SPIES (DVD/FF 1.33/1928/B&W) DVD

Spies
Spies (Spione) was the first independent production of German "thriller" director Fritz Lang. The years-ahead-of-its-time plotline involves Russian espionage activity in London. The mastermind is Haghi (Rudolph Klein-Rogge), a supposedly respectable carnival sideshow entertainer. Heading the good guys is Agent 326 (Willy Fritsch), with the help of defecting Russian spy Sonya (Gerda Maurus). The film moves swiftly to several potential climaxes, each one more exciting than its predecessor. Haghi's ultimate demise is a superbly staged Pirandellian vignette. Anticipating Citizen Kane by a dozen years, director Lang dispenses with all transitional dissolves and fade-outs, flat-cutting territory from one scene to another. The film was co-scripted by Lang and his then-wife Thea Von Harbou. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Rudolf Klein-Rogge as Haghi Gerda Maurus as Sonya Barranikowa Lien Deyers as Kitty Craighall Sherry as Secret Service Chief Willy Fritsch as No. 326 (Det. Donald Tremaine, English version) Louis Ralph as Hans Morriera Lupu Pick as Mosimoto (Matsumoto, English Version) Fritz Rasp as Col. Jellusic (Ivan Stepanov, English version)

Crew Fritz Lang - Director Werner Richard Heymann - Composer (Music Score) Karl Vollbrecht - Production Designer Otto Hunte - Production Designer Fritz Arno Wagner - Cinematographer Fritz Lang - Producer Erich Pommer - Producer Thea von Harbou - Screenwriter Fritz Lang - Screenwriter Gaylord Carter - Musical Performer

Spies
In the tradition of his popular Dr. Mabuse films (Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse), Fritz Lang's Spies revolves around the baroque schemes of a criminal mastermind -- in this case, Haghi (Rudolf Klein-Rogge), a master spy who operates from a secret office inside a bank. The plot is a virtual template for all espionage movies to come. It's full of double agents, secret documents, assassinations, and even a love story between two agents on opposite sides of the vast game Haghi is playing. In contrast to Lang's silent masterpieces Metropolis and Die Nibelungen: Siegfried, with their gargantuan sets and stately, myth-like plots and pacing, Spies is made with swifter strokes. It begins with a quick-moving montage of murders, heists, and other crimes that sets the mood for the fast-paces, densely plotted action to follow. This, and a brilliantly designed and edited later passage which finds the hero, Agent 326 (Willy Fritsch), trapped in a train car about to be obliterated by an oncoming locomotive, are two of the film's great action sequences. Its ending, in which master-of-disguise Haghi's surprising secret identity is revealed, provides one of the most shockingly surreal moments in Lang's ouevre. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide
 

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General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: Sound Processing: Additional Features: Includes a gallery of rare production photographs DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: Content Length: 143 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 1. Opening Titles: Sensational Theft [:09] 2. An Official Summons [:11] 3. The Criminal Lair [3:21] 4. A Bank Transaction [9:01] 5. Sonja [7:24] 6. The Art of Persuasion [5:04] 7. Engaging the Enemy [11:40] 8. Danielli [5:34] 9. A Trust Betrayed [8:54] 10. Wayward Souls [7:39] 11. Jullisic [7:29] 12. Secrets of the Japanese [8:48] 13. The Cold 20,000 [8:24] 14. Harakiri [4:44] 15. 33.133 [9:48] 16. Putting Together the Pieces [10:48] 17. Set to Destruct [8:08] 18. "Curtain" [8:01]