Contraband (1940)

Contraband (AKA “Blackout”)
Directed by Michael Powell
Written by Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell, and Brock Williams
1940/UK
British National Films
First viewing/Streaming on Amazon Instant Video

[box] Captain Anderson: The bigger the ship, the smaller the adventure. The smaller the ship, the bigger the adventure. But you wouldn’t understand that. Because you have childish ideas about life. Because like so many women you live only for little excitements like, er…[/box]

For a change Conrad Veidt gets the girl!  I liked this Hitchcockian comedic thriller a lot.

Capt. Andersen (Veidt) helms a Danish freighter.  His ship is stopped by the British to be inspected for contraband that could be destined for Germany.  One of the passengers, a “Mrs. Sorensen” (Valerie Hobson), a Brit who is married to a Dane, is a bit unruly.  Another is an American “sheet music salesman”.  When the ship is held overnight in port, the two steal Capt. Andersen’s shore passes and abscond with his motor boat.  Andersen, who is responsible for his passengers, is on their trail immediately.  After he catches up with Mrs. Sorensen, he sticks to her like glue and eventually when he learns her true identity the two become a team.

As I have come to expect, Veidt is just excellent as the resourceful captain and is quite sympathetic and a bit sexy in this part.  There is a lot of nifty noir-esque cinematography. The dialogue pops and the story moves right along.  Recommended.

They kept referring to Denmark as “neutral” in the war but I was under the impression the country was occupied by the Nazis.  Can anyone straighten me out?

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