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Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Gerda Maurus, Lien Deyers, Craighall Sherry, Willy Fritsch ... see more see more... , Louis Ralph , Lupu Pick , Fritz Rasp , Grete Berger , Julius Falkenstein , Paul Hörbiger , Georg John , Paul Rehkopf , Rose Valetti , Hermann Vallentin , Hans Heinrich von Twardowski , Hertha von Walther

Spies (Spione) was the first independent production of German "thriller" director Fritz Lang. The years-ahead-of-its-time plotline involves Russian espionage activity in London. The mastermind is Hagh... read more read more...i (Rudolph Klein-Rogge), a supposedly respectable carnival sideshow entertainer. Heading the good guys is Agent 326 (Willy Fritsch), with the help of defecting Russian spy Sonya (Gerda Maurus). The film moves swiftly to several potential climaxes, each one more exciting than its predecessor. Haghi's ultimate demise is a superbly staged Pirandellian vignette. Anticipating Citizen Kane by a dozen years, director Lang dispenses with all transitional dissolves and fade-outs, flat-cutting territory from one scene to another. The film was co-scripted by Lang and his then-wife Thea Von Harbou. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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530 ratings

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100% liked it

6 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 28 min.

Directed by: Fritz Lang

Release Date: March 22, 1928

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DVD Release Date: November 9, 2004

Stats: 57 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (57)

  • ajv2688
    April 10, 2011
    ajv2688
    This is a good spy movie, but I just wish it were shorter. The movie is cool visually, and the actors are good. The story is a lot like other movies I've seen, but it's pretty good anyway. Overall, a good movie from a good director.
  • rubystevens
    February 3, 2010
    rubystevens
    it's spy vs. spy until they fall in love and team up to foil an evil banker's plans for world domination. impossible not to compare it with dr mabuse from 1922; for one thing the same actor plays the villain here. at 2 1/2 hrs, it's not as long but also i fear not quite as much... read more fun. the ending is great tho
  • fb1142797643
    May 2, 2012
    fb1142797643
    "Spies" is not a visionary masterpiece like Fritz Lang's better known "Metropolis." But like "M," "Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler" and even "Woman in the Moon," it's an impressive genre picture that seems years ahead of its time.

    The plot is squarely on James Bond turf. There's an arc... read morehvillain in a wheelchair, sitting behind a desk covered with high-tech switches and lights. There are fingernail-sized cameras, cyanide capsules, opium dens, secret identities, notes written in disappearing ink and rooms with sliding security doors. There's a "MacGuffin" -- a secret Japanese/Europe peace treaty -- that multiple parties are maneuvering to protect or steal. (What would a criminal even gain from having it?) There's a handsome Agent #326 with a rakish, maverick personality (well, at least he until makes the mistake of falling in drippy love, something Bond would never do). And of course, there is plenty of expertly directed action and suspense -- particularly a late sequence involving a sabotaged train.

    "Spies" also may contain more suicides than any film outside of "Guyana: Cult of the Damned." A perverse quirk.

    From a dazzling introduction recapping the treaty's violent theft and the resulting chaos, we know we're in the hands of a master filmmaker. Lang's rapid cutting suggests that he could have easily helmed a contemporary blockbuster, and the sets are intriguingly stylized like in so many other German silents. Inventive camera angles are everywhere -- even shots of a boxing ring and people-clogged staircases become something fresh.

    Where the film shows its age in the love story. The underworld mastermind Haghi (Rudolf Klein-Rogge, who also played Dr. Mabuse) hires a beautiful Russian agent (Gerda Maurus) to extract information out of #326 (Willy Fritsch), but the two quickly swoon for each other in the most hokey, overacted fashion. Whenever the story switches focus to their forbidden romance, the film lags. Another outdated move is casting an European actor to play Dr. Matsumoto, an important Japanese character.

    But these are small quibbles. This is a 144-minute silent film which never seems overlong (a good trick), and the action builds to a brilliantly absurd ending that Quentin Tarantino couldn't have written any better.
  • gator681
    August 30, 2005
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]In "Spies", a silent epic directed by Fritz Lang, the Secret Service is being embarrassed by an evil organization that is committing acts of terrorism. Agent 326 is summoned to headquarters to fight the good fight but the enemy is onto the good guys and sen... read moreds the seductive Sonja to seduce 326.[/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic]"Spies" is the definite forerunner of the modern spy flick. It certainly has all the elements - a dashing and handsome hero, an evil mastermind, beautiful women, a secret well-stocked lair and hey, even gadgets.(The agent numbers were used as early as the American Revolution with the Culper Ring.) The unnamed nefarious organization is non-ideological in nature and its ultimate aim is not revealed until late in the picture.[/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic]The movie gets off to a great start and finishes very well but it is simply too long. Overall, "Spies" is a fun film with some great moments.[/font]
  • jam233
    February 20, 2010
    jam233
    It's certainly an amazing film with many of Fritz Lang's usual flair and touches. Excellent art direction. Rodolph Klein-Rogge, Willy Fritsch and Gerda Maurus (those haunting eyes!)give fine performances, but some of the acting is too expressive and melodramatic. It is very hard ... read moreto get through the film though. Way too long at 2 hours and 23 minutes. It is visually remarkable but also downright boring at times.
  • benjaminguilbert2
    October 3, 2009
    benjaminguilbert2
    This film is every cinephile's dream: Metropolis meets M and they make sweet love together.

    More seriously (slightly) it is indeed a wonderful film, well worth buying if you have the occasion (I did after renting it). It has all the qualities of the great German productions of t... read morehe period and then some. It manages to be at the same time playful, inventive, noir-esque, paranoid, etc.

    Special mention to the set and the costumes as well. The late 1920s-early 1930s were potentially the best time ever for fashion. Besides, the leading actress Gerda Maurus is simply stunningly beautiful.

    It should also be mentioned that it is a silent film for people who do not like silent films. At no times do you feel slightly bored but won't admit it because you're snob. Could go on for ever, just watch it.

View All Spione (Spies) (The Spy) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Dennis Schwartz
November 10, 2006
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The spy thriller gets one's adrenaline going because of its breakneck pace and bizarre feel. Full Review

Michael E. Grost
August 15, 2005
Michael E. Grost, Classic Film and Television

Inventive, delightful, superbly made spy thriller. Full Review

Keith Uhlich
January 28, 2005
Keith Uhlich, Slant Magazine

This is the Fritz Lang method: pose a question, then answer it, though never in any sort of predictable rhythm. Full Review

Jake Euker
December 1, 2004
Jake Euker, Filmcritic.com

Maybe there's a movie more entertaining than Spies; it's possible. But if so, this is one critic who would like to know its name. Full Review

Ken Hanke
August 26, 2002
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Superb, entertaining Lang silent

Mordaunt Hall
March 25, 2006
Mordaunt Hall, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Emanuel Levy
October 8, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Derek Adams
June 24, 2006
Derek Adams, Time Out

Click to read the article Full Review

May 24, 2003
Film4

Click to read the article Full Review

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