Spione
Encyclopedia
Spione is a German
silent
espionage thriller written and directed by Fritz Lang
in 1928
. Lang's wife, Thea von Harbou
, worked as a co-writer. The film was Lang's penultimate silent film, and the first for his own production company; Fritz Lang-film GmbH. As in Lang's Mabuse films, such as Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
, Rudolf Klein-Rogge
plays a master criminal aiming for world domination.
Spione was restored to its original length by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung during 2003 and 2004. No original negatives survive, but a high quality nitrate copy is held at the Národni Filmovy Archiv at Prague
.
) seduces Colonel Jellusic (Fritz Rasp
) into betraying his country for her employer, Haghi (Rudolf Klein-Rogge
), a seemingly respectable bank director who is actually the criminal mastermind of a powerful espionage organization. Jason (Craighall Sherry), head of the Secret Service, gives the task of bringing the mysterious Haghi down to a handsome young agent known only as Number 326. 326 believes his identity is a secret, but Haghi is well aware of him. He assigns Sonja to worm her way into 326's confidence. She convinces 326 that she has just shot a man who tried to force himself on her. He hides her from the police.
What Haghi does not anticipate is that the couple will fall in love. Unwilling to betray 326, she quietly slips away after they spend the afternoon and evening together. He trails her to Colonel Jellusic, whom he mistakes for her lover (she is actually paying him for his treason). Haghi suspects Sonya's feelings for 326. When she refuses to act against 326, he confines her to a room in his secret headquarters.
Meanwhile, Haghi is after a crucial, secret Japanese treaty. He blackmails Lady Leslane (Hertha von Walther
), an opium addict, into betraying what her husband knows of the negotiations. Akira Masimoto (Lupu Pick), the Japanese head of security responsible for the treaty's safekeeping, crosses paths with 326. When 326 seeks out Sonya, he finds her apartment stripped bare. Masimoto finds him drowning his sorrows in a bar and informs him that he would have arrested the woman as a spy had she not disappeared.
Masimoto gives each of three couriers a sealed packet to deliver to Tokyo; he informs them that a copy of the treaty is inside one of them. Haghi obtains all three packages, but finds only newspapers. However, Haghi has one more card up his sleeve. Masimoto pities Kitty (Liene Dyers), a young woman he finds huddling in a doorway during a rainstorm, and takes her in. When he prepares to leave for Japan with the treaty, she begs him to spend a few hours with her. He gives in, attracted by her beauty. However, when he wakes up later, she is gone, as is the treaty. Disgraced, he commits ritual suicide
.
326 tracks Jellusic down, but too late. To tie up loose ends, Haghi has already betrayed the colonel. When confronted by his superiors, Jellusic shoots himself to avoid a scandal. 326 wires the serial numbers of the bank notes used to pay Jellusic, which Jason passes on to agent 719, working undercover as a circus clown, to trace.
On the train trip back, 326 is nearly killed in a trap set by Haghi. While he is sleeping, his car is detached and left in a tunnel. He awakens just before another train smashes into it. Sonya, tricked into trying to smuggle the treaty out of the country by Haghi's promise not to harm 326, learns of the crash, races to the site and is reunited with her love.
326 orders Haghi's bank surrounded. Then he sends Sonya away with his trusted chauffeur, Franz (Paul Hörbiger
), while he and his men search for Haghi. However, Haghi captures Sonya and Franz, and sends 326 an ultimatum: clear the building within 15 minutes or Sonya will die. After agonizing, 326 continues searching, even after poison gas is released. Fortunately, Franz is able to free himself and hold off Haghi's assassins until 326 can find them. Haghi's minions are captured, but there is no sign of the mastermind.
Later, a clerk complains to 326 and Jason that the serial numbers he was given to trace do not match the actual bank notes. The two realize that 719 must be none other than Haghi himself. When Haghi goes on stage to perform his clown act, he sees that he is surrounded by agents. He shoots himself in the head. The audience, believing it is all just part of his act, applauds.
, host of Turner Classic Movies
, Lang was having an affair with Maurus during Spiones production, even as his wife Thea von Harbou was involved writing the screenplay. In addition, Lang had earlier stolen the affections of von Harbou from her first husband, Klein-Rogge, who played Haghi. In spite of this, Klein-Rogge worked with Lang and von Harbou on various notable films, including Destiny, Dr. Mabuse the Gambler, Die Nibelungen
, and Metropolis
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
silent
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
espionage thriller written and directed by Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
in 1928
1928 in film
-Events:Although some movies released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent.* July 28 - Lights of New York is released by Warner Brothers. It is the first "100% Talkie" feature film, in that dialog is spoken throughout the film...
. Lang's wife, Thea von Harbou
Thea von Harbou
Thea Gabriele von Harbou was a German actress, author and film director of Prussian aristocratic origin. She was born in Tauperlitz in the Kingdom of Bavaria.-Early work:...
, worked as a co-writer. The film was Lang's penultimate silent film, and the first for his own production company; Fritz Lang-film GmbH. As in Lang's Mabuse films, such as Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse is a 1933 German crime film directed by Fritz Lang. The movie is a sequel to Lang's silent film Dr. Mabuse the Gambler and features many cast and crew members from Lang's previous films. The film features Rudolf Klein-Rogge as Dr. Mabuse who is in an insane asylum...
, Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Friedrich Rudolf Klein-Rogge was a German film actor. Klein-Rogge is known for playing sinister figures in films in the 1920s and 1930s as well as being a main-stay in director Fritz Lang's Weimar-era films.- Biography :...
plays a master criminal aiming for world domination.
Spione was restored to its original length by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung during 2003 and 2004. No original negatives survive, but a high quality nitrate copy is held at the Národni Filmovy Archiv at Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
.
Plot
Beautiful Russian spy Sonja Baranikowa (Gerda MaurusGerda Maurus
-Selected filmography:* Spione * Tod über Shanghai * Der Doppelgänger * Daphne and the Diplomat -External links:...
) seduces Colonel Jellusic (Fritz Rasp
Fritz Rasp
Fritz Heinrich Rasp was a German film actor who appeared in 104 films between 1916 and 1976.His most notable film roles were "J. J. Peachum" in The Threepenny Opera , as Meinert in Diary of a Lost Girl , and as "Der Schmale" in Fritz Lang's Metropolis...
) into betraying his country for her employer, Haghi (Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Friedrich Rudolf Klein-Rogge was a German film actor. Klein-Rogge is known for playing sinister figures in films in the 1920s and 1930s as well as being a main-stay in director Fritz Lang's Weimar-era films.- Biography :...
), a seemingly respectable bank director who is actually the criminal mastermind of a powerful espionage organization. Jason (Craighall Sherry), head of the Secret Service, gives the task of bringing the mysterious Haghi down to a handsome young agent known only as Number 326. 326 believes his identity is a secret, but Haghi is well aware of him. He assigns Sonja to worm her way into 326's confidence. She convinces 326 that she has just shot a man who tried to force himself on her. He hides her from the police.
What Haghi does not anticipate is that the couple will fall in love. Unwilling to betray 326, she quietly slips away after they spend the afternoon and evening together. He trails her to Colonel Jellusic, whom he mistakes for her lover (she is actually paying him for his treason). Haghi suspects Sonya's feelings for 326. When she refuses to act against 326, he confines her to a room in his secret headquarters.
Meanwhile, Haghi is after a crucial, secret Japanese treaty. He blackmails Lady Leslane (Hertha von Walther
Hertha von Walther
Hertha von Walther was a German film actress. She appeared in 80 films between 1921 and 1983.-Selected filmography:* Joyless Street * Ways to Strength and Beauty * Secrets of a Soul...
), an opium addict, into betraying what her husband knows of the negotiations. Akira Masimoto (Lupu Pick), the Japanese head of security responsible for the treaty's safekeeping, crosses paths with 326. When 326 seeks out Sonya, he finds her apartment stripped bare. Masimoto finds him drowning his sorrows in a bar and informs him that he would have arrested the woman as a spy had she not disappeared.
Masimoto gives each of three couriers a sealed packet to deliver to Tokyo; he informs them that a copy of the treaty is inside one of them. Haghi obtains all three packages, but finds only newspapers. However, Haghi has one more card up his sleeve. Masimoto pities Kitty (Liene Dyers), a young woman he finds huddling in a doorway during a rainstorm, and takes her in. When he prepares to leave for Japan with the treaty, she begs him to spend a few hours with her. He gives in, attracted by her beauty. However, when he wakes up later, she is gone, as is the treaty. Disgraced, he commits ritual suicide
Seppuku
is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...
.
326 tracks Jellusic down, but too late. To tie up loose ends, Haghi has already betrayed the colonel. When confronted by his superiors, Jellusic shoots himself to avoid a scandal. 326 wires the serial numbers of the bank notes used to pay Jellusic, which Jason passes on to agent 719, working undercover as a circus clown, to trace.
On the train trip back, 326 is nearly killed in a trap set by Haghi. While he is sleeping, his car is detached and left in a tunnel. He awakens just before another train smashes into it. Sonya, tricked into trying to smuggle the treaty out of the country by Haghi's promise not to harm 326, learns of the crash, races to the site and is reunited with her love.
326 orders Haghi's bank surrounded. Then he sends Sonya away with his trusted chauffeur, Franz (Paul Hörbiger
Paul Hörbiger
Paul Hörbiger was an Austrian theatre and film actor.-Life and work:Paul Hörbiger was born in Budapest, the son of Hans Hörbiger, an engineer who wrote Welteislehre on glacial cosmology, and elder brother of actor Attila Hörbiger. In 1902 the family returned to Vienna, while Paul attended the...
), while he and his men search for Haghi. However, Haghi captures Sonya and Franz, and sends 326 an ultimatum: clear the building within 15 minutes or Sonya will die. After agonizing, 326 continues searching, even after poison gas is released. Fortunately, Franz is able to free himself and hold off Haghi's assassins until 326 can find them. Haghi's minions are captured, but there is no sign of the mastermind.
Later, a clerk complains to 326 and Jason that the serial numbers he was given to trace do not match the actual bank notes. The two realize that 719 must be none other than Haghi himself. When Haghi goes on stage to perform his clown act, he sees that he is surrounded by agents. He shoots himself in the head. The audience, believing it is all just part of his act, applauds.
Production
According to Robert OsborneRobert Osborne
Robert Jolin Osborne is an American actor and film historian best known as the primary host for Turner Classic Movies, and previously a host of The Movie Channel.-Life and career:...
, host of Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
, Lang was having an affair with Maurus during Spiones production, even as his wife Thea von Harbou was involved writing the screenplay. In addition, Lang had earlier stolen the affections of von Harbou from her first husband, Klein-Rogge, who played Haghi. In spite of this, Klein-Rogge worked with Lang and von Harbou on various notable films, including Destiny, Dr. Mabuse the Gambler, Die Nibelungen
Die Nibelungen
Die Nibelungen is a series of two silent fantasy films created by Austrian director Fritz Lang in 1924: Die Nibelungen: Siegfried and Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge....
, and Metropolis
Metropolis (film)
Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist film in the science-fiction genre directed by Fritz Lang. Produced in Germany during a stable period of the Weimar Republic, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and makes use of this context to explore the social crisis between workers and...
.