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5.9/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.9/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Three Faces East remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
You should probably watch this if you're the kind of person who enjoys early talkies and seeing actors try to figure out where the microphones are hidden. It is a slow, stagey spy story that works best if you just want to soak in the 1930s atmosphere. 🕵️♂️
Action junkies will absolutely hate it. There is a lot of standing around and talking in rooms that look like they might fall over if someone sneezes too hard.
I sat down with this one on a rainy Tuesday, and honestly, it felt like looking at a museum exhibit that occasionally talks back to you. The movie is called Three Faces East, and it’s one of those World War I spy things where everyone has a secret identity and a very stiff collar.
Constance Bennett plays the lead, and she spends most of the movie looking like she’s about to give someone a very polite but firm scolding. She’s a British agent sent to a big house to find a spy named Blecher, but mostly she just walks through doors very slowly.
The sound is... well, it’s 1930. It has that hissy, crunchy quality where every footstep sounds like someone breaking a bag of crackers. 🔊
There is this one guy, Erich von Stroheim, who plays the butler Valdar. He is easily the best thing in the whole movie because he just looks so suspicious all the time. He doesn't even have to say anything; he just stares at people like he’s trying to figure out how much they weigh.
Stroheim has this way of clicking his heels that feels like it belongs in a different, much more intense movie. He’s much more interesting than the actual plot, which gets a bit tangled up in its own feet around the middle mark.
I noticed a name in the credits that made me double-take: William Holden. But don't get excited, it isn't the guy from Sunset Boulevard. It’s an older actor with the same name, which is a bit of a letdown if you were expecting a certain kind of chin. 😅
The pacing is very uneven. Some scenes feel like they were filmed in real-time, like when a character walks across a room, sits down, opens a drawer, and looks at a piece of paper for thirty seconds without saying a word.
It’s a bit like Shadows of Suspicion in the way it tries to build tension but mostly just builds a lot of quiet. You can almost feel the director behind the camera holding his breath so he doesn't ruin the audio track.
There is a scene where a guy is supposed to be hiding behind a curtain, but you can clearly see his shoes sticking out. Nobody in the movie notices, though. It’s those little imperfect moments that make these old films feel more human than the polished stuff we get now.
The dialogue is very formal, almost like they’re reading a grocery list to each other but trying to make it sound like a state secret. "The master is in the garden," sounds like a code for an invasion, even when it’s just about gardening. 🪴
I kept thinking about Bright Lights while watching this, mostly because that movie had so much more life in its eyes. Three Faces East is much more concerned with being a "serious" thriller, which makes the goofy parts even funnier.
The sets are very theatrical. You can tell they only had about three rooms to work with, so they just keep moving the furniture around and hoping we won't notice it's the same hallway. The lighting is pretty flat, but occasionally a shadow hits von Stroheim’s face just right and it looks cool for a second.
One reaction shot of Constance Bennett lingers for so long I thought my screen had frozen. She just keeps staring off into the distance, presumably thinking about her next costume change. She does have some fantastic hats, though. 👒
There’s a bit near the end involving a wireless radio that is supposed to be very high-stakes. But because the technology was so new back then, the characters handle the equipment like they’re touching an alien spaceship. It’s charming in a weird way.
The movie doesn't really have the energy of something like Crash, but it has its own weird gravity. It’s the kind of film you watch when you’re sick in bed and want something that won't loud-talk you too much.
I did like the way it handled the "traitor in our midst" trope. Even though I guessed who it was about twenty minutes in, the movie still tries really hard to pull a fast one on you. It’s like a puppy trying to hide a shoe; you know what’s happening, but it’s cute that they’re trying.
If you’ve seen One Million in Jewels, you might find this a bit dry. But for a 1930 spy flick, it’s actually better than a lot of the other junk that was coming out when sound first hit. 💎
The ending is a bit of a rush. After eighty minutes of whispering, everything happens in about four minutes and then the curtains close. It’s abrupt, but honestly, I was ready for a snack anyway.
It’s not a masterpiece, and it won't change your life. But if you want to see von Stroheim being a creepy butler and Bennett being a classy spy, give it a go. It’s a decent enough way to spend an hour and a bit if you like the smell of old celluloid. 📽️
IMDb 5.6
1930
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