Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) User Reviews

something for everyone

[mukava991 · 8/10 · 7 September 2008]

This is a fast-paced, sometimes slightly confusing but never boring semi-documentary- style FBI drama about the hunt for a ring of Nazi spies in the US in the years leading up to World War Two. The nastiest Nazis are played by such villainous actors as George Sanders, Martin Kosleck and Hans von Twardowski; somewhat softer but still powerful characterizations are supplied by Frances Lederer as a misfit with dreams of grandeur and Paul Lukas as a cultivated and respected doctor who lectures at gatherings of the German- American Bund. They are all scheming to steal military secrets for the use of the Third Reich in its ambitions to conquer America. Edward G. Robinson plays the FBI official who tracks them down. If you are familiar with later movies like House on 92nd Street, Double Indemnity, Hangmen Also Die, They Drive By Night, The Stranger and Man Hunt you will see that all of these actors were past masters of the types of roles they played therein.

Based on a true story of a spy ring in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, these frightening individuals are brought to compelling life under the no-nonsense direction of Anatole Litvak. Although the film can certainly be described as propagandistic, particularly with the bombastic Walter Winchellesque narration, who can argue that something sinister wasn't afoot in those days and that America wasn't directly threatened by a powerful and totalitarian rival? Sure, America was not perfect either, but it is easy to be roused by the spirit of independence and individual liberty that is evoked by the good guys trapping and defeating the bad guys.

One of the best scenes is the interrogation of Frances Lederer by the seasoned FBI agent Robinson who cleverly yet forcefully appeals to Lederer's vanity to coax him into confessing and naming names. Paul Lukas is also gripping as the suave and confident doctor who by degrees crumbles in defeat after first being cornered by the FBI and then set upon by the Gestapo. Unfortunately the fate of some of the spies is not resolved at the end and the narrative just seems to drop them in favor of a blitzkrieg of wartime propaganda (much of it added after the film's initial release to update it for 1940 audiences). According to the FBI historian who appeared on Turner Classic Movies to introduce and discuss the film, this anti- espionage effort was largely a failure but the FBI learned a great deal from it and got better at its job in ensuing years. Part documentary, part detective story, part human drama, part cat-and-mouse chase adventure. Something for everyone.

"One doesn't need a wolf when a weasel will do."

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 30 May 2015]

Exciting espionage picture from Warner Bros. that holds the distinction of being the first explicitly anti-Nazi movie made in America. Star Edward G. Robinson doesn't appear until nearly midway through the film. The first half of the movie is about the various characters involved in a Nazi spy ring. Robinson plays an FBI agent who catches one German-American (Frances Lederer) acting as a spy and uses him to try and nab bigger Nazi fish.

Fascinating from a historical perspective but also gripping entertainment. It was based on a real case, which might explain why it has this realistic feel to it that you don't often see in pictures of the time. For example they don't even catch all the bad guys in the end. I'm surprised the Code allowed that as it usually called for all evil-doers to be punished. The newsreel-style narration is also a nice touch. The cast is good with (mostly) solid performances from everyone. Frances Lederer is hammy but he grows on you after awhile. Paul Lukas and George Sanders play Nazis. Sanders is good and Lukas is fantastic in the film's meatiest role. Robinson is also great in an understated performance. Given that this is WB we're dealing with, there's of course a wonderful supporting cast featuring the likes of Joe Sawyer, Dorothy Tree, and many German actors (some of whom used fake names to protect their families back in Germany).

"You guys are worse than gangsters" shouts one man when he's thrown out of a German American Bund meeting for expressing a dissenting opinion. There's some humor in that, I suppose, since WB was the pioneer of the gangster movie. But they would also make some of the best ant-Nazi war films during WW2. In many ways, this could be seen as their first step in that direction.

Nazis in the U.S.

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 24 October 2006]

Edward G. Robinson, Francis Lederer, Paul Lukas and George Sanders star in "Confessions of a Nazi Spy," a 1939 film done in anticipation of the United States becoming involved in World War II. There was a proliferation of the German-American bundts, and Hitler was using them to spread Nazi propaganda in the U.S. Robinson, as an FBI man, is brought in to head an investigation of spy activities.

The film is done in semi-documentary style - sort of a dramatized documentary. Sanders is the head of one such bundt, and he sports a short haircut and a very convincing German accent. Lederer plays a amateur spy in it for the money and the power trip, and Lukas is a doctor who hides behind his profession but is really an impassioned believer in the Reich who helps get the spy material through. All of the performances are very good and hit the right tone.

"Confessions of a Nazi Spy" is heavy on the propaganda as should be expected, warning the country that there are Nazis everywhere. Were there? Hard to say but given the Germans who emigrated to the U.S. who still had families back home, it's entirely possible.

The most interesting thing about the film was that all these Nazi infiltrators were living on U.S. soil expressing belief in the Reich and Hitler - yet each time one of them was told they had to return to Germany, the blood drained from their faces and they begged to stay in the U.S.! Interesting film, as are many of the films that preceded the U.S. involvement in World War II.

Better Than It Sounds

[GManfred · 25 January 2017]

Hollywood produced this one as the war in Europe had barely begun and the US was a couple of years away from Pearl Harbor. They had correctly identified the threat from Nazi Germany, though, and made a pretty accurate assessment of the consequences involved. "Confessions Of A Nazi Spy" is better than it sounds, and is not a story extracted from a cheap novel.

Nutshell; Some German-Americans felt an attachment to their Fatherland at the outbreak of the war, and some bought into the narrative and became Nazi sympathizers. Schneider (Francis Lederer) is one of those. He is inspired by the speeches of Dr. Kassell (Paul Lukas) and becomes a spy - more of a messenger - for a local subversive Nazi group. He is discovered by the FBI (Edw. G. Robinson), loses his nerve and informs on the group. Any more of the plot will spoil the story.

The picture is related in semi-documentary style which gives it a patina of authenticity and is directed by Hollywood veteran Anatole Litvak, who adds the required tension and who made several noteworthy noir and crime dramas in his career. Lederer and Lukas supply the villains and Robinson the hero in this surprisingly good rendition of a story of troublesome times to come for America.

good period piece

[deschreiber · 6/10 · 30 January 2013]

Based on a series of articles, then a book, "Nazi Spies in America," by ex-F.B.I agent Leo Turrou, who lost his job for writing, this is an interesting period piece. The dialogue has its clunky moments, especially when characters pause to speechify. But that was probably necessary as part of the propaganda of the time, when it was important to wake up America to the dangers of Nazism before Pearl Harbor. It was a time when too many voices were saying Hitler's was a European war and that America should keep out of it, and pro-Nazis like Charles Lindberg and the radio priest, Father Charles Coughlin, drew large audiences.

Although there certainly were Nazi spies in the U.S., resulting in numerous convictions, at the same time it's worth noting that the direct threat to America was exaggerated in the film. In 1939-1940 Hitler was focused on continental Europe first, then Britain, and had spent little time thinking about America. But the existence of Nazi spies certainly justified setting off alarm bells across the country and an effort to determine just how serious the threat was. Again, the film's value is largely as a period piece.

I do fault the script for portraying the spies as confessing and switching sides much too easily. Those moments struck me as highly unrealistic.

The website of the FBI describes the spy cases on which the articles, book and film were based. The case of Guenther Rumrich, who attempted to obtain 50 blank passports by posing as the Secretary of State is described at http://1.usa.gov/SbtCWj, although the FBI describe him as "crafty" while in the film he appears as a fool. The FBI also admits its failure in the case, reporting that "four times as many spies had escaped, including the biggest fishes." Leon Turrou, the ex-agent who wrote the book on which "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" was based, fares very badly in the FBI account. Another case related to the movies was the Duquesne Spy Ring, involving 33 spies, described by the FBI at http://1.usa.gov/TcR74V.

Taken from the files of the FBI

[349th Heavy Weapons Crew · 7/10 · 26 May 2000]

According to the host of "Turner Classic Movies", this movie is based on F.B.I. files. I also learned that the theatrical release of "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" almost resulted an international incident that might have caused America's premature entrance into World War II, two years before the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. I've seen documentaries about the activities of the German-American Bundt and can tell you that this movie has the frightening ring of authenticity. Well worth seeing if you can't get a hold of documentaries on the subject.

"I thought you said you were a loyal American."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 3 November 2012]

I'd never heard of this film but when I saw it in the cable lineup for Turner Classics this morning I had to be there, especially with Edgar G. Robinson heading the cast. Interestingly, Robinson doesn't even appear until about half way into the picture as an FBI agent hot on the trail of a German-American turned Nazi spy. I have to admit, there were times the story got pretty chilling for me the way it portrayed Nazi infiltration into American daily life look so easy to do. The blind obedience to Adolph Hitler professed by Dr. Karl Kassel (Paul Lukas) in his speeches to local bund gatherings is somewhat hard to imagine today, but then again, I've seen era footage of a Hitler rally in Madison Square Garden, so I have to believe this wouldn't have been impossible.

What I thought was pretty cool was the way Agent Renard (Robinson) got Kurt Schneider (Francis Lederer) to crack, playing to his vanity and sense of self importance. No doubt the job was made easier by Schneider's inability to make his spy activities pay off in a big way with his German contact Schlager (George Sanders). It's also noteworthy to mention how Germans in the film reacted in horror to the mere mention of the word 'Gestapo'; every time it was uttered it brought on a near panic attack.

I'm really curious how this film was received back when first released. Gallup polls taken in 1936 showed that only one in twenty Americans were in favor of America getting involved in another war, but it took only two more years of Hitler's aggression to convince Americans that strengthening our Armed Forces for a conflict would be in our best interest. In perhaps the best line of dialog that would preview America's eventual entry into World War II, Attorney Kellogg (Henry O'Neill) states his considered view to Agent Renard that "When our basic liberties are threatened, we wake up."

Compelling true story of Nazi spies in the United States before WW II

[jacobs-greenwood · 7/10 · 13 October 2016]

Directed by Anatole Litvak, this straightforward anti-Nazi propaganda film was based on real events involving a New York spy ring and four of its members that were convicted of spying on behalf of the German government. After about 45 minutes of set-up and character establishment, Edward G. Robinson is introduced as the FBI agent who ends up unraveling the ring. Francis Lederer, George Sanders, Paul Lukas, and Sig Ruman, among others, play various Nazis whereas Henry O'Neill plays the U.S. Attorney who prosecutes the four accused.

The film's historical value lies in its telling of actual events which occurred in the same time period (the growth of Nazism in Europe), its relating the obviously flawed Nazi philosophies and methods, and in its alerting the American audiences at that time of the very real dangers which existed within the United States (e.g. "loose lips, sink ships").

The story begins at a meeting being held in a room which adjoins a German restaurant in New York. Dr. Kassel (Lukas), a committed Nazi party member, is telling his fellow German Americans in attendance that their loyalty should be to their fatherland. That their fuhrer (Adolf Hitler) has declared war against all democracies and that it is their duty to carry out his wishes. Ward Bond, uncredited, appears as an American Legionnaire in attendance who objects to the rhetoric and is promptly thrown out. Kurt Schneider (Lederer), an out of work language teacher, is so caught up in proceedings that he writes letters to Germany hoping Nazi party leadership will consider using him as a spy.

Franz Schlager (Sanders), accompanied by an assistant Hilda Kleinhauer (Dorothy Tree), who regularly cross the Atlantic on the Bismarck, visit Schneider to see if he's gotten the information he'd been ordered to obtain by those in Germany. By using his daring and his live-in friend, Werner Renz (Joe Sawyer), Schneider had; he's given $50/month for his troubles and, eventually, is assigned more difficult tasks. Frustrated by not being given more responsibility and pay, for his wife (Grace Stafford) is pregnant, Schneider writes a letter to the liaison (Eily Malyon) in Scotland which, when its intercepted by British Military Intelligence (James Stephenson), begins the spy ring's downfall.

FBI agent Ed Renard (Robinson) quickly realizes the significance of what the letter means, and the amateur nature of its author. John Hamilton appears uncredited as an FBI chief. He is also able to (all to easily) capture Schneider when he's daring enough to try to obtain 15 blank passports for Schlager. Using Schneider's vanity against him, Renard's questions lead him to Hilda and then Kassel, who's affair with another woman (Lya Lys), contributes to his undoing. Renard's simple techniques for obtaining confirmation of his suspicions, and the Germans willingness to confess their deeds, make the story rather incredible.

Schneider's wife (Hedwiga Reicher) inadvertently leads him into the Gestapo's hands and Krogman (Ruman) gaffes by admitting to Renard that the suspects are operating on orders from the German government. In any event, some of the guilty parties (the characters played by Lederer, Tree, Sawyer, and Hans Heinrich von Twardowski's Max Helldorf character) are successfully prosecuted whereas Kassel and draftsman Westphal (Wolfgang Zilzer) are returned via the Bismarck to face penalties in their own country at the hands of the Gestapo (Lionel Royce and Henry Victor). Another German American, Greutzwald (Willy Kaufman), had been dealt with earlier for disagreeing with Kassel's speeches.

Selmer Jackson, John Ridgely, Regis Toomey, and Charles Trowbridge are all recognizable in small, uncredited parts.

Nothing Subtle in this film's message

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 7 November 2005]

Confessions of a Nazi Spy was made anticipating the fact that American involvement in World War II was inevitable so it is better to know thy enemy. Based on FBI files, Confessions of a Nazi Spy was a story about both the German American Bund and its links to the Nazi regime and the espionage and sabotage it tried to do.

The film is done in a documentary style, more popular over at 20th Century Fox than at Warner Brothers, with films like The House on 92nd Street and Calling Northside 777 as examples of the style.

The Nazis shown here are straight up villains be they respected physician Paul Lukas or disgruntled plebeian Francis Lederer. I think Lederer modeled his character on Bruno Hauptmann, the Lindbergh baby kidnapper and maybe the most unpopular man in America at one point. Hauptmann's appearance and voice were in newsreels to study and isn't it ironic that the man he wronged became a spokesman for appeasement.

On the other hand Edward G. Robinson is quite the stand up hero as the FBI agent investigating the Bund. Robinson was one of the bigger anti-Nazi activists in Hollywood and was proud to be included in what he considered a very important message.

No subtlety used in this film. For those not interested in the anti Nazi message, Confessions of a Nazi Spy does succeed on the entertainment level as well. But I will say that playing America the Beautiful over the end credits was a bit much even for audiences in 1939.

Is it propaganda or outright deception?

[SimonJack · 9/10 · 4 August 2012]

"Confessions of a Nazi Spy" is an excellent film about real events. It's based on a true story and uncovered facts at a time when the whole world was on the verge of war. As such, it's also an outstanding piece of propaganda - indeed, a classic example of the beneficial use of propaganda. More on that later.

Some of the reviews I've read give the impression that propaganda is all bad. Some imply that it's false or deceptive. Some don't like the fact that propaganda is or can be manipulative. But there are differences between propaganda and how it's used, and between it and outright lies and deception. World War II was a time rife with propaganda and with outright lies and deception. But, before looking at how it applies to this film, it would help to have a better overall understanding of propaganda.

Propaganda is everywhere around us. It's in the ads we watch, listen to and read in the media. It's in the news media itself. It's in our history books and school courses at all levels. It's in the government programs created by Congress. It's in the political rhetoric of our elected officials. Indeed, it's a proof of freedom of speech and of the press. The propaganda this refers to is the category of facts, ideas, and information that is used widely to explain, promote or encourage support for programs, positions, efforts, projects and products.

In this vein, propaganda helps inform the public about something. It may help a person make up his or her mind to support or oppose a policy or proposal. It may help a shopper decide which products or brands to buy. It helps people understand how a government program works. That's what most propaganda is and does.

But, there is another aspect of some propaganda, and that has to do with spreading rumor or making allegations about someone or thing. This is a malicious use of propaganda, and it fits in the realm of slander. It's used to attack, belittle or discredit someone or something in the eyes of the public. It's always negative. Curiously, no definition of propaganda states that it is ever outright deception and lies. So, there is a clear distinction between propaganda, which is not wrong or bad in itself, and lies or deception which are wrong.

Now, back to this film. It's based on a true story and events. It covers a great deal of information about the German-American Bund that many - indeed, most Americans then probably did not know. It exposed the real malicious and oppressive designs and intentions of the Nazis. This was at a time when many Americans were pacifists and didn't want to see a repeat of WWI. And, this film showed very well the deliberate Nazi plan to use the natural, healthy pacifism, as a means to keep America divided and out of the war. For the first time, many Americans found out what the Nazi party was really up to, and how it was a threat to our own country.

"Confessions" shows that the Nazis used outright lies and deception to cover up the truth of their operations. That was not propaganda, but misinformation. Toward the end, we saw that they planned to use rumor, allegation and slander in propaganda. This movie doesn't include several of the sabotages that Nazi agents carried out in some eastern U. S. cities. And we learn in the film that before that time, the U. S. did not have a counter-intelligence agency to deal with such insurgency.

Who could argue that the conclusions of the film, and the resulting security measures and efforts were not right? The government, and all Americans, learned about the dangers of "loose lips" - that can sink ships. So, as a propaganda piece, this film alerted the public to be cautious and wary. "Confessions" is indeed an historical film. It was the first real intelligent, fact-based movie that warned about the designs of the Nazis. And its value and importance became clear right away when organized Nazi efforts tried to stop the film's release with demonstrations in some eastern cities.

Sometimes a foe appears to be a friend.

[michaelRokeefe · 7/10 · 24 October 2003]

An investigative drama finding Edward G. Robinson as an effective G-Man "rooting around" in the Nazi underground. Its great to see Robinson as a positive character and equally impressive is his counterpoint Paul Lukas. An apt supporting cast includes:Francis Lederer, Lya Lys and George Sanders.

An unreal, surreal nightmare that makes you question your own sanity.

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 10 April 2013]

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.

The word you won't hear in this movie

[rhoda-9 · 7/10 · 12 April 2020]

A well-made, fairly gripping, but surprisingly bland movie. Or perhaps not so surprising. The Nazis are shown as gobbling up nearby nations (Austria, Czechoslovakia) and described as opposing "free speech" and "democracy." Twice it is mentioned in passing that they stir up "race prejudice." What they do to people who get in their way is conveyed only by the terror of Germans in the US who are threatened with being send back to the Fatherland. There is a single mention of a "concentration camp," but no suggestion that its occupants are there because they follow one religion.

Now, the Warner Brothers and their star, Edward G. Robinson, were Jews, so the silence was not due to any hostility on the film-makers' part. Sadly, therefore, one must conclude it was down to calculation, to the knowledge that many Americans were indifferent to the plight of the Jews, or, believing antisemitic stereotypes, thought the Nazis were doing a good job, though perhaps going a bit far. Perhaps the kindest thing one could say is that the Warners had American xenophobia in mind rather than antisemitism, and, knowing their audience would not care about even the most extreme horrors visited on foreigners, made their film solely about the threat to America.

It is also true that the movie pursues a factual, police-procedure approach rather than an emotional one. Even so, for a movie about fighting Nazis to lack even a single mention of the word "Jew" speaks volumes.

Dated, but historically interesting

[hmpulham · 5/10 · 18 May 2002]

I think people that will find this film interesting, are those who enjoy watching movies in a historical context. Released in 1939, it was one of the earliest movies with a distinct anti-Nazi theme. There is no subtlety here. The film's theme is that there is a vast network of Nazi spies and sympathizers at work to subvert America. The film ignores the the likelihood that there were more, and better organized communists running around, then Nazi supporters. But, the purpose was political, convince Americans that there was a eminent Nazi threat. I suspect in this, the Warner Brothers, succeeded.

Better Than You'd Think

[Michael_Elliott · 7 January 2009]

Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939)

*** (out of 4)

Better than expected propaganda film from Warner is probably more historically interesting than entertaining but there's still enough good stuff here to make it stand up well in today's times. The film centers on an FBI agent (Edward G. Robinson) who is trying to track down and break a Nazi ring working inside the United States. Watching this film today the subject matter is rather heavily handled and preachy. I'd go even further to say that the director and screenwriter are constantly beating their subjected over the head of the viewer but one has to remember that the Nazi movements in America were pretty much kept quiet back in the day and this film bravely threw them under the bus a few times. One has to applaud the film for trying what it did in 1939 and I'm sure the movie opened the eyes of many people (even though I've heard it wasn't a hit for the studio). The story told here is a pretty good one that will certainly grab your attention and keep you going throughout the film. The documentary-style telling doesn't work overly well but that doesn't matter too much. Robinson turns in a good, quiet performance as the main FBI guy. He doesn't shout or get too worked up, which is something I haven't seen from him in his earlier films. I really enjoyed how Robinson played the character and it really paid off in the end. Francis Lederer, George Sanders, Paul Lukas, Henry O'Neill and Joe Sawyer add nice supporting performances.

My brief review of the film

[sol- · 6/10 · 1 January 2006]

Well paced and watchable even if obvious propaganda, the film does not have much in the way of a good story, but some very competent acting and good editing keep it afloat. The narration is heavy-handed and far too dramatic to have any impact, and there are many stereotype characters in the mix, but yet the film has a sort of exciting, riveting style to it, and therefore it is easy to imagine that it was effective propaganda in its time, even with some shortcomings and a lack of subtlety. It is not brilliant film-making, but there are a couple of reasons why it may be of some interest. Firstly, it captures the attitudes and propaganda ideas that were around at the time. Secondly, the film is relatively entertaining, even if quite predictable and a bit obvious. It is not a great film, but it is worth a look.

First Anti-Nazi Hollywood Film.

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 5 November 2013]

Anatole Litvak directed this docudrama dealing with covert Nazi activities in America beginning in 1937, where a prominent German physician named Dr. Kassel(played by Paul Lukas) has just given a propaganda speech to the growing German American Bund, a group of Americans of German descent who are encouraged to be loyal to Germany over the U.S. Francis Lederer plays a money-hungry spy who will eventually be turned by FBI agent Edward Bernard(played by E.G. Robinson) who is assigned the task of cleaning up the spy ring. George Sanders costars as a German officer in charge. Interesting film may be little more than propaganda itself, but remains a fascinating time capsule of its era.

The party doesn't want criticism only total obedience!

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 8 November 2005]

(Some Minor Spoilers) Released in April 1939 the movie "Confession of a Nazi spy" was re-edited and re-released late in 1940. This was to take advantage of the by then changing world situation. Hitler's Germany had a;ready overran Poland in September 1939 as ell as Norway and Denmak in the early spring of 1940. Next on Hitler's list of conquests came the low countries and then France in the late spring and early summer of 1940. The Nazis then opened up a major air offensive against besieged Great Britan in the summer and fall of 1940 as well as a sea blockade to force that nation to surrender. Under these world-wide changing events the re-release made a much bigger impact on the American movie-going public then it would have in the spring of 1939 when the movie was originally released. Of the danger that Nazi Germany represented at that time.

The movie itself showed the Nazis, or at least the ones operating in the USA, as being anything like the ones in real life. Acting as if they were so arrogant and sure of themselves, in being able to turn over America to their landsmen across the Atlantic, that they screwed themselves up by easily getting caught by the FBI led by agent Edward Reward, Edward G. Robinson,and his men. This even before the great victories in Europe by the vaunted German Wehmacht and Luftwaffe even began.

Having established German/American Bundts all over the United States the Nazis plan to use their propaganda ministry, headed by the sinister Dr.Joesph Geobbels (Martin Kosleck),to flood the USA with a campaign of what Geobbels called stupidity. This was done to soften up the unconcerned and naive American people for the big takeover of their country without as much as them having to fire a single shot. The only problem that they have is that the Nazis in the USA were anything but up to do the job.

The Nazis bank on the head of newly appointed, by non other then the German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler himself, leader of the German/American Buntds organizations Dr. Karl Kassel, Paul Lukas, to organize the take-over of America. Kassel has the oddest bunch of weirdos and oddballs imaginable to accomplish all of this. Their so into themselves that they don't even notice that their throwing suspicion on themselves, as being Nazi spies, big time by the US law enforcement agencies; Like the FBI and local police departments.

The Nazi master-spy on the east coast who's job it is to find out the number of US troops that are stationed in NYC as well as troop movements all over the eastern seaboard is Kurt Schnielder, Francis Lederer. Schnielder is a bumbling jerk who went AWOL from the US army and later embezzled the funds of the company that he worked for.

Thinking of himself as a super German patriot an giant intellectual as well as military genius Schnieder arrogance leads him to get caught as he tries to talk officials in the State Department, telling them that he's the assistant to the US Undersecretry of State, to send him 35 blank passports. He plans use them in falsifying the names of German spies entering the USA from the German passenger liner "Bismark".

It didn't take that long for Agent Reward to get the pompous Schneider to spill the beans on himself as well as his fellow spies. Reward does that by buttering him up with what a great man he is, and what a great mind he has, in the history of world espionage which Schneider obviously is one of it's greatest personalities and shining lights.

Dr. Kassel himself is easily made to turn in his cohorts by Agent Reward threatening to expose him, not as a Nazi spy, as having an affair with a young woman member of his German/American Bundt organization to his unsuspecting wife, Hedwiga Reicher. Hedwiga thinks that all these night that Karl failed to show up for supper he was working late, and hard, on the job of him becoming the future American Adolf Hitler.

Schneider's friend and US Army Sgt. Warner, Joe Sawyer, who only attended the German/American Bundt meetings, in the Yorktown section of New York City, because of the free food and drinks served there is also drawn into the Nazi spy ring. Sgt. Warner's job is getting the information, to Schneider Nazi controller Herr Schlager(George Sanders), about the US Army's secret Z Code about the secret communications between the US Army and US Army Air Force. In the end he also ends up behind bars and in danger of being strapped into the Sing Sing electric chair for being a traitor to his country.

The entire Nazi spy ring collapses even before there's a war in Europe, or for that matter with the USA, in March 1938 eighteen month before the start of WWII. You wonder by watching the movie what made the Nazis so successful on the field of battle, at least up to the time that the movie was released or re-released, when they were such dismal failures in the field of espionage and subversion?

The movie "Confessions of a Nazi spy" fails to show what a real threat the Nazi regime really was to the US as well as the free world. It does it showing the Nazis in the movie as a bunch of helpless buffoons and nincompoop's instead of the very dangerous and effective scoundrels that they really were in real life.

Alarm Bells Are Ringing...

[Lejink · 6/10 · 28 January 2021]

This film is probably best-known as the first Hollywood feature to openly vilify the German Nazi regime, noticeably doing so even before the formal declaration of European hostilities in September later the same year.

Kudos then to Warner Brothers for going out on a limb while other studios, perhaps with their eyes on lucrative U. S. German relations, demurred. The film itself, it's fair to say, is more run-of-the-mill as movie entertainment goes and it's not difficult to imagine the plot being transcribed from a routine gangster flick of the time, but it's worth viewing for the capable direction by Anatole Litvak, his trademark use of montage one again prominent and the heft given to it by the casting of Edward G Robinson as a crusading F. B. I. Agent in what almost looks like a dry run for his insurance company inspector in Wilder's "Double Indemnity" a few years later, although you do have to wait a full forty minutes for him to make his first appearance.

Before that, we're introduced to a small representation of the reputed several spies and conspirators supposedly working for Germany in plain sight throughout America, their true purposes concealed while they integrate themselves into society as the enemy within and gain employment in munitions and the military.

The narrative is punctured throughout by stentorian Reuter's / Pathé newsreel-type announcements which serve both as news commentary and public service warnings to reinforce the coming peril and apart from making no reference to the Nazi purge of the Jewish people, pulls few punches in its denunciation of Hitler and Goebbels personally, the German invasions of Czechoslovakia and Austria and depicting the sinister operations and thuggish tendencies of the Gestapo.

The message, well-intentioned as it is, probably gets in the way of the story as we see small-fry pro-German agitators taken down by age-old weaknesses to money and sex, while later there are lengthy courtroom speeches espousing truth, justice and the American way just to ensure the message hits home. Robinson is committed in his role as the determined, foxy (Renard, get it?) investigator and George Sanders, in a remarkable Aryan-style haircut, makes an impression as an admittedly stereotypical strutting, jackbooted paymaster, while Francis Lederer, Paul Lukas and Dorothy Tree all convince in their parts as subterfuge cogs in the Nazi wheel.

Like I said, more noteworthy perhaps for the message it carried than as a great example of Hollywood movie-making, it's nevertheless to be praised for taking a stand at a time when a sizeable number of isolationists at the time in the States were recommending a course of non-intervention.

effective anti-Nazi film

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 5 November 2021]

War is raging but the US remains out of the fighting. A news reporter announces the trial of a Nazi spy ring. The story picks up with a Nazi plant in pre-war Scotland. In America, bitter arrogant former soldier Kurt Schneider (Francis Lederer), who was dishonorably discharged from the US Army, offers his services to the Germans. FBI agent Edward Renard (Edward G. Robinson) is on the case.

Robinson isn't in this much during the first half. It's not really his movie. It's about the Nazis and a traitor like Schneider. This is an anti-Nazi propaganda film. The most effective is the Nazis' diatribes against democracy. Some of it is a little over the top. I don't know how many leaflets actually got dropped on the American public in the real world. I would believe more that the Nazis have a radio program. All in all, this is a very effective anti-Nazi film at a time when it was very much needed.

An exciting espionage thriller

[krorie · 8/10 · 5 November 2005]

With the Nazi Party now illegal in Germany but still legal in the United States with several active members, it's not surprising that the American Bund had such a large membership in 1939 when Hitler was at the height of his power and was rapidly augmenting the Third Reich with territory stolen from his neighbors. Since the United States was officially neutral at the time, it is surprising that this film received such a wide distribution. One must remember, however, that FDR early on recognized the threat to world security, including the danger to our interests, from Der Fuher. He was in the process of asking Congress for the approval of Lend Lease and worked closely with Winston Churchill following the fiasco of the Munich appeasement which ousted the incompetent Neville Chamberlain.

The movie turns out to be somewhat of a mixed bag. There are really three main elements composing the film. From time to time there is a documentary-style narration by John Deering of actual events taking place in Europe such as the Anschluss; second, there is the main story which is well written, directed, and acted concerning a spy network in the United States attempting to lure the minds of German Americans into the Nazi trap with help from the Gestapo, Hitler's private police force of bullying goons; third, is the preachy part filled with patriotic talk, some noble, some propaganda, some prophetic. The best element is the actual story with standout performances by: Edward G. Robinson, who doesn't appear until the movie is almost half over, George Sanders playing a Nazi Stooge who is a go between for agents in Germany and their counterparts in the United States, Paul Lukas playing a medical doctor who mixes medical facts with Nazi myth and who gives stirring speeches for the Party to get recruits and to hold his own ring of spies together, Francis Lederer as a Nazi agent who places fame and fortune above all else including the master race, and Dorothy Tree playing Hilda a true believer until she breaks under pressure from FBI agent Ed Renard (Edward G. Robinson).

Whether you like this film depends a lot on how much you like espionage flicks dealing with World War II. As a spy movie from 1939, "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" holds up well. It comes across not as a relic from a bygone era but as an exciting movie thriller based on historical events.

Interesting espionage yarn with U.S. on the brink of war...

[Doylenf · 7/10 · 12 August 2008]

This is definitely a better than average espionage yarn produced by Warner Bros. a couple of years before our entry into WWII. FRANCIS LEDERER has a key role as a homegrown Nazi spy without much experience but learning the ropes from the more experienced GEORGE SANDERS and PAUL LUKAS.

Anatole Litvak's direction is swift and the story told in a semi-documentary style that would flourish more often in the '40s over at Fox where films like THE HOUSE ON 92nd STREET and 13 RUE MADELINE would exploit the subject of espionage.

EDWARD G. ROBINSON has the role of a good guy for a change, an FBI man who has to track down the Nazi spies before valuable information is leaked.

Maintains interest throughout, despite the late appearance in the film of Robinson's character.

One of FRANCIS LEDERER's best roles during the '30s, it's a film well worth watching despite the overtones of propaganda.

Pretty exciting and rather brave as well

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 25 July 2008]

In 1939, most Americans really could have cared less about the war clouds in Europe. In hindsight, most Americans felt our intervention in WWI was a mistake and now a strong sense of isolationism permeated the country. Because of this, most American films ignored that there was a Nazi Germany or took a very neutral attitude (such as in IDIOT'S DELIGHT and CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OLYMPICS). However, by about 1939, a few domestic film studios finally began showing the Nazis as "the bad guys" and CONFESSIONS OF A NAZI SPY was one of the first. Even the wonderful STORM WARNING (probably the best Hollywood anti-Nazi films made before America joined the war) didn't appear for another year. Because of this, CONFESSIONS OF A NAZI SPY is a very brave film--showing the Nazis as evil and bent on warfare against America.

The film is an espionage film and the first half is told solely from the viewpoint of Nazi agents living in America. The star of the film. FBI agent Edward G. Robinson, doesn't even appear until about the midway point--at which point the US government springs into action to root out these traitors. It is all told in a very realistic and believable manner--mostly because it was based on a real pre-war case in the US. Exciting, well acted (with many underplayed roles despite how easily the whole thing could have been portrayed) and stirring--this is a great film.

By the way, although the film was made in 1939, the version just recently shown on Turner Classic Movies must have had additional pieces added sometime after 1939--as they talk about the fall of Norway and Holland--something that did not occur until 1940.

Early Nazi opposition

[drjgardner · 7/10 · 21 July 2019]

This is one of the earliest films to openly criticize the Nazi government and it's remarkable that it was made when it was. It's based on a true story and the film reflects its origins. It comes at a time when Edward G. Robinson was moving away from his gangster roots, and he does a good job as an FBI agent.

Overlong propaganda...with some great moments.

[LoveCoates · 5 September 2002]

Not a bad film, particularly in its historical importance. Reportedly, the Warner brothers and Edward G. Robinson all fought to make this film, which was made at a time when Americans, remembering the devastation of WWI, were still wary about entering another European conflict.

Structured a little strangely -- we don't get enough of our favorite character, Robinson's, who is a prototype of the thirties G-Man. He has some great lines, particularly when cutting down the bad guys. It's interesting to see him on the right side of the law for once, and equally interesting to see Paul Lukas, best known for playing the anti-Nazi hero of Watch on the Rhine, playing a German sympathizer.

An almost-unrecognizable George Sanders steals the show (doesn't he always?) as a hardcore Nazi soldier.

The movie is heavy-handed propaganda which becomes almost comical with its over-dramatic narration and failure to recognize the irony in its supposed hate of propaganda. The narrator does offer up the movie's most hilarious line, describing how the Germans manufacture "mass stupidity."