I Was a Spy

I Was a Spy is a 1933 British thriller film directed by Victor Saville and produced by Michael Balcon. It stars Madeleine Carroll as Marthe Cnockaert, Herbert Marshall, and Conrad Veidt. Based on the 1932 memoir I Was a Spy by Marthe Cnockaert, the film is about her experiences as a Belgian woman who nursed German soldiers during World War I while passing intelligence to the British. The film was produced by Gaumont British Picture Corporation with Woolf & Freedman Film Service and Fox Film Corporation distributing in the United Kingdom and the United States respectively.

I Was a Spy was also the first film dubbed in Poland (while there were earlier examples of films dubbed in Polish, they were recorded in Paramount studio in Joinville, France), released in 1935 as Siostra Marta jest szpiegiem, starring Lidia Wysocka as Martha Cnockhaert's voice. The screenplay was written by Ian Hay, W. P. Lipscomb and Edmund Gwenn.

I was a Spy was released to cinemas in the United Kingdom on 4 September 1933. It was voted the best British film of 1933 and the performance of Carroll was praised.

Plot
In German-occupied Belgium in 1914, a local woman nurses injured German soldiers while passing information to the British.

Cast

 * Madeleine Carroll as Marthe Cnockaert
 * Herbert Marshall as Stephan
 * Conrad Veidt as Commandant Oberaertz
 * Edmund Gwenn as Burgomaster
 * Gerald du Maurier as Doctor
 * Donald Calthrop as Cnockhaert
 * May Agate as Madame Cnockhaert
 * Eva Moore as Canteen Ma
 * Martita Hunt as Aunt Lucille
 * Nigel Bruce as Scottie
 * George Merritt as Captain Reichmann
 * Anthony Bushell as Otto

Production
Filming took place in Shepherds Bush. Producer Michael Balcon sent Herbert Mason (who was initially production manager before becoming an assistant director) to take the script to Belgium and give it to Marthe Cnockaert to look at.

The script was written by Edmund Gwenn who also portrayed the burgomaster.

Release
I Was a Spy was screened at the Lyric.

Reception
In a poll conducted by the magazine Film Weekly, the film was voted the best British movie of 1933, and Madeleine Carroll's performance was voted the best in a British movie.

The Daily Mail (21 November 1933) described it as "the most splendid film produced in this country." The Daily Despatch (21 November 1933) described it as a film "equal to Hollywood's best." Variety and motion picture critic Mordaunt Hall (for The New York Times) praised Carroll's acting.

William Troy for The Nation said, "It is the kind of picture calculated to make us believe that there is something beautiful and touching about war, after all."

Film historian and critic Paul Rotha for Cinema Quarterly said, "I raise my hat to Gaumont for attempting a film of serious stature, but replace it when I see the spirit in which the deed is done."

The Evening News (Rockhampton) (30 May 1934) praised the acting and described it as "[spectacular] in its sweep, human in its emotions, dramatic in its intensity and profoundly gripping in its appeal."

Although it was very successful at the box office, this was not Saville's reaction. He watched the completed I Was a Spy with one of the Assistant Directors, Herbert Mason, and was devastated: however, Mason reassured him that it was his "best to date."

Halliwell's Film & Video Guide described the film as "[good] standard war espionage melodrama."

Adrian Turner for Radio Times said that, "Fans of vintage British cinema will enjoy this sprightly espionage yarn, set during the First World War and bearing a close resemblance to the Mata Hari legend."

In 2021, film critic and author Derek Winnert praised the cast and their performances.

Home media
I Was a Spy was released on DVD on 19 May 2014.