![](/img/wiki_up/ContrabandPoster 2.jpg)
CONTRABAND
UK, 1940, 92 minutes, Black and white.
Conrad Veidt, Valerie Hobson, Hay Petrie, Joss Ambler, Raymond Lovell, Esmond Knight, Harold Warrender.
Directed by Michael Powell.
Contraband is a propaganda film made very early in World War Two, echoing the experiences of late 1939.
The film focuses on a Danish ship apprehended in the English Channel and subject to examination by the British authorities for contraband. During the holding, the captain is suspicious of one of his passengers, follows her to London and becomes involved in the exposure of some German spies – all with the help of the Danish community in London, especially at a restaurant.
The film is fairly basic in its style, has strength with Conrad Veidt and the captain and Valerie Hobson as the woman under suspicion. Raymond Lovell is the Nazi spy.
The film is interesting in its glimpses of London in 1939-40, Piccadilly Circus, the streets of Soho, the countryside and the coast.
Conrad Veidt had appeared in many German films, including The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari. Though not Jewish, his wife was Jewish and he declared himself Jewish when he left Germany at Hitler’s accession. He appeared in a number of British films and then moved to Hollywood where he appeared in A Woman’s Face as well as Casablanca. He died suddenly in 1943. Valerie Hobson was a grande dame of British cinema from the 30s to the 50s.
The film was written by the Archers, the combination of the writing of Emeric Pressburger and the direction of Michael Powell. They had previously made The Spy in Black, a World War One war story with Conrad Veidt and Valerie Hobson. They moved on to The Lion Has Wings and directed The Thief of Baghdad. During the war they made The 49th Parallel and One of Our Aircraft is Missing before moving to a critique of the war mentality in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. In the late 40s they made some classic films including A Matter of Life and Death and Black Narcissus. Their later career was a mixture, going back to the war in the 1950s for The Battle of the River Plate and Ill Met By Moonlight. Michael Powell created a scandal with his violent horror film, Peeping Tom. Two of his final films were made in Australia: They’re a Weird Mob and Age of Consent.
1.An interesting World War Two story? Espionage? The beginning of the war? Released in 1940?
2.The black and white photography, the scenes of London itself? The musical number? The musical score?
3.The title, British suspicions of ship cargoes, holding them in quarantine, examining them?
4.The focus on the ship, Conrad Veidt as the captain, Danish? His attitude towards his crew, towards Mrs Sorensen and her not wearing a life jacket? The quarantine? The British authorities? His suspicions of Mrs Sorensen and Mr Pidgeon, following them in the train? Apprehending Mrs Sorensen in London, their going to the restaurant, the issue of the German spies, her cover? Going to the house, going to the theatre? Their being apprehended? The captain’s escape, his reliance on the Danish people at the restaurant? The gang? Pinpointing the place of their imprisonment? The attack, rescuing Mrs Sorensen, exposing the spies? Returning to the ship? The attraction to Mrs Sorensen? Getting his watch back?
5.Mrs Sorensen, mysterious, her background story, husband, children? Going to London, the contacts, her previous apprehension by the Nazis, the torture? Her being rescued? A strong woman?
6.The Nazis, the background of torture, Van Dyne? His associates? In high society? The club, the cinema? The exposure, the final bargaining with the captain, letting Mrs Sorensen go? The pursuit on the roof? Death?
7.The background of the ship, life on the ship, the guests and passengers? The British authorities? The ship continuing on its way?
8.The beginnings of propaganda movies in England in 1940?