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War Spy Film

A specialized hybrid subgenre that blends narrative and character elements of the spy film with the backdrop of war. These films most often center on spy protagonists' espionage activities during wartime. Often these plots start with a specific mission, or missions, assigned to a spy -- usually the alleviation of a national threat or the recovery of pertinent information required to win the war or a particular battle. The spy then must overcome obstacles, dangerous threats, and sometimes psychological anxieties due to love affairs, friendships or personal phobias to successfully complete the mission. In most traditional forms of the subgenre, they succeed. Unlike James Bond films, the nationality of the enemies is usually clearly defined. The popularity of war spy films rose during and after World War II, with films like Foreign Correspondent, Five Graves to Cairo and Five Fingers. However, the majority of the subgenre resides in the non-violent battles of the Cold War between the '60s and early '90s, where the communists were often viewed as villains, and spies from capitalist countries like America and Britain, the heroes.

Major Works
Rating
Year
 Title
 
 Director
    7 Stars 1951 I Was an American Spy   Lesley Selander
  7 Stars 1945 The House on 92nd Street   Henry Hathaway
    7 Stars 1952 5 Fingers   Joseph L. Mankiewicz
  7 Stars 1943 Watch on the Rhine   Herman Shumlin
  7 Stars 1962 The Counterfeit Traitor   George Seaton
  6 Stars 1996 Mother Night   Keith Gordon
    5 Stars 1969 Adyutant Ego Prevoskhoditelstva   Yevgeny Tashkov
    5 Stars 1961 Qui etes-vous, Monsieur Sorge?   AndrĂ© Girard
  5 Stars 1945 Paris Underground   Gregory Ratoff
    5 Stars 1941 Paris Calling   Edwin L. Marin
    5 Stars 1946 O.S.S.   Irving Pichel
  5 Stars 1956 The Man Who Never Was   Ronald Neame
    5 Stars 1943 Five Graves to Cairo   Billy Wilder
  5 Stars 1951 Decision Before Dawn   Anatole Litvak
    5 Stars 1942 Counter-Espionage   Edward Dmytryk
    5 Stars 1944 The Conspirators   Jean Negulesco
    5 Stars 1939 Confessions of a Nazi Spy   Anatole Litvak
    5 Stars 1941 Pimpernel Smith   Leslie Howard
  5 Stars 1946 I See a Dark Stranger   Frank Launder
    4 Stars 1967 Mayor "Vikhr"   Yevgeny Tashkov
  4 Stars 1965 Morituri   Bernhard Wicki
    4 Stars 1937 Lancer Spy   Gregory Ratoff
    4 Stars 1934 I Was a Spy   Victor Saville
  4 Stars 1944 Candlelight in Algeria   George King
    4 Stars 1940 Night Train to Munich   Carol Reed
  4 Stars 1946 13 Rue Madeleine   Henry Hathaway
  3 Stars 1992 Shining Through   David Seltzer
  3 Stars 1946 Cloak and Dagger   Fritz Lang
 
 
 
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