Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

. . . for American Hearts & Minds on the Big Screen in 1939. Since all the Hollywood money--except Warner's--was backing the Nazis, that racist, boring snooze-fest bladder-buster dubbed GONE WITH THE WIND stole CONFESSIONS OF A NAZI SPY's well-deserved Best Picture Oscar. In fact, GWTW's story line dove-tailed perfectly with Nazi Disinformation Minister Joseph Goebbels' racially-divisive propaganda leaflets that CONFESSIONS documents were being handed out at every American school yard, placed on theater seats before each GWTW showing, as well as being dropped by the bushel from airplanes and high-rise windows. In 1939, one of the two major U.S. political parties was in cahoots with Hitler. That is why the millions of German Fifth Columnists and Hitler Youth Scouts terrorizing America were NEVER interned, despite mountains of evidence summarized in CONFESSIONS. Instead, the race-based slavery precepts championed by GWTW created a climate in which thousands of loyal Japanese-Americans were declared as being "Non-human," as they were permanently deprived of all their property and peace of mind despite there not being a shred of evidence against a single one of them! CONFESSIONS shows us how Hitler used Fifth Column traitors and saboteurs to plunder Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, and France. Britain had to stamp out thousands of their own Gestapo pawns around the time that CONFESSIONS was released. But in America, all but four of these Heil-Hitlering Brown Shirts remained free before, during, and after WWII--free to lord it over the rest of us loyal, Freedom-loving citizens with their huge heaps of money down to the present day. Are YOUR Congressional reps second generation Sig Heilers?

"Confessions of a Nazi Spy" is an excellent film about real events. It's based on a true story and uncovered facts at a time when the whole world was on the verge of war. As such, it's also an outstanding piece of propaganda – indeed, a classic example of the beneficial use of propaganda. More on that later.Some of the reviews I've read give the impression that propaganda is all bad. Some imply that it's false or deceptive. Some don't like the fact that propaganda is or can be manipulative. But there are differences between propaganda and how it's used, and between it and outright lies and deception. World War II was a time rife with propaganda and with outright lies and deception. But, before looking at how it applies to this film, it would help to have a better overall understanding of propaganda.Propaganda is everywhere around us. It's in the ads we watch, listen to and read in the media. It's in the news media itself. It's in our history books and school courses at all levels. It's in the government programs created by Congress. It's in the political rhetoric of our elected officials. Indeed, it's a proof of freedom of speech and of the press. The propaganda this refers to is the category of facts, ideas, and information that is used widely to explain, promote or encourage support for programs, positions, efforts, projects and products. In this vein, propaganda helps inform the public about something. It may help a person make up his or her mind to support or oppose a policy or proposal. It may help a shopper decide which products or brands to buy. It helps people understand how a government program works. That's what most propaganda is and does. But, there is another aspect of some propaganda, and that has to do with spreading rumor or making allegations about some one or thing. This is a malicious use of propaganda, and it fits in the realm of slander. It's used to attack, belittle or discredit some one or something in the eyes of the public. It's always negative. Curiously, no definition of propaganda states that it is ever outright deception and lies. So, there is a clear distinction between propaganda, which is not wrong or bad in itself, and lies or deception which are wrong.Now, back to this film. It's based on a true story and events. It covers a great deal of information about the German-American Bund that many – indeed, most Americans then probably did not know. It exposed the real malicious and oppressive designs and intentions of the Nazis. This was at a time when many Americans were pacifists and didn't want to see a repeat of WWI. And, this film showed very well the deliberate Nazi plan to use the natural, healthy pacifism, as a means to keep America divided and out of the war. For the first time, many Americans found out what the Nazi party was really up to, and how it was a threat to our own country. "Confessions" shows that the Nazis used outright lies and deception to cover up the truth of their operations. That was not propaganda, but misinformation. Toward the end, we saw that they planned to use rumor, allegation and slander in propaganda. This movie doesn't include several of the sabotages that Nazi agents carried out in some eastern U.S. cities. And we learn in the film that before that time, the U.S. did not have a counter-intelligence agency to deal with such insurgency.Who could argue that the conclusions of the film, and the resulting security measures and efforts were not right? The government, and all Americans, learned about the dangers of "loose lips" – that can sink ships. So, as a propaganda piece, this film alerted the public to be cautious and wary. "Confessions" is indeed an historical film. It was the first real intelligent, fact-based movie that warned about the designs of the Nazis. And its value and importance became clear right away when organized Nazi efforts tried to stop the film's release with demonstrations in some eastern cities.

This is a footnote, really, but one wonders why the film makers kept putting their actors on the SS Bismarck for their frequent trips between the USA and Germany. That beautiful liner, the biggest in the world at the time, was built by the Germans during the first world war, and handed over to the British in war reparations afterwards. She last sailed as the Bismarck in 1922, and after that sailed for the White Star Line as their flagship SS Majestic, ending her days during the second world war as the Royal Navy training ship, HMS Caledonia. She caught fire and sank at her moorings in 1940.So, at the time this film took place, there was no SS Bismarck, but there was HMS Caledonia.

Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) *** (out of 4) Better than expected propaganda film from Warner is probably more historically interesting than entertaining but there's still enough good stuff here to make it stand up well in today's times. The film centers on an FBI agent (Edward G. Robinson) who is trying to track down and break a Nazi ring working inside the United States. Watching this film today the subject matter is rather heavily handled and preachy. I'd go even further to say that the director and screenwriter are constantly beating their subjected over the head of the viewer but one has to remember that the Nazi movements in America were pretty much kept quiet back in the day and this film bravely threw them under the bus a few times. One has to applaud the film for trying what it did in 1939 and I'm sure the movie opened the eyes of many people (even though I've heard it wasn't a hit for the studio). The story told here is a pretty good one that will certainly grab your attention and keep you going throughout the film. The documentary-style telling doesn't work overly well but that doesn't matter too much. Robinson turns in a good, quiet performance as the main FBI guy. He doesn't shout or get too worked up, which is something I haven't seen from him in his earlier films. I really enjoyed how Robinson played the character and it really paid off in the end. Francis Lederer, George Sanders, Paul Lukas, Henry O'Neill and Joe Sawyer add nice supporting performances.