Much better than its reputation, this film has been treated rather unfairly by ignorants who haven't bothered to look deeper into it, like also other films of the Russian revolution, especially Sternberg's "The Last Command" and Marlene Dietrich's "Knight Without Armour", perhaps the best film of the Russian revolution. This one however is outstanding for the fact that it deals directly with reality. Bruce Lockhart, who lived through this story himself, happened to be a legate at the British Embassy in Petersburg when the crisis grew crucial, and later was in the thick of things in Moscow. He was the one who told the story of Sidney Reilly and his conspiracies and efforts to save Russia, and he later played an important part in the Second World War as Churchill's right hand in the propaganda war against Germany. He wrote a series of extremely interesting memoirs and was also in the centre of things in Prague 1948 when Jan Masaryk was defenestrated and the communists took over. Leslie Howard makes a very credible and true characterization of Lockhart's critical ordeals in the heart of the revolution at a loss against the lack of initiative, resolution and political insight in London. He and Reilly could have saved Russia from the communists, if London had responded. This film romanticizes the drama, of course, with some exaggerations and focusing too much on Kay Francis, while Lenin's would be murderess was much more interesting - she is only shown in the deed. Although between "Of Human Bondage" and "Captain Blood", "British Agent" hardly deserves to be neglected.
Review of British Agent
