Spione (aka Spies) (1928)

A respectable bank director (Rudolf Klein Rogge) is secretly a criminal mastermind and the head of a large spy organization. He assigns one of his beautiful agents (Gerda Maurus) to seduce a government agent (Willy Fritsch) in order to find out what he knows. But the mastermind finds his plans compromised when the two fall in love. Based on a novel by Thea Von Harbou and directed by Fritz Lang (METROPOLIS). Once again, Fritz Lang enters the criminal underworld of his Dr. Mabuse films with this fast paced espionage thriller. Even though it rushes along, it's still overlong at 2 1/2 hours and the plot is often confusing with several subplots, notably the Japanese security man (Lupu Pick) which take away from the main narrative. Lang's acute visual eye keeps surprising us with expressive imagery like an overhead shot of a boxing ring which morphs into a nightclub dance floor. The film plays out like a mixture of a conspiracy thriller and a James Bond movie! With Lien Deyers, Craighall Sherry, Fritz Rasp and Hertha Von Walther.