Confessions of a Nazi Spy

An FBI agent attempts to crack a pre-World War II German network of espionage operatives working in the United States., Classic anti-Nazi drama starring Edward G Robinson as determined G-Man who leads the operation to search out and smash a major German spy ring in the United States., Anti-Nazi drama about an FBI agent who learns of a plot by fifth columnists to kidnap an air force general, and doggedly sets out to crack the spy network behind it. Shot in semi-documentary style and incorporating clips from newsreel reports of the 1937 trial of four German spies, this was one of Hollywood’s earliest propaganda efforts vilifying Hitler’s Third Reich., Bold for its time (just prior to World War II), Confessions of a Nazi Spy is an expose of a genuine Nazi espionage ring operating in the United States. Dedicated National Socialist Paul Lukas arrives in America to conduct Bund rallies and enlist German-Americans in the service of Hitler. His rabble-rousing speeches inspire a blue collar worker (Francis Lederer) to join a Bund, and then participate in spy activities. FBI agent Edward G. Robinson is assigned to investigate. Extracting a confession from the not-too-bright Lederer, Robinson traces the espionage activities to Lukas. The Nazi official’s notoriety and his undesirability as a security risk compels the German secret police to kidnap Lukas and spirit him back to the Fatherland, presumably to face liquidation. The spy ring is rounded up, but Robinson realizes that this is only the beginning. Confessions of a Nazi Spy may seem dated today, but in 1939 it packed a real wallop, especially since most filmmakers of that era chose to ignore the Nazis lest they lose the valuable European market.