In 1917, Allied shipping is being sunk by German submarines. The Allies are relying on codes to transmit rendezvous location for the convoys. The only problem is that German spies are already cracking the code. Newspaper man Bill Gordon (William Powell) is newly commissioned Lieutenant headed for the front. Socialite Joel Carter (Rosalind Russell) is taken with him at an embassy party in Washington. He is secretly a cryptography expert. Despite his wish to go to the front, she gets her uncle Assistant Secretary of War John Carter to send him to work as a cryptologist in D.C.
The movie works best with Powell and Russell together. They need as much time together as possible. The movie falters when it's trying advance the story without either one of them. Joel could simply be Bill's secretary. There is still a problem with Joel's jealousy. She knows that the Russian is a suspected spy but she is still jealous. It makes her look stupid rather than it being funny. Cryptography is pretty boring as a backdrop for a thriller. This movie tries to spice it up with a spy ring. While Bill is a smart cookie, he is rather careless in hunting down the spy ring. He could easily be kidnapped. Joel is infinitely worst. I like Powell and Russell. I just don't like some of the writing.
The movie works best with Powell and Russell together. They need as much time together as possible. The movie falters when it's trying advance the story without either one of them. Joel could simply be Bill's secretary. There is still a problem with Joel's jealousy. She knows that the Russian is a suspected spy but she is still jealous. It makes her look stupid rather than it being funny. Cryptography is pretty boring as a backdrop for a thriller. This movie tries to spice it up with a spy ring. While Bill is a smart cookie, he is rather careless in hunting down the spy ring. He could easily be kidnapped. Joel is infinitely worst. I like Powell and Russell. I just don't like some of the writing.