The Beautiful Spy

In the arc of 85 years, the uncomplicated fate of The Beautiful Spy is repeated in a new light. While at the time of the premiere, it was necessary to replace warring Czechoslovakia and Hungary with fictional mirror versions of each of them, in 2013 the case of the discovery of new film materials in the estate of the granddaughter of the book's author and screenwriter Gilbert Adler emerged. Although the film was already restored at the NFA in 2004-2005. There really is something worthwhile here. The Beautiful Spy is an excellent spy film, not in the parodic vein of, say, Armoured Car (1929), but much closer to serious genre models like The Mysterious Lady (1928). The film stars Bronislava Livia and J. W. Speerger. Livia is a beautiful and adorable femme fatale and action heroine. She's divine in all the luxurious costumes based on the latest fashion. She is perfect when she reverses the shootout with trickery and determines the direction of the robbery and the subsequent escape in the stolen car. J. W. Speerger perfectly convinced me that his creation in The Kreutzer Sonata (1926) was far from his best performance and that he was capable of going much further. Alongside Livia, he blossomed into a first-class lover, action hero, and outlaw. It is also a pleasure to watch Pištěk, Struna, Futurista or Šlégl in supporting roles. The pacing is top-notch, the drama builds up, and there are a lot of great ideas, be it scripting twists or spectacular formal techniques. But of course, I would only be repeating myself if I pointed out again that Czech silent film is a phenomenon that needs to be attended to with body and soul. (06/25/2013)