I really enjoyed this movie. A female Naval Intelligence Officer is undercover hunting a spy ring. In the meantime she ends up falling for another Naval Intelligence Officer on the same case. They each think the other is a spy, but they get along so well they keep trying to help each other, for better and worse until they learn they were on the same side in the end.
I actually really liked the dynamic playing of the romance and spycraft. You can't tell whether one person is faking it for the job, or is genuinely interested. Both romance and spycraft are games of back and forth. Then there's some flareups where you can guess one is genuinely hurt or genuinely intrigued and they start going against their own mission.
The best example is about 18 minutes in they are at a bar and each is flirting with the other. Until Carol directly asks Steve if he's married. He plays it serious, and then says "I'm not married." as a surprise, then "Would it matter if I was?" And there you can see she's insulted. They were just playing but he took it too far. "Personally or otherwise?" is her reply. Great line, she's simultaneously distancing herself while entertaining the idea of them being together. But she's hurt. So much that she's about to leave. LEAVE, her job would be tanked, her entire mission would fail if she leaves him at that point. So is she baiting him? Or is she genuinely hurt? How could either help her job. He now has to square things away. "Steve I wish I could decide if you were a sly Don Juan or just an awkward bumbling saltwater hick." He replies "I'll be anything you like."
Fay Wray is the star and headline, she plays a strong independent woman who ends up saving the dude in distress after he's tied up and about to be murdered. After she took out the guy trying to kill her of course. In 1939. And they'll tell you Captain Marvel was the first "strong woman" film in history. Disliking this movie means you're a misogynist.
Other reviewers are butthurt about the budget. I think the fact that it was low-budget and made for TV made it more real and gritty. It didn't have that b.s. Hollywood sheen old films usually have. It was just real people in real places talking about real life, which as an observer over 80 years later is just delightful. Yes the spies were German. It was 1939, who the hell else would they be?
I actually really liked the dynamic playing of the romance and spycraft. You can't tell whether one person is faking it for the job, or is genuinely interested. Both romance and spycraft are games of back and forth. Then there's some flareups where you can guess one is genuinely hurt or genuinely intrigued and they start going against their own mission.
The best example is about 18 minutes in they are at a bar and each is flirting with the other. Until Carol directly asks Steve if he's married. He plays it serious, and then says "I'm not married." as a surprise, then "Would it matter if I was?" And there you can see she's insulted. They were just playing but he took it too far. "Personally or otherwise?" is her reply. Great line, she's simultaneously distancing herself while entertaining the idea of them being together. But she's hurt. So much that she's about to leave. LEAVE, her job would be tanked, her entire mission would fail if she leaves him at that point. So is she baiting him? Or is she genuinely hurt? How could either help her job. He now has to square things away. "Steve I wish I could decide if you were a sly Don Juan or just an awkward bumbling saltwater hick." He replies "I'll be anything you like."
Fay Wray is the star and headline, she plays a strong independent woman who ends up saving the dude in distress after he's tied up and about to be murdered. After she took out the guy trying to kill her of course. In 1939. And they'll tell you Captain Marvel was the first "strong woman" film in history. Disliking this movie means you're a misogynist.
Other reviewers are butthurt about the budget. I think the fact that it was low-budget and made for TV made it more real and gritty. It didn't have that b.s. Hollywood sheen old films usually have. It was just real people in real places talking about real life, which as an observer over 80 years later is just delightful. Yes the spies were German. It was 1939, who the hell else would they be?