The W Plan (1930) is a dusty, surprisingly tense spy flick

Is it worth your time?

Honestly? Yes.

If you like movies where guys sweat in tight spaces and try not to get shot for having a British accent, you'll dig this.

People who hate slow, crackly movies from the dawn of sound will probably want to skip it.

But for the rest of us, it’s a weirdly effective little thriller. 🕵️‍♂️

The vibe

The movie starts and you immediately notice how *loud* the silence is.

This was 1930. Sound was still new and everyone was figuring out how to not make it sound like a tin can.

It reminds me a bit of Blackmail in the way it feels like it's fighting the technology of its time.

Brian Aherne plays Colonel Grant, and he has this very serious face that makes you believe he’s actually in danger.

He gets dropped behind enemy lines and has to pretend to be a German soldier named Muller.

It’s one of those plots where you keep waiting for someone to notice his mustache looks a bit too British.

The Tunnels

The main thing about this movie is the digging. So much digging.

They are building these secret tunnels—the "W Plan"—to blow up the British from underneath.

The sets for the tunnels are actually pretty great. They look damp and heavy.

You can almost feel the dust falling off the screen and into your popcorn. 🍿

There is this one scene where Grant is just standing there, trying to look busy, and the camera lingers on his face for way too long.

It’s meant to be tense, but it almost becomes a staring contest between him and the audience.

I kind of liked it, though. It felt real.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The W Plan (1930) through its definitive frames.

Wait, what?

There’s a part where a character gets suspicious, and the way they resolve it is so fast I had to rewind.

The movie doesn't hold your hand. It just moves.

Some of the acting is very *theatrical*. Like, people waving their arms around like they’re trying to catch a bus.

But then Madeleine Carroll shows up and she’s actually really good. She feels like she’s in a different, more modern movie.

It’s much better than something like The Missing Links which just feels dated in a bad way.

Small details

• The uniforms look incredibly uncomfortable. Everyone looks like their collar is itching.
• The sound of the shovels hitting the dirt is actually quite rhythmic. It becomes like music after a while.
• There is a German officer who drinks coffee in a way that makes him look like a total villain. Just the way he holds the cup.

The lighting in the underground scenes is actually better than the stuff filmed outside.

They used shadows to hide the fact that they probably didn't have much money for big sets.

It works. It makes it feel claustrophobic and scary.

The ending

I won't spoil it, but the ending is surprisingly fast.

Everything builds up and then—boom—it’s over.

I sat there for a second wondering if I missed a page of the script.

But looking back, it fits. War is messy and things happen quickly.

It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s solid.

If you've seen things like Fantasia 'e surdate, you know how these early talkies can be hit or miss.

This one is definitely a hit if you have the patience for it.

Just don't expect 4K visuals or perfect audio. Embrace the grain.

Anyway, I’m going to go wash the metaphorical dirt out of my hair now.