International Lady (1941)

Set during WWII (but before the entry of the U.S.), a ring of saboteurs are interfering with the flow of American airplanes in Great Britain. An FBI agent (George Brent) and a Scotland Yard detective (Basil Rathbone) combine forces to expose the Nazi threat. Their suspicions fall upon a beautiful singer (Ilona Massey) who they believe is passing vital Allied secrets. Directed by Tim Whelan (THE THIEF OF BAGDAD), this B programmer starts off with some glimmer but never quite lights up and by the movie's end, it has sputtered into tediousness. Brent is dully sincere, Rathbone brings some wit but in spite of being tagged the new Dietrich (although when she sang, she was more Jeanette MacDonald than Dietrich), the Hungarian born Massey never became a Star though MGM tried. After this film, she went to Universal where she co-starred in horror movies like FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN and THE INVISIBLE WOMAN. The movie held my interest for about 3/4 of its length before descending into apathy. With George Zucco, Gene Lockhart and Marjorie Gateson.