British Agent
| British Agent | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Michael Curtiz |
| Written by | Laird Doyle R. H. Bruce Lockhart |
| Starring |
Leslie Howard Kay Francis William Gargan Cesar Romero |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language |
English Russian |
British Agent is a 1934 espionage film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Leslie Howard and Kay Francis. It is based on Memoirs of a British Agent, the 1932 autobiography of R. H. Bruce Lockhart, who had spent a number of years working for the British Secret Service. The film was produced by First National, which was then a division of Warner Bros..
The same book was partly used as an inspiration for the television series Reilly, Ace of Spies which also portrays the adventures of Lockhart and Sidney Reilly during their years in Moscow around the time of the Russian Revolution.
In the days leading up to the Russian Revolution, Stephen Locke (Leslie Howard), a minor British diplomat, watches rioting in the streets. Revolutionary Elena Moura (Kay Francis) shoots it out with a Cossack soldier; when she retreats onto the grounds of the consulate, the soldier follows, forcing Stephen to intervene to protect British extraterritoriality. After the Cossack leaves, Elena emerges; she and Steven are attracted to each other, but their politics clash. Elena departs.
After the Russian Empire is overthrown and the Soviet Union is born, most of the Western diplomats evacuate. Stephen is left behind with just a servant, "Poohbah" Evans. Day after day, he waits with mounting frustration for instructions, passing the time with others in the same situation, American Bob Medill (William Gargan), Gaston LeFarge (Phillip Reed) and Tito Del Val (Cesar Romero).
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