Madame Spy ** (1934, Fay Wray, Nils Asther, Edward Arnold, John Miljan, David Torrence) – Classic Movie Review 13,594

The 1934 spy thriller film Madame Spy stars Fay Wray as a Russian agent assigned to spy on her husband, Captain Franck of German Intelligence (Nils Asther).

Director Karl Freund’s 1934 Universal Pictures American adventure spy thriller film Madame Spy is based on the novel Under False Flag by Max W Kimmich, and stars Fay Wray, Nils Asther, Edward Arnold, John Miljan, David Torrence, Douglas Walton, Oscar Apfel, and Vince Barnett.

Swedish actor Nils Asther stars as Captain Franck of German Intelligence, who is despatched to round up a Russian agent assigned to spy on him. But she turns out to be his own wife Marie (Fay Wray), and he vows revenge on her.

Written by William Hurlbut, the escapist cloak-and-dagger spy melodrama thriller Madame Spy doesn’t pause for a moment to take aboard an ounce of credibility or realism, and a miscast Wray is totally ridiculous as a Russian. But the German-born director Karl Freund and Missouri-born cameraman Norbert Brodine know how to make their film look impressive and sometimes even quite startling.

It is a less interesting remake of the 1932 German picture Unter Falsche Flagge [Under False Flag], produced by Deutsche Universal, the German subsidiary of Universal Pictures.

The film is produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. 

Also in the cast are Robert Ellis, Stephen Alden Chase, Rollo Lloyd, Noah Beery Sr, Eddy Chandler, John Miljan, Edward Peil Sr, and Douglas Walton.

Madame Spy is directed by Karl Freund, runs 70 minutes, is made and released by Universal Pictures, is written by William Hurlbut, is shot by Norbert Brodine, is produced by Carl Laemmle Jr, and is scored by Heinz Roemheld.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,594

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