and Mrs. Sorensen resume their sea voyage. Cast Conrad Veidt as Capt. Andersen Valerie Hobson as Mrs Sorensen Hay Petrie as Axel Skold/Erik Skold Joss Ambler as Lt. Cmdr. Ashton, RNR Raymond Lovell as Van Dyne Esmond Knight as Mr Pidgeon Charles Victor as Hendrick Phoebe Kershaw as Miss Lang Harold Warrender as Lt. Cmdr. Ellis, RN John Longden as Passport Officer Eric Maturin as Passport Officer Paddy Browne as Singer in "Regency" Dennis Arundell as Lieman Molly Hamley-Clifford as Baroness Hekla Eric Berry as Mr Abo Olga Edwardes as Mrs Abo Cast notes Leo Genn and Peter Bull as two of Van Dyne's associates Bernard Miles in an amusing scene arguing with two air raid wardens Esma Cannon as Hay Petrie's niece Michael Shepley as the helpful man in the club Milo O'Shea made his film debut, in the uncredited role of an air raid warden. Production Contraband was intended as a followup to Powell and Pressburger's The Spy in Black, which was filmed at the end of 1938, but was not released by Alexander Korda for almost a year. The current film was in production from 16 December 1939 through 27 January 1940 at Denham Film Studios, with location shooting in London at Chester Square in Belgravia, and in Ramsgate in Kent. Critical reception The TV Guide online review called it "An odd little comic thriller - who, except perhaps Michael Powell, would cast 47-year-old Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) star Conrad Veidt as a light romantic hero?" Time Out wrote that "Less stylish than The Spy in Black, this espionage thriller is more fun, with its tongue-in-cheek plot revelling in Hitchcockian eccentricities". Radio Times describes it as "A neat Second World War espionage thriller that depicts a London crawling with spies". Dennis Schwartz of Ozus' World Movie Reviews had mixed feelings, giving it a grade of B-. "The brisk pace and its added touches of quaintness, made the film endearing of the lack of any character study and the one-dimensional tone of the villains." However, he wondered "how much better a more romantically inclined hero would have fared in his [Veidt's] role." References External links Contraband reviews and articles at the Powell & Pressburger Pages . Full synopsis and film stills (and clips viewable from UK libraries). 1940 films 1940s spy films British spy films 1940s English-language films British black-and-white films World War II films made in