GenreDrama Running time1h 11m CountryUnited States
Release dateJuly 26, 1930 (1930-07-26) (US premiere) Based onThree Faces East (play)
by Anthony Paul Kelly WriterArthur Caesar, Oliver H.P. Garrett, Anthony Paul Kelly (play) ScreenplayArthur Caesar, Oliver H.P. Garrett CastConstance Bennett (Frances Hawtree / Z-1), Erich von Stroheim (Valdar / Schiller Blecher), Anthony Bushell (Capt. Arthur Chamberlain), William Courtenay (Mr. Yates), Crauford Kent (General Hewlett), Charlotte Walker (Lady Catherine Chamberlain) Similar moviesMission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Kingsman: The Secret Service, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Mission: Impossible, Bridge of Spies, Spy
Three faces east preview clip
Three Faces East is a 1930 American Pre-Code film directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Constance Bennett and Erich von Stroheim. Produced by Daryl Zanuck and released by Warner Brothers it is based on a 1918 Broadway play about World War I spies, Three Faces East. It was filmed as a silent in 1926. A later remake starred Boris Karloff and Margaret Lindsay in British Intelligence.
The story takes place during World War I. The action opens on a French battlefield. After meeting with German spy Schiller Blacher (Erich von Stroheim), Z-1 (Constance Bennett) is sent on a mission to England. The action then moves into the London home of Sir Winston Chamberlain (William Holden- no relation to the 1950s star of the same name). Sir Winston does not know that his supposedly faithful butler, Vardar, is actually Blacher. When Z-1, as Frances Hawtree, arrives at the home, Vardar, who is in love with her, believes her to be a loyal German agent, but things turn out otherwise when she prevents him from sending a stolen code back to Germany and thus reveals her true allegiance.
Preservation
The film survived complete. It was transferred unto 16mm film by Associated Artists Productions in the 1956-1958 and shown on television. A 16mm copy is housed at the Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research. Another print exists at the Library of Congress.
The film is now available on video-on-demand from WB Archive, WB Shop and Amazon.