The Devil's Agent
The Devil's Agent (German: Im Namen des Teufels) is a 1962 drama film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Peter van Eyck, Marianne Koch, Christopher Lee and Macdonald Carey.[1] It was a co-production between Britain, West Germany and the Republic of Ireland. It was based on a 1956 novel by Hans Habe. It is set in East Germany during the Cold War.
| The Devil's Agent | |
|---|---|
.jpg.webp) Belgian poster | |
| Directed by | John Paddy Carstairs |
| Produced by | Emmet Dalton |
| Screenplay by | Robert Westerby |
| Based on | the novel Im Namen des Teufels by Hans Habe |
| Starring | Macdonald Carey Peter van Eyck Marianne Koch Christopher Lee |
| Music by | Philip Green (composed and conducted by) |
| Cinematography | Gerald Gibbs |
| Edited by | Tom Simpson |
Production company | Emmet Dalton Productions CCC Filmkunst (Berlin) |
| Distributed by | British Lion Film Corporation (U.K.) |
Release date | September, 1961 (U.K.) |
Running time | 77 minutes |
| Country | West Germany/U.K./Ireland |
| Language | English |
Plot
Mild-mannered Viennese wine merchant George Droste (Peter van Eyck), an intelligence expert during the second world war, unexpectedly encounters old friend Baron Von Staub (Christopher Lee), and spends a weekend with him on his estate in the Soviet zone. The two revive a friendship interrupted by the war. However, when Von Straub's sister asks Droste to transport a small package to a friend in West Germany, the bewildered Droste is set up for a series of complicated spy games, at first becoming an unwilling dupe for the Russians, and then retaliating by offering his services to a US intelligence agency.
Partial cast
- Peter van Eyck - Droste
- Marianne Koch - Nora
- Christopher Lee - Baron von Staub
- Macdonald Carey - Mr Smith
- Albert Lieven - Inspector Huebring
- Billie Whitelaw - Piroska
- David Knight - Father Zambory
- Marius Goring - General Greenhahn
- Helen Cherry - Countess Cosimano
- Colin Gordon - Count Dezsepalvy
- Niall MacGinnis - Paul Vass
- Eric Pohlmann - Bloch
- Peter Vaughan - Chief of Hungarian Police
- Michael Brennan - Horvat
- Jeremy Bulloch - Johnny Droste
Critical reception
TV Guide gave it two out of four stars, noting an "Occasionally gripping spy drama with a very good cast."[2] while Allmovie concluded, "Somewhat lost amidst the flashier James Bond clones of the late 1960s, The Devil's Agent holds up pretty well when seen today."[3]