Grade: D
Synopsis: A spy (Margaret Lindsay) infiltrates the home of a high-ranking English official, where she works with another undercover operative (Boris Karloff) to uncover and secure information.
British Intelligence is a spy thriller that lacks any real thrills. The filmmakers seem so enamored with their labyrinthine plot of agents, double agents, and triple agents, that they forget to make the characters, or their missions, interesting. Compounding this is the fact that the whole convoluted story is riddled with holes that only serve to further distract from the action at hand.
Top-billed Boris Karloff is good in what amounts to a dual role, and it’s nice to see him work outside the horror genre, but his supporting cast lacks the charisma to carry their parts of the film. Margaret Lindsay has as much, if not more, screen time than Karloff and is really the focus of the picture, yet you can’t bring yourself to care very much what happens to her.
If British Intelligence has one saving grace, it’s that the filmmakers seem to realize their own shortcomings and wisely wrap everything up in just over an hour. With a bigger budget, a better supporting cast, and a script polish or two this could have been a fine film, but Karloff alone just can’t save it.
