Secret Agent - Digitally Remastered

In this 1936 movie, a decent British soldier is forcibly recruited into the secret service. He travels to Switzerland to discover a German spy and to ensure he is killed by another British agent. He meets a third British agent who plays his wife in the game. Today the movie looks dated technologically and plot wise because of all that has happened. The scenery is painted. The tropes are familiar from countless spy movies thereafter. Some don't find it suspenseful, but I found the train scene suspenseful despite this. But this is very much a send-up of the secret agent genre and secret agents with only a necessary fan dance at the end to pass the censors or to appeal to the patriotism of the British audiences, or so I interpret it. It is very funny in disingenuous and satiric ways. Beware watching it because the film is old and often dark. This is especially true when streaming it from Amazon.

This Laserlight DVD is the best copy of "The Secret Agent" you will probably be able to find . Period .Alfred Hitchcock's older Britch films are hard to find in decent copies . Most of them are in 'public domain'.Many have been beautifully restored by The Criterion Collection or King Lorber . This title has never been really restored - yet ! I bought a previous version by another company and it was so bad I sent it back . They even stated that it was not only digitally re-mastered , but also in color ! We all know that these titles were never in color or even colorized . How these cheap versions are allowed to make these inferior DVD's I'll never know .A young Sir John Gielgud has the lead in this thriller and he was actually good looking as a young man .Peter Lorre who became a big star in America has a good role in this film like he did in "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and 'The 39 Steps' two other Hitchcock films. Madeline Carroll a most underrated actress has the female lead . And Robert Young rounds out the cast . A good story . I highly recommend this for your Alfred Hitchcock collection .

I have seen this film many times and I find it quite entertaining. In my opinion it is not as good as 39 Steps, The Man Who Knew too Much, A Lady Vanishes, and Young and Innocent, and yet, it is worth watching. Every scene is Hitchcockian, mixing humor with a little suspense and irony. It is also good to know that Robert Young plays the charming villain and Peter Lorre an assassin with a twisted sense of humor.This Cobra Entertainment film makes a slight video and audio improvement above a previous alpha edition. One problem I had with the Alpha version was that a lot of the dialogue went too fast. This time I could hear and understand everything. Why is there an introduction by Tony Curtis? This is a mystery to me since there isn't much he can say about Hitchcock; he never worked with him in any movie that I recall. Nevertheless, given the fact that there is no other better copy of this movie out there (for example, Criterion), this Cobra Entertainment copy does a pretty good job.

For those late Saturday nights, when all you want to do is watch a good classic thriller with the family, there is really nothing to compare with a good Alfred Hitchcock movie. In secret agent, a young soldier is summoned by his superiors, and finds out that he has been listed in the newspapers as having been killed in action. John Gielgud is excellent in this role, and is complimented by the lovely Madeleine Carroll, a thrill seeking agent who stars as his "wife". Robert Young, more known for his roles in musicals and a few crime dramas, plays the part of an American, and the "third man" in this movie, invoking more than a passing interest in Carroll. The plot twists and turns are well worked out, and the whole movie is worth watching. Peter Lorre is especially at his best, as a bloodthirsty Spanish agent working with Gielgud and Carroll. If you are a fan of Hitchcock films, then I would recommend that you add this movie to your collection.

If, over the years, you've bought countless releases of this film only to be disappointed by the quality (video and audio)....take heart! I decided to roll the dice one more time. I ordered a used copy of a french release - Quatre de l'espionnage - that was offered on Amazon.uk. I hoped for a slight improvement over the Laserlight dvd that I've lived with for too many years. I WAS AMAZED AT THE QUALITY! I spent $18.00 US for the dvd (including shipping). Unfortunately it is PAL/Region 2, so you'll need an all-region dvd player. It is from itv studios/filmedia. It has removable french subtitles. This will do nicely until we get a full restoration blu ray.

Grand admirateur de ce génie du cinéma, j'ai pu ainsi terminer la collection des films de ce tout grand bonhomme.

Ricezione veloce avvenuta dopo 2 giorni dalla prenotazione, la custodia ed il cd erano in perfetto stato. Da consigliare a chiunque.

A real one off, proving that Gielgud really was young once. Peter Lorre is even more OTT than usual, but never mind that. One of Hitchcock's first masterpieces.

Peccato che è solo in lingua originale non in italiano

Inspiré de la nouvelle de Joseph Conrad (The Secret Agent) ce film permet déjà de déceler le style d'un certain M Hitchcock. Un film moderne pour l'époque. A voir pour ceux qui aime le maître du suspens.