The Alpha DVD cover for "Miss V From Moscow" makes it look like a dynamic star vehicle for a not-so-well-known-today female star of the 1930s and 1940s, Lola Lane. But it is not quite that: the production is very cheap, and relies exclusively on stock footage for any "large-scale" action. But even when the action is small-scale, Lane is still not very involved in it; she does have a couple of good lines ("Don't you think Wolf is more to the point?" or "A great humanitarian indeed. He says so himself.") but otherwise this is a disappointing vehicle for her. And it's also pretty unconvincing as a Russian-undercover-helping-French-resistance-against-the-Nazis as well, the main reason being that everyone speaks English 90% of the time. However, the film does have some moments that remain topical to this day: paranoid leaders committing unspeakable crimes in the name of "the greater good" will never go out of fashion, or power, in any continent of the world. They just hide their crimes better these days. ** out of 4.
9 Reviews
Mission From Moscow
boblipton2 March 2024
Lola Lane is sent by the government to Paris help the Resistance. The government is the Soviet Government.
This cheap but adequate PRC production is one of several films made during the Second World War in which the Soviets are the good guys. For those who, like me, spent their childhoods and a couple of decades of adulthood during the Cold War, it seems bizarre, even though once Miss Lane is in Paris, she might as easily have been from Indianola, Iowa. There are the seemingly suave but dangerous German officers, the freedom-loving Frenchmen, and, of course, the handsome American, Howard Banks, who's there on much the same mission, so they help each other out. The story is threadbare, but works, cameraman Marcel Picard does his usual good job, and the only item of note is the variety of pictures of Hitler scattered among the German officialdom in the movie. I suspect there were more pictures of Hitler in the Hollywood studios in this period than in all of Germany.
This cheap but adequate PRC production is one of several films made during the Second World War in which the Soviets are the good guys. For those who, like me, spent their childhoods and a couple of decades of adulthood during the Cold War, it seems bizarre, even though once Miss Lane is in Paris, she might as easily have been from Indianola, Iowa. There are the seemingly suave but dangerous German officers, the freedom-loving Frenchmen, and, of course, the handsome American, Howard Banks, who's there on much the same mission, so they help each other out. The story is threadbare, but works, cameraman Marcel Picard does his usual good job, and the only item of note is the variety of pictures of Hitler scattered among the German officialdom in the movie. I suspect there were more pictures of Hitler in the Hollywood studios in this period than in all of Germany.
Schweinhunt! Take him out and Shoot Him!
sol12183 February 2006
**SOME SPOILERS** Called into the the office of the Moscow Bureau of Counter Espionage Vera Marocve, code name Miss V,is told by Commissar Krotov that he has a secret assignment for her behind the lines in Nazi occupied Paris.
It turns out that the top Nazi spy Greta Hiller has been killed by the French Resistance and her body buried and hidden from the Germans. Vera then find out that Miss V is a dead-ringer for the dead Grteta Hiller and that will give her all the cover that she needs to find out what the Germans are planing in the conduct of their war against the Soviet Union and her allies the USA & UK.
Outragiously bad wartime movie with Miss V together with the French resistance trapped behind the lines and a number of fellow Soviet agents in Paris saving a major US/UK convoy from being annihilated by a fleet Nazi U-Boats, or wolf packs, in the frigid North Atlantic.
Being arrested by the Nazis almost as soon as she got to France Mis V doesn't realize that she was given a golden cigarette-lighter by the French Quisling, artist Henri Vevallier,that was really a conformation of her being the ace German Spy Greta Hiller. It was given to Greta by the Fuhrer Adolf Hitler himself for her excellent service to the Fatherland.
With Miss V now accepted by the Nazi police and Gestapo as German spy Greta Hiller she get's in touch with Henri to have him get the important information; a German planned attack on the convoy back to Moscow to prevent the evil Nazi plan from being executed.
The usual wartime-propaganda that you would expect from a movie where the USSR the Evil Emprie, as President Reagen called it, is made to look as wholesome and as American as apple pie. Since the USSR was tying down as much as 300 German infantry and amour divisions in a life and death struggle with the Nazis on the Eastern Front, to the USA/UK engaging less then then 5 (The Afrika Corps) in North Africa, back then in 1942 when the film was released.
Miss V using her wits and all of her charms to get her admiring but naive German officer boyfriend Col. Wolfgang Heinrick to tell her everything he knows about the secret German U-Boat attack planned on the allied convoy. Which in the end has him put against a wall and shot by the Gestapo.
With the help of two allied soldiers trapped behind enemy lines, Steve & Gerry, Miss V and her Soviet contact Dr. Suchevcky in Paris Miss V gets the news back to Moscow before the Gestapo break into Dr. Schevcky's hideout, a gin mill, where he has a secret wireless hidden in a hollowed out beer barrel.
Making their escape Miss V and her fellow Nazi-fighters make it to safety back in the USSR as Dr. Suchevcky stays and dies at his post, the radio, to get the vital information back to his boss and thus save the allied convoy from total destruction by the German Navy and Luftwaffe.
Embarrassingly bad but still watchable, due to it's unintentional comedic story-line and acting, war-time movie. With the Commissar giving a patriot little speech at the end of the film about how we all have to stick together in our struggle against the Nazis.
We also have a film clip of Adolf Hitler giving a rousing and rip roaring speech without sub-titles, that you can only understand if you know German,in what were told is in Paris but obviously in Germany, or the German city of Nuremberg. The speech goes on and on and on just to pad the, "Miss V from Moscow", movie to make it over it's over 60 minute length in order to qualify it as a "B" or second, or third, rate feature film . At the end of the film we see Miss V and Steve dressed up as Russian peasants laughing and living it up in the USSR on the back of a hey filled horse drawn cart. I think that they were laughing at us, not the Nazis, for putting up with and taking seriously both them and the movie.
It turns out that the top Nazi spy Greta Hiller has been killed by the French Resistance and her body buried and hidden from the Germans. Vera then find out that Miss V is a dead-ringer for the dead Grteta Hiller and that will give her all the cover that she needs to find out what the Germans are planing in the conduct of their war against the Soviet Union and her allies the USA & UK.
Outragiously bad wartime movie with Miss V together with the French resistance trapped behind the lines and a number of fellow Soviet agents in Paris saving a major US/UK convoy from being annihilated by a fleet Nazi U-Boats, or wolf packs, in the frigid North Atlantic.
Being arrested by the Nazis almost as soon as she got to France Mis V doesn't realize that she was given a golden cigarette-lighter by the French Quisling, artist Henri Vevallier,that was really a conformation of her being the ace German Spy Greta Hiller. It was given to Greta by the Fuhrer Adolf Hitler himself for her excellent service to the Fatherland.
With Miss V now accepted by the Nazi police and Gestapo as German spy Greta Hiller she get's in touch with Henri to have him get the important information; a German planned attack on the convoy back to Moscow to prevent the evil Nazi plan from being executed.
The usual wartime-propaganda that you would expect from a movie where the USSR the Evil Emprie, as President Reagen called it, is made to look as wholesome and as American as apple pie. Since the USSR was tying down as much as 300 German infantry and amour divisions in a life and death struggle with the Nazis on the Eastern Front, to the USA/UK engaging less then then 5 (The Afrika Corps) in North Africa, back then in 1942 when the film was released.
Miss V using her wits and all of her charms to get her admiring but naive German officer boyfriend Col. Wolfgang Heinrick to tell her everything he knows about the secret German U-Boat attack planned on the allied convoy. Which in the end has him put against a wall and shot by the Gestapo.
With the help of two allied soldiers trapped behind enemy lines, Steve & Gerry, Miss V and her Soviet contact Dr. Suchevcky in Paris Miss V gets the news back to Moscow before the Gestapo break into Dr. Schevcky's hideout, a gin mill, where he has a secret wireless hidden in a hollowed out beer barrel.
Making their escape Miss V and her fellow Nazi-fighters make it to safety back in the USSR as Dr. Suchevcky stays and dies at his post, the radio, to get the vital information back to his boss and thus save the allied convoy from total destruction by the German Navy and Luftwaffe.
Embarrassingly bad but still watchable, due to it's unintentional comedic story-line and acting, war-time movie. With the Commissar giving a patriot little speech at the end of the film about how we all have to stick together in our struggle against the Nazis.
We also have a film clip of Adolf Hitler giving a rousing and rip roaring speech without sub-titles, that you can only understand if you know German,in what were told is in Paris but obviously in Germany, or the German city of Nuremberg. The speech goes on and on and on just to pad the, "Miss V from Moscow", movie to make it over it's over 60 minute length in order to qualify it as a "B" or second, or third, rate feature film . At the end of the film we see Miss V and Steve dressed up as Russian peasants laughing and living it up in the USSR on the back of a hey filled horse drawn cart. I think that they were laughing at us, not the Nazis, for putting up with and taking seriously both them and the movie.
Lola's about as Russian as a taco!
planktonrules1 October 2016
If you are looking for one of the worst American propaganda films of WWII, I would suggest you take a look at "Miss V From Moscow". It features terrible acting, terrible writing, terrible accents and terrible direction...and a film must work hard to be terrible in all four departments!
When the film begins, you learn that a Russian spy, Vera Marova (Lola Lane...the least talented of the Lane sisters) has been called on for a completely ridiculous mission. This lady is apparently the EXACT double for a German spy and they want her to take her place!! The idea of two identical strangers who are spies is ludicrous---the idea that Lane could approximate a Russian or German accent is even more ludicrous! In fact, throughout the film, it's like accent goulash---with weird accents that are just not right or just plain old American accents with no attempt to even approximate the real thing. It comes off as cheap....and is made much worse by dialog that, frankly, sounds like it was written by a couple of 10 year- olds!
So what IS Vera supposed to do and where does the film go? Well, who cares...it's never believable or interesting...though she is assisted by an American on the run who pretends, briefly, to be French...about as French as Chop Suey! Again and again, I keep thinking "how could this get any stupider???"...and yet it does! A terrible film with little to recommend it except as either a lesson to filmmakers about what NOT to do or else a film you can enjoy for laughs.
By the way, in the opening scene, a soldier walks by some Russian office...and the soldier is wearing a WWI German helmet!!! Also, the German plane shot down at the end is Italian.
When the film begins, you learn that a Russian spy, Vera Marova (Lola Lane...the least talented of the Lane sisters) has been called on for a completely ridiculous mission. This lady is apparently the EXACT double for a German spy and they want her to take her place!! The idea of two identical strangers who are spies is ludicrous---the idea that Lane could approximate a Russian or German accent is even more ludicrous! In fact, throughout the film, it's like accent goulash---with weird accents that are just not right or just plain old American accents with no attempt to even approximate the real thing. It comes off as cheap....and is made much worse by dialog that, frankly, sounds like it was written by a couple of 10 year- olds!
So what IS Vera supposed to do and where does the film go? Well, who cares...it's never believable or interesting...though she is assisted by an American on the run who pretends, briefly, to be French...about as French as Chop Suey! Again and again, I keep thinking "how could this get any stupider???"...and yet it does! A terrible film with little to recommend it except as either a lesson to filmmakers about what NOT to do or else a film you can enjoy for laughs.
By the way, in the opening scene, a soldier walks by some Russian office...and the soldier is wearing a WWI German helmet!!! Also, the German plane shot down at the end is Italian.
not so good WWII spy movie
ksf-225 January 2008
Silly, uneven WW II flick, with good picture quality, but poor sound quality. Lola Lane ( Vera Marova ) gets top billing, but its pretty much an ensemble spy thriller. Everyone says rather silly inane things at such a serious time, and the acting by Lane and John Wosper (Colonel Heinrich) is quite bad and stilted, which may explain why this was Wosper's first and last known role in film. Kathryn Sheldon plays Minna, the maid, who suspects that Marova is an imposter. Sherman Lowe and Arthur St. Claire had written nine movies together between 1940 and 1946, but I suspect that this was not their best work...I'm surprised that this was released on DVD... Noel Madison as Kleiss, had made 70 films by this time, and its a shame he didn't have a larger role. They include some footage of Hitler's speeches, with obvious over-dubbing. One thing to note --some credit list corrections -- as of today, Jan 25, 2008, in the credits at the beginning and end of the film itself, Noel Madison is listed as "Capt. Anton Kleis", yet on IMDb, it shows "Police Chief Fritz Kleiss". In the film, Richard Kipling is listed as "Dr. Suchevsky" but IMDb has spelling "Suchevcky". The film credits show "Gerald Naughton", but IMDb shows "Gerry Naughton". The film credits show the spelling "Heinrick", but IMDb has "Heinrich". The film shows "Paul Weigle", but IMDb has it spelled as Paul Weigel".... attempting to correct the credits....
Miss Take from the opening through the end.
mark.waltz14 June 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This poverty row propaganda film should be seen on a double bill with the even worse "Hitler: Dead or Alive" in explaining to modern audiences of how sometimes the Hollywood propaganda machine went too far. A horrible script, cliched characters and ridiculously unbelievable characters make this a laughing stock from the start. Lola Lane, one of the "Four Daughters" (and one of the three Lane Sisters popular in big budget Warner Brothers films of the late 1930's) is cast as a Russian agent who speaks German well enough to pass as a German spy who just happened to look like her. After arriving in Paris (where most everybody, German, French and Russian all speak perfect English with the exception of a select few), Lane takes over the murdered spies life and tries to get information from the local German officers.
Of course, she spends more time with romance and trying to prove she is who she is rather than getting information that the film ends up pointless and virtually plot-less. There's a severe housekeeper (Kathryn Sheldon) who is working with the secret police and instantly suspicious of her, an American soldier (Howard Banks) seeking aide with her help and an over-the-top big Italian accented French cafe owner (Anna Demetrio) who bubbles over every time Lane shows up. A shot of Lane at a Parisian appearance by der Fuhrer himself is perhaps the silliest moment in the film. This has so many things to gripe about in its incompetence in even telling a story worth telling that I'd have to basically memorize the script in order to list them all, and I don't want that nightmare. Let's just say in this case, V did not stand for Victorious.
Of course, she spends more time with romance and trying to prove she is who she is rather than getting information that the film ends up pointless and virtually plot-less. There's a severe housekeeper (Kathryn Sheldon) who is working with the secret police and instantly suspicious of her, an American soldier (Howard Banks) seeking aide with her help and an over-the-top big Italian accented French cafe owner (Anna Demetrio) who bubbles over every time Lane shows up. A shot of Lane at a Parisian appearance by der Fuhrer himself is perhaps the silliest moment in the film. This has so many things to gripe about in its incompetence in even telling a story worth telling that I'd have to basically memorize the script in order to list them all, and I don't want that nightmare. Let's just say in this case, V did not stand for Victorious.
A dreadful wartime spy thriller
Leofwine_draca21 February 2017
Warning: Spoilers
MISS V FROM MOSCOW is a dreadful wartime spy thriller made contemporaneously with WW2. The story is about a female Russian spy who steps into the gap when a lookalike German spy is killed. The female spy then teams up with an American agent working in conjunction with the French resistance in Nazi-occupied France to feed secrets and information to the Allied forces.
The plot sounds mildly interesting but everything about this low budget movie is routine. The attempts at suspense and tension are quite laughable and for much of the running time nothing much really happens apart from a couple of characters chit-chatting. Russia is presented favourably in this propaganda movie which is as you would expect given that we were firm allies back then. Although some of the supposedly straight scenes are unintentionally amusing this doesn't even qualify as so-bad-it's-good entertainment.
The plot sounds mildly interesting but everything about this low budget movie is routine. The attempts at suspense and tension are quite laughable and for much of the running time nothing much really happens apart from a couple of characters chit-chatting. Russia is presented favourably in this propaganda movie which is as you would expect given that we were firm allies back then. Although some of the supposedly straight scenes are unintentionally amusing this doesn't even qualify as so-bad-it's-good entertainment.
Fun little time-waster
Jed from Toronto17 January 2006
Nazi officer: "The Russian Army is annihilated!" --- Miss V: "What!? Again!?"
This is a quintessential WWII B-grade movie and, being cheaply made, it is fun! These were the days when Soviet Russia was a much admired ally, and Lola Lane plays Vera Marova "Miss V" (a Soviet spy), who resembles a top Nazi female (Greta Heller) who is permanently indisposed. Moscow smuggles her into Nazi Germany where she infiltrates the Gestapo and the Wehrmacht. They set her up in an elegant apartment which is unfortunately staffed by "Minna", the horse-faced former maid of the real Greta Heller. Knowing that she is an imposter, Minna proceeds to try and undo Miss V.
The movie is full of WWII-era zingers against the Nazi war machine, delivered by Lola Lane with an inimitable sense of timing. One of the famous Lane sisters, Lola has a marvellously rich contralto voice.
Miss V comes to the aid of some downed fliers and tries to aid them in escaping. Simple plot. Exciting at times.
One of the funniest things in the film is the hat Miss V wears for the last 10 minutes of the movie. It is a sort of GIANT beret, which is easily twice the size of the diminutive star's head.
Another remarkable thing is how much Soviet Russia resembles southern California... there are a couple of hayride scenes in which this is apparent.
If you're not in a mood for a serious film - this can be fun. For its genre as a B-grade war film - I give it a 7.
This is a quintessential WWII B-grade movie and, being cheaply made, it is fun! These were the days when Soviet Russia was a much admired ally, and Lola Lane plays Vera Marova "Miss V" (a Soviet spy), who resembles a top Nazi female (Greta Heller) who is permanently indisposed. Moscow smuggles her into Nazi Germany where she infiltrates the Gestapo and the Wehrmacht. They set her up in an elegant apartment which is unfortunately staffed by "Minna", the horse-faced former maid of the real Greta Heller. Knowing that she is an imposter, Minna proceeds to try and undo Miss V.
The movie is full of WWII-era zingers against the Nazi war machine, delivered by Lola Lane with an inimitable sense of timing. One of the famous Lane sisters, Lola has a marvellously rich contralto voice.
Miss V comes to the aid of some downed fliers and tries to aid them in escaping. Simple plot. Exciting at times.
One of the funniest things in the film is the hat Miss V wears for the last 10 minutes of the movie. It is a sort of GIANT beret, which is easily twice the size of the diminutive star's head.
Another remarkable thing is how much Soviet Russia resembles southern California... there are a couple of hayride scenes in which this is apparent.
If you're not in a mood for a serious film - this can be fun. For its genre as a B-grade war film - I give it a 7.
One more major fault of this potboiler
charles184829 July 2022
Add to the justified criticisms in the previous reviews: there is no character development. Every character is a type, sticks to type. Events do not change them.
The U. S. joined the British and French ruling classes when they put destruction of Soviet socialism above stopping Nazi barbarism. At the last moment the three elites realized they must ally with the Soviet Union to defeat Hitler. This change could have been the basis for a change in a character in the movie.
The U. S. joined the British and French ruling classes when they put destruction of Soviet socialism above stopping Nazi barbarism. At the last moment the three elites realized they must ally with the Soviet Union to defeat Hitler. This change could have been the basis for a change in a character in the movie.
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