In 1940, when they brought CONTRABAND to the screen, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger hadn't quite yet jelled into the writer-director-producing team they would be within a few years. But with Pressberger scripting and Powell directing this delightful romantic wartime espionage thriller, which takes place mostly in the inky darkness of the London blackout, The Archers' touch is apparent. Hawk-faced Conrad Veidt, the Austrian actor best known for playing villains (the evil vizier in the Powell-directed portions of THE THIEF OF BAGDAD and the nasty Nazi in CASABLANCA) delivers a rare heroic, romantic and comic turn as the no-nonsense Danish captain of a neutral freighter delayed overnight by British authorities checking for wartime contraband. That night, two of the ship's passengers - the beautiful, headstrong Mrs. Sorensen and the mousy Mr. Pidgeon – sneak ashore to nighttime London. The captain tags along to learn their game and stumbles into a nest of Nazis being pursued by British agents. Oh, and the agents are Mrs. S and Mr. P? I won't give away more about the plot except to say how much I like the film’s refreshingly mature angle on romantic sparring between the Captain and the Lady Agent:
Mrs.S: Did you ever try being married? That can be quite a big adventure.
Captain: [sighs] Why do women always say that? Marriage ends adventure.
Mrs.S: [copies sigh] Why do men always say that?
