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Secret Agent

Secret Agent

Thriller · Mystery · Romance · 1936

During World War I, a novelist declared dead is recruited by British intelligence and sent to Switzerland under a new identity to assassinate a German spy. Teamed with a fellow agent posing as his wife and an eccentric assassin known as “the General,” the trio close in on their target — until two of them grow ambivalent when their duty to the mission clashes with their consciences.

Movie details

Secret Agent

“Dead Women Tell No Tales Was The Motto of This Charming Lady Killer!”

1936 Thriller · Mystery · Romance 1h 26m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.1 / 10

Community rating

During World War I, a novelist declared dead is recruited by British intelligence and sent to Switzerland under a new identity to assassinate a German spy. Teamed with a fellow agent posing as his wife and an eccentric assassin known as “the General,” the trio close in on their target — until two of them grow ambivalent when their duty to the mission clashes with their consciences.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Secret Agent?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Alfred Hitchcock

Written by

Charles Bennett · Ian Hay · Jesse Lasky Jr.

Madeleine Carroll

Madeleine Carroll

Elsa Carrington

John Gielgud

John Gielgud

Richard Ashenden / Edgar Brodie

Peter Lorre

Peter Lorre

The General

Robert Young

Robert Young

Robert Marvin

Percy Marmont

Percy Marmont

Caypor

F

Florence Kahn

Mrs. Caypor

Charles Carson

Charles Carson

"R"

Court is in session

Put Secret Agent on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.