Three Faces East (1930)

IMDb plot summary: A beautiful British intelligence agent attempts to reveal the identity and motives of a powerful German spy during World War 1.

Directed by Roy Del Ruth. Stars Constance Bennett, Erich von Stroheim, and Anthony Bushell.

Three Faces East is about a female German spy who is tasked with staying with an upper class British family posing as the woman who nursed their son in the army before he died. Her mission is to read and transmit information about military maneuvers that the head of the household receives. While we certainly had some spy films in this 1930 project, we haven't had many female spies, so that made this already kind of a fresh take. They also shy away from making her an obvious femme fatale, hinting that there's going to be some kind of change of heart for her near the end. As suspicion rises in the house, there are some good tense scenes in which she is nearly caught, and those are paced and staged really well to heighten the suspense. The final third of the movie doesn't quite live up to the promise of the first 2/3, but it still holds together okay. A decent watch. 

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 Three Faces East (1930)

📊 Ranked #2542/4030 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 37

lost to Gypsy (#2011 → #1917)

beat The Deep (#3014 → #3015)

beat Pi (held at #2509)

beat Le Week-End (#2258 → #2254)

lost to The Lost Skeleton Returns Again (#2137 → #1992)

beat Absolute Power (#2199 → #2220)

beat Sneakerella (#2168 → #2174)

lost to The Dawn Patrol (#2152 → #2122)

beat Laura (#2159 → #2291)

beat Waterloo (#2156 → #2309)

lost to Top Hat (#2153 → #2134)

beat Grand Illusion (#2154 → #2138)