Contraband

Although Powell and Pressburger collaborated on the screenplay of this Hitchcockian WWII espionage adventure romance, it is atypical of their oeuvre, being a very corny matinee-style time-filler about a Danish sea captain Andersen, delayed in a British port who tangles with some German spies. There are, however, some pleasures to be had, principally in the sexually playful interaction between the urbane Conrad Veidt and an elegant Valerie Hobson and moments such as a nightclub scene with an all-girl novelty band and a shootout in a "Patriotic Plaster" warehouse which combined lift the film above completely stock-standard fare.

 

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