Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Anything to Declare? (1938)

Anything to Declare? is a rather clunky espionage film. Captain Grant (John Loder) is an intelligence agent following peace campaigner Dr Klee (Noel Madison) who has shown a great deal of interest in an anti-gas formula.

Dr Klee, who has an amusingly over-the-top "foreign" accent, is up to no good for sure. He has the rather naive daughter (Belle Chrystall) of the British scientist working on the formula in his sights.

Well it all sounds like it could be pretty good but in reality the film is rather ridiculous and cheaply made. At times it's more like pantomime than high drama. Captain Grant gets beaten up by the bad guys with great regularity - the bad guys are so overtly sinister you wonder how anyone couldn't suspect them! However if you accept the film for what it is, a sometimes unintentionally hilarious espionage romp, then you'll find this film great fun. Just don't expect LeCarre or even Bond. I do wonder though if the vocal coach later worked on Allo Allo...