They Came to Blow Up America (1943)

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Good idea lost in the noise

Beautiful, moving film.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

"They Came to Blow Up America" 1943"They Came to Blow Up America" 1943 is a wartime spy film released by 20th Century Fox in 1943. The film is based on the German sabotage operation named, Pastorius. In late 1942, the Germans landed men on the Eastern seashore to engage in acts of sabotage. They were however quickly grabbed up by the FBI and put on trial. This film offers a reason for why the men were captured so quickly. The film stars George Sanders, Ward Bond, Dennis Hoey, Sig Ruman, Poldi Dur, Anna Sten and Robert Barrat.This one starts with German American, George Sanders, returning home after several years abroad. He tells his parents, Elsa Janseen and Ludwig Stossel that he has joined the local German Bund. His father is shocked by this bit of info. Stossel is a proud American and tells Sanders so.Sanders is at the meeting talking with fellow Bund member, Ted Nurney, who has been recalled back to Germany. The man tells Sanders that he is to be trained as a saboteur. Now the local Constabulary boots in the door and raids the place. Sanders and his new pal, Nurney, bolt out the back and hot foot it down the dark alley. The Police have the alley covered and Nurney is shot dead when he pulls a revolver.Sanders heads home to tell his parents that he is fleeing the country and going to Germany. Now we find out that Mister Sanders is actually an undercover FBI man. Ward Bond plays the FBI Agent in charge. He gives Sanders his orders which are to now pretend to be the dead man Nurney.Now the film jumps a few months and Sanders in enrolled in the German sabotage school. The course includes how to use various types of explosives and where to place them for maximum damage.There is a side plot thrown into the mix with a love interest, Poldi Dur. Dur is really a member of the German Underground. Sanders, is called in by the Gestapo to help them investigate Miss Dur. Dur is soon gobbled up by the Gestapo and sent off to "be questioned". Sanders, however, springs the pretty Miss Dur and has her whisked out of the country. (He of course disposes of the Gestapo guards using his newly learned sabotage skills)Sanders, is soon at the top of the class at the sabotage school. He is assigned to lead the first group which will be landed on Long Island by submarine. Meanwhile, back in the States, FBI man Bond has told Sanders' father about his son really being an FBI type. He tells Stossel that he must not tell anyone about his son.Needless to say Stossel cannot keep his trap shut, and blabs to his doctor, Sig Ruman. Ruman is of course a Nazi and the info is soon on its way to Berlin. In Germany, Sanders and the first group have already set sail in their U-boat for America.They reach Long Island and are unloaded. This is before the Gestapo head, Dennis Hoey can send off orders to kill Sanders. The entire group is soon captured and put on trial. Sanders is quietly shuffled off into hiding after trial. But not before putting the bag on Nazi agent Ruman.The whole production has a rushed look to it, with the less than sterling screenplay being the main culprit. The actors do okay with what they have and deliver solidly for most part. Not great, but still a decent example of a wartime flag waver.The director, Edward Ludwig is best known for several John Wayne films he directed, THE FIGHTING SEABEES, WAKE OF THE RED WITCH and BIG JIM McLAIN.Anna Sten has a small bit as the wife of the man Sanders is pretending to be. She just about gums up the mission, but is neatly disposed of by Sanders. Future noir icon, Charles McGraw has a small bit as a German saboteur. Look close and you can spot future "Hogan's Heroes" star, John Banner in a quick, unbilled role as a Gestapo man.The always competent Lucien Andriot handles the cinematography duties. The man worked on over 350 different films and television episodes between, 1909 and 1962.

This is a hastily slapped-together but enjoyable fictional treatment of an incident from the early years of the war, in which half a dozen Nazi saboteurs land on the coasts of Long Island and Florida with instructions to attack aluminum plants and other targets.Some of the scenes are dragged out and lack pep despite the strutting and throwing of ceramics, but they're not really boring because the whole story is rushing headlong at such a pace. (A more important weakness is that these comic scenes are supposed to be funnier than they are.) The film needed an editing that it didn't get, probably because the incident itself took place in June, 1942, and the film was rushed through to cash in on the sensation. That's what I mean by "hasty." George Sanders is the fabricated FBI agent sent to Germany under another identity. His mission: attend the Nazi espionage school and find out what they're up to. But unexpectedly he finds himself ordered to keep an eye on a blond suspected of being a dissident -- Poldi Dur, who is a winning presence. He saves her from the jaws of death, so to speak, and then is assigned to lead the team of genuine saboteurs.The saboteurs land in a fog at Amagansett, Long Island, and begin to dispose of the evidence of their intentions. Two points about this scene.One is that I was glad they landed at Amagansett because the civilians there are all too comfortable. It's a tony residential beach-front settlement and everyone sits around and listens to Borodin, nibbles on the occasional amuse-bouche, and sips martinis while playing bridge. A little entropy never hurt anyone.The second point is that these miscreants are interrupted by the arrival of a Coast Guardsman, who appears to accept their lies and the three-hundred dollar bribe (the historical amount). However, this Coast Guardsman takes off and reports the entire incident to his superiors, leading to the ultimate capture of all eight of them, and the execution of six. I thought it was an accurate depiction of Coast Guard integrity. I spent four of the most productive years of my life in the U. S. Coast Guard, and everyone I worked with was a treasure. Well, except for one chief boatswain's mate whose name, Montmorency Queeg Malon, will go unmentioned here.I'm having fun at the expense of the movie but I'm following its spirit. None of it is to be taken seriously. The suspense is limited because it's evident from the start that nothing tragic will happen. And it doesn't. The good guys win. The bad guys are blown up.There are some decent documentaries available free on YouTube that deal with "Operation Pastorius," as the mission was called.

"They Came to Blow up America" looks to be a B movie. It stars the suave, always reliable George Sanders as Steelman, an American of German heritage who is recruited by the FBI to infiltrate the Nazis as a spy. Even his parents believe that he has joined the Nazi movement. He is given the identity of someone else and sent to Germany, eventually ending up on a saboteur mission.The film is told in flashback, with the FBI man who recruited Steelman (Ward Bond) explaining to an underling what really went on.Sanders is good. He played villains well, so during the war, he was often cast as a Nazi! The supporting cast includes Anna Sten and Ludwig Stossel, who plays Steelman's father.Ward Bond was a best friend of Clark Gable, and I couldn't help but notice the similarity of their voices in this film. Even their speaking rhythm was similar. Close your eyes, and you'd swear it was Gable.

This is a fine example of the kind of patriotic films that were produced by Hollywood during the Second World War, a far cry from the anti-American, terrorist-sympathetic views being promoted by contemporary filmmakers.George Sanders, a successful mining engineer working in South America, returns home to visit his German immigrant parents, who are unashamedly patriotic about the USA. They are dismayed to find that Sanders is working for the German-American Bund, a pro-Nazi group active in the early years of the war.But there is more to the story. The plot gets more involved, as secret missions and identities are revealed, and betrayals threaten the lives of the main characters. In the end, a gang of Nazi saboteurs is rounded up and executed, much to everyone's satisfaction.THEY CAME TO BLOW UP America (what an ominous title for us today!) reveals how attitudes have changed in the film industry over the past 60+ years. This film is not ashamed to be overtly pro-American. No one hesitates when it comes to punishing members of anti- American organizations. And no one bats an eye when a teacher talks about using his belt to keep ornery grade school kids in line! This is a fine example of a WW2 espionage movie designed to stir the sentiments of the American viewing audience.