applies to society today, you have learned a thing or two, and like another Warner Brothers' anti-Nazi film ("All Through the Night"), revealed in its script, you'll be telling others, "We've got to wake up!". This reminds us freedom is never free, and we must work hard to retain it.
It's all done with the purpose of destroying democracy and evidence of its effectiveness can be seen in society today. This semi-documentary style drama was the first serious expose on Nazi evils to warn Americans of impending dangers. Totally passive/aggressive in its attempts to win innocent German Americans over to its side, the Nazi agenda here is more dangerous than any mob which Robinson ever ran (or fought to expose and destroy). You may find the film overly melodramatic in its method, but you won't be unaffected by it, especially if you value the democratic principals this country was founded upon and is desperately fighting to hold onto only slightly more than 70 years later.
If this film opens you up to reflect on how this applies to society today, you have learned a thing or two, and like another Warner Brothers' anti-Nazi film ("All Through the Night"), revealed in its script, you'll be telling others, "We've got to wake up!". This reminds us freedom is never free, and we must work hard to retain it.