British Agent (1934)
Overview
In the days leading up to the Russian Revolution, Stephen Locke, a minor British diplomat in St Petersburg, falls in love with a Russian spy.
Cast
Leslie Howard
Stephen 'Steve' Locke
Kay Francis
Elena Moura
William Gargan
Bob Medill
Phillip Reed
Gaston LeFarge
Irving Pichel
Sergei Pavlov
Ivan F. Simpson
'Poohbah' Evans
Halliwell Hobbes
Sir Walter Carrister
J. Carrol Naish
Commissioner of War Trotsky
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CinemaSerf
Leslie Howard is "Locke", a British Consul-General in revolutionary Russia charged with trying to persuade the new Provisional government not to to abandon their pact with the allies and make peace with the Kaiser. It soon becomes clear that this new government is in a pretty precarious position too and that it won't be long before Lenin (Tenen Holtz) and his Bolsheviks will be the ones whom he sees to convince. Naturally, their support comes with strings attached that he must try to accommodate with, or without, the support of his government. Add to his woes, his personal insolvent with Lenin's assistant "Elena" (Kay Francis) and the scheming of "Pavlov" (Irving Pichel) and he has a tough task ahead of him. Sadly, though the story had potential, the execution is all just a bit all over the place. The acting is adequate at best, the dialogue wordy, the action sparse and the plenty of familiar faces in the supporting cast can't really make this story of exciting revolutionary Russia catch fire. The ending is sadly lacklustre, too.
