A rare historical masterpiece, the first movie to depict the German concentrations camps IN JULY 1940 (!) and to depict Hitler on cinema.
A British-American production that combines comedy, thriller and suspense, focused on the combination of spy techniques and scienctific discoveries during the war era.
Another interesting aspect in this film is Time: the events depicted in the movie take place on a period starting from the German invasion in Czechoslovakia until the entrance of Britain to the World War II.
Τhe plot is based on the story "REPORT ON A FUGITIVE: Α Drama of the Secret Service" (1939) written for a magazine by the Australian writer Gordon Wong Wellesley (born in Sydney, he won the only British nomination for the Oscar with his story in 1942 and finally took the 2nd place, losing from Harry Segall's HEAVEN CAN WAIT).
The story was adapted for the wide screen by by 2 English screenwriters, directors and producers, the former journalist Sidney Gilliat & the former actor Frank Launder (they totally made, that is they wrote, directed or produced- over 40 films together from 1930 until 1966). After 1944, they worked on their own production company, named INDIVIDUAL PICTURES.
ΤΗΕ GREAT STAR OF THE FILM IS PAUL HENREID (the double or doppelganger of Albert Camus) in the double role of a ''double agent'', symbol standing for the failed German philosophy of Karl Marx.
The movie is produced by Edward Black (who was the former head of production at Gainsborough Studios and had produced Hitchock's THE LADY VANISHES, also written by Gilliat & Launder).
Directed at Gaumont-British Studios, (Lime Grove, Shepherd's Bush, London, England, UK) by the English producer and director Carol Reed who was the former personal assistant of the prolific writer -especially of thrillers- Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace, had a long history of collaboration with Gilliat-Launder, Wellesley & Black but later, also, worked with Orson Welles, Alexander Korda and Graham Greene: in 1952, he was knigted and became Sir Carol Reed.
The action on this film takes place during the 1 year before World War II (beginning with the German invasion of remaining Czech territory on 3/15/39) and closes on the night of 9/3/39 (the day the UK declared war on Germany).
The airplane shown in the film with the scientist Dr. Bomasch leaving Prague's airport in the beginning of the movie is the same plane that transported the British P.M. Neville Chamberlain to London after his meeting with Adolf Hitler for the signing of the "Munich Agreement" in 1938: the airplane was crashed in France at the end of 1939. Therefore, the shot in the film must be newsreel footage from that event.
THE MOVIE HAS NEVER BEEN RELEASED IN GERMANY.