Spione (Spies)

At a breakneck pace, Spione, Fritz Lang’s follow-up to Metropolis, lays out the template for all spy actioners that would follow. Rudolf Klein-Rogge plays Haghi, the wheelchair-bound Mabuse-lite archvillain intent on intercepting government plans while a series of German, Russian and Japanese spies whirl around evading his machinations. One of the many thickenings of the plot includes his minion Sonya's (Maurus) inconveniently falling in love with enemy agent No. 326 (Fritsch).

Spione is stepped in gadgety modernism and stuffed with dazzling set pieces, including heists, chases, a train crash and even a boxing match that becomes derailed by ballroom dancing. While initially thrilling, the cartoonish derring-do and Haghi’s unexplained motivation become wearying over the two-and-a-half-hour running time. Without the depth of early Lang, its dizziness eventually plays like too much running around. It's still fascinating, however, both as further proof of its director’s technical proficiency and as a landmark in genre entertainment. [Ian Mantgani]