One might not think a film made in 1936 could be so relevant today, but this one really is. It starts with the power supply for much of London being cut off by a terrorist bombing of the Chelsea Power Station. I need hardly remind anyone of the many contemporary media warnings of such threats, whether by bombs or by the new means of 'hacking'. The Great Blackout in New York City decades ago, and the huge power cut for much of Canada many years ago, may have been 'dry-runs'. Such threats are more relevant now than in 1936. But the eeriest thing in this film is to see a bus blown up by a bomb in a busy London street, killing its passengers. This really happened in 2005, 69 years after this film was released. Are the Islamic terrorists watching Hitchcock films? Or was Hitchcock just that far ahead of his time in seeing what was coming? This film is far more powerful than THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1934, see my review), and shows Hitchcock's suspense muscles tightening considerably. The unlikely star of the film is Oscar Homolka, who spent the rest of his career as a steady character actor. Here he is the lead, and he gives a spectacular performance. Hitchcock likes to close in on his face, especially when Homolka is silent, just as he had done two years earlier with the equally expressive face of Peter Lorre when he was also silent. What is it about these Central European actors of that generation who did not need to speak in order to act? Well, of course, they had grown up in the era of silent films, and they knew what a face could say without opening its mouth. As a stage actor in Vienna, which he fled because of the Nazis, Homolka had played Othello, and in this film we see the real stuff he was made of, which is that of a towering talent. This film is loosely based on a Joseph Conrad novel, THE SECRET AGENT (this novel would later be made into a feature film four more times, and in 2016 into a BBC TV series). The female lead in this film is Sylvia Sidney, who was famous for her sad eyes. She was very petite. She is perfect for the part of Homolka's wife, and she too says much without speaking. This is an extremely intense film, where the tension goes on increasing in the usual Hitchcock manner. Homolka lives in London but is in liaison with some terrorists, and considering that his boss has a German accent and this is 1936, we get the message. A character actor who plays one of the 'bad guys' is Peter Bull (uncredited), whom I used to know when he ran an astrology shop in Notting Hill Gate long ago. His heavy protruding lower lip resembled Hitchcock's. We see a great deal of London life in this film, whether on location or on a huge set makes little difference, as it is all thoroughly authentic. Hitchcock loved grocer's shops (his father had been a cabbage dealer) and street markets. The featured area in the film is S.W.5, which is the Earl's Court area, as it may have looked at that time. The editing of this film by Charles Frend is sensational, and greatly adds to the power of the movie. The scenes in the aquarium are suitably weird, and add to the furtive atmosphere of Homolka meeting and receiving instructions from his Nazi handler. This is truly vintage Hitchcock at its best.

A masterpiece, brilliant screen writing and story. Engaging drama. Actors also acted good. At the end, all the evidences of murder are destroyed due to bomb explosion and the inspector tries to remember whether the lady told him that she murdered her husband before the explosion or after the explosion but he is not sure. That scene was a classic and can be called as trademark of Hitchcock film.

Extremely boring 1936 film warning of acts of sabotage. Problem here is that the organization of the culprits is never fully identified. Why?What we get instead is an extremely dull, moody black and white film of a couple running a movie house in London. Trouble is that the husband, played well by Oscar Homolka, is in with a group of saboteurs and before the curtain comes down, tragedy has struck on a bus thanks to this group.Homolka steals the show here with his acting. His cold, calculating veneer is a joy to watch and his wife, Sylvia Sydney, does well, especially when she discovers what is occurring.John Loder, as a police officer, and smitten by Sydney is adequate for the part.

There is something almost prophetic about this Hitchcock drama during the early days of the rise of Nazi power (and prior to Hitler's invasion of Europe) that makes this film all the more scarier. A group of foreign agents are involved in terrorism blackouts and bombings in London, and a young wife (Sylvia Sidney) has no idea that her movie theater owner husband (Oscar Homolka) is one of them. Sidney's lovable younger brother (Desmond Tester) lives with them and steps in to unknowingly help out Homolka which leads to tragedy. This film is both political and personal, dealing with the saboteurs (whose alliance is never revealed) and the innocents involved in the initial blackout (where Sidney must pacify a group of theater patrons demanding their money back) and the ultimate explosion that has horrifying results. Some reviewers consider the actual explosion anti-climactic; I think how the film moves up to that point and the results that come after it make the scene quite horrifying, quite stunning considering the events and horrors of the next decade because of the rise of Nazi power in Europe. Homolka gets no sympathy as the husband/Villain, but he does an amazing job showing a slight conscience if not compassion. Sidney, one of the most underrated leading ladies of the 30's (and remembered more as an old lady on screen rather than a long-suffering heroine of pre-code dramas), looks different than almost everybody on screen. She isn't quite beautiful, but she's stunningly real, and gives a very layered performance. The scene after she discovers what has happened is quite tense as she finds herself laughing as whats on the movie screen, realizes what she has to do, and fights the urge to go through with what her grief is demanding her to do. John Loder is adequate as the agent who lets her in on the truth. Tester gives a wonderful performance as the young brother we'd all love to have. I could not find the credit for the lady complaining about the canary she purchased from one of Homolka's conspirators, but the scene she appears in is very amusing. Technically, this film is very well made, and I am thrilled that some excellent prints have surfaced. The scene of London in the blackout has a sort of 3-D effect. I am assuming that the parade sequence Tester attends is the ascension of King Edward (briefly) to the throne after the death of the previous King. That would give a motivation for the saboteurs, and gives the film a historical importance as well in addition to its startling preview of a grim future.