Horning In On A Revolution

British Agent (1934) Is Russia, Romance, and Rebellion

Leslie Howard takes a notion to run things in Russia as its revolution boils over, till Red functionary Kay Francis intercedes on the Party's behalf. They play the eternal struggle between love and duty, as caught by Warner camera under direction of Michael Curtiz, with set designs by Anton Grot, so even where British Agent drags, there's plenty at least to look at. WB had ways of appearing more expensive than they were, British Agent at negative cost of $475K more like a million in terms of plush and crowded frames. Politics are sketched lightly and never an obstruction to romance. Hollywood had lately flirted with the Soviet experiment by way of planned projects that never came to fruition, for instance Frank Capra's MGM epic of the Red takeover which was scotched before lift-off. Many during our Great Depression wondered if Russians had the right idea, but movies weren't about to endorse five year plans, unless they came in terms of increasing profit. British Agent revolves around what its title implies: embassy man Leslie Howard trying to manipulate a war to his country's benefit, the Russians serving as background mob. Latter's leadership includes Irving Pichel and J. Carroll Naish, fanatics the both, but that's how movies portrayed most revolutionaries, save our own for American independence.