KAY FRANCIS - LESLIE HOWARD "BRITISH AGENT" 1935 ESPIONAGE MOVIE HERALD

Description

Original Herald from Uruguay and Argentina in South America. This kind of gorgeous heralds are quite scarce, they were printed by a local distributor (Max Glücksmann) just during a short period of time between the late 1920's and the late 1930's. Usually printed on both sides, in full color or in duotone inks featuring Art Deco style, they show great graphics from the films advertised. Most advertise a single feature movie, while a few examples advertise double movie programs.
Local Title:
EL AGENTE BRITANICO
Original Title:
BRITISH AGENT
Year / Country:
1934 - USA
Company:
Warner Bros.
Genre:
Espionage
Director:
Michael Curtiz
Starring:
Leslie Howard, Kay Francis, William Gargan, J. Carrol Naish, César Romero
Size (unfolded):
297 mm x 105 mm
Condition:
Very Good +
Ref #:
J-22
Herald advertises this film as shown at
CINE DORE
from Uruguay on
Sunday, July 7, 1935
Comments:
British Agent is a 1934 American 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 worked for the British Secret Service during the Russian Revolution and had an affair with a Russian agent, later known as Moura Budberg. The film was produced by First National, then a division of Warner Bros.
Plot:
In the days leading up to the Russian Revolution, Stephen Locke, a minor British diplomat, watches rioting in the streets. The revolutionary Elena Moura 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 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, the American Bob Medill, Gaston LeFarge, and Tito Del Val.
His boredom is lifted when he meets Elena again. She is now an important member of the government, working for Commissioner of War Leo Trotsky. He romances her, and they quickly fall in love.
However, her first loyalty is to her country. She demonstrates that when Stephen finally receives orders from the United Kingdom. He is to try to prevent Soviet Russia from concluding a separate peace with Imperial Germany, which would free up large numbers of German soldiers for the Western Front, but he is warned that he is only an "unofficial" British representative. Stephen carelessly reads the message in Elena's hearing. She passes along the information to her boss. As a result, when Stephen pleads with the Soviet government in Moscow to keep fighting, his arguments are undercut by their awareness of his status. He manages to get a delay of three weeks to see if he can persuade his superiors to agree to Soviet demands: £50 million, five army divisions and munitions. Instead, without Stephen's knowledge, the British send a force to Archangel to fight alongside the internal enemies of the Soviets.
After the Tsar is executed, Medill, LeFarge and Del Val persuade Stephen to join them in supporting counterrevolutionary forces. When Vladimir Lenin is seriously wounded in an assassination attempt, the Soviets initiate a harsh crackdown. LeFarge and Del Val are killed while they attempt to contact a rebel military leader in the city. Medill tries to do the same, but is caught and tortured for Stephen's whereabouts. When he refuses to crack, he is sentenced to die by firing squad the next day.
Elena is ordered to persuade him to tell her where Stephen is; knowing that she is in love with Stephen, Medill gives her the address. She reluctantly gives the information to Trotsky, who orders soldiers to level the building. Elena sneaks into the building, as she is determined to die with Stephen. They are reprieved, however. Just as the soldiers start shooting, news arrives that Lenin will recover and that he has ordered the release of all political prisoners. Later, Stephen and Elena depart for Britain. At the train station, Medill requests they send him a supply of bubble gum.
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