There's one silent movie that set the standard for today's Ian Fleming's 007 James Bond-type of films, and that is Fritz Lang's March 1928 "Spies" (or "Spione" in German). This was the first movie where secret agent films broke away from cinema's previous spy films that were wrapped around war-time events. Lang's motion picture constructs the core of the plot around a corrupt master criminal as he seeks world domination.
"Spies" could easily conscript James Bond as one of the movie's heroes. The film has a handsome agent, Number 326 (Willy Fritsch), assigned to find out the whereabouts of this mastermind, who turns out to be a supposedly respectable bank director (Rudolf Klein-Rogge). Like many 007 villains, we've got a fiend in a wheelchair, bent on taking over entire civilizations. And like Bond, Number 326 falls in love with a foreign beauty, and is equipped with modern gadgets to use during the course of his work. In short, every element in a James Bond movie is found in "Spies."
Lang was on thin ice when his employer, Germany's film studio UFA, took a bath on the director's last endeavor, 1927's "Metropolis." The company spent so much money on the production there was no way it was going to recoup its expenditures on the sci-fi dystopian film. The studio put Lang on a strict budget for "Spies." The director, through economy of the set designs, opted for tight shots on his characters so there's nary a wide frame. The lengthy two-and-a-half hour film weaves a complicated web of intrigue, highlighted with a number of chase scenes, a massive train wreck, and a pending bank explosion towards its conclusion. Picture Lang's earlier film, 1922 "Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler," on steroids, and that's what "Spies" is like.
There was also intrigue behind the scenes of "Spies" that personally affected the relationship between Lang and his scriptwriter wife, Thea von Harbou. The director had spotted stage actress Gerda Maurus in a play and hired her for the role as the love interest to Agent Number 326 in "Spies." It was Maurus' movie debut. The the director and the actress became romantically involved, which caused a fissure between the married couple. Thea continued to co-author Lang's scripts until 1933 when the director left Nazi Germany while von Harbou elected to stay.
"Spies" has been generally praised by the film community as a spell-binding espionage tale. The Guardian newspaper praised the film, proclaiming it "weaves together recurrent Lang themes of fate, fear, power and paranoia into a dynamic conspiracy thriller." Lang's latest success at the box office brought a smile to right-wing businessman and politician Alfred Hugenberg since he bought UFA Studios at a fire sale shortly before "Spies'" premier.
"Spies" could easily conscript James Bond as one of the movie's heroes. The film has a handsome agent, Number 326 (Willy Fritsch), assigned to find out the whereabouts of this mastermind, who turns out to be a supposedly respectable bank director (Rudolf Klein-Rogge). Like many 007 villains, we've got a fiend in a wheelchair, bent on taking over entire civilizations. And like Bond, Number 326 falls in love with a foreign beauty, and is equipped with modern gadgets to use during the course of his work. In short, every element in a James Bond movie is found in "Spies."
Lang was on thin ice when his employer, Germany's film studio UFA, took a bath on the director's last endeavor, 1927's "Metropolis." The company spent so much money on the production there was no way it was going to recoup its expenditures on the sci-fi dystopian film. The studio put Lang on a strict budget for "Spies." The director, through economy of the set designs, opted for tight shots on his characters so there's nary a wide frame. The lengthy two-and-a-half hour film weaves a complicated web of intrigue, highlighted with a number of chase scenes, a massive train wreck, and a pending bank explosion towards its conclusion. Picture Lang's earlier film, 1922 "Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler," on steroids, and that's what "Spies" is like.
There was also intrigue behind the scenes of "Spies" that personally affected the relationship between Lang and his scriptwriter wife, Thea von Harbou. The director had spotted stage actress Gerda Maurus in a play and hired her for the role as the love interest to Agent Number 326 in "Spies." It was Maurus' movie debut. The the director and the actress became romantically involved, which caused a fissure between the married couple. Thea continued to co-author Lang's scripts until 1933 when the director left Nazi Germany while von Harbou elected to stay.
"Spies" has been generally praised by the film community as a spell-binding espionage tale. The Guardian newspaper praised the film, proclaiming it "weaves together recurrent Lang themes of fate, fear, power and paranoia into a dynamic conspiracy thriller." Lang's latest success at the box office brought a smile to right-wing businessman and politician Alfred Hugenberg since he bought UFA Studios at a fire sale shortly before "Spies'" premier.