Spies

Fritz Lang's adrenaline-driven 1928 thriller harkens back to the cliffhanger fun of early 1920s adventure serials while also looking forward to James Bond-style international espionage adventure. A super spy and financial mastermind with the ominous name of Haghi runs a spy network under the cover of a bank: his secret headquarters are literally located beneath the foundation of his public bank. A master of disguise, Haghi controls a vast surveillance and communications network, which he uses to steal state secrets. Rudolf Klein-Rogge, who previously played Dr. Mabuse in other Lang films and the mad scientist Rotwang in Lang's masterpiece Metropolis, stars as Haghi, and he's joined by a beautiful, cold-blooded female double agent, colorful henchmen, a femme fatale, and the heroic "good" spy who falls in love with his female nemesis. This was quite high-tech for its day, with sci-fi buttonhole cameras, along with the classic invisible ink messages and hidden peepholes, and Spies weaves together assassinations, seductions, drugged victims, and a spectacular train wreck through the spy wars yarn. Lang creates a fluid, fast-paced, visually inventive film with enough intrigue, double dealing, secret identities, and criminal conspiracies in the underworld of pre-Nazi Germany to fill up an entire serial. Presented here in its recently restored original full-length version, extras include a retrospective “making-of” documentary. Highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)