During the dark days of World War II, a British traitor secretly gathers information for his Nazi overlords. Gleaning bits of news about military operations from careless, loose-lipped Englishmen, Davis relays them to his chief, who operates a London bookstore. When a Dutch refugee working at the shop, learns of their elaborate espionage activities, she is forced to cooperate or see her loved ones liquidated.Originally planned as a simple propaganda piece of the "loose lips sink ships" variety, Next of Kin became an all-star vehicle that elicited good reviews from British critics despite its modest production values. Much of the film's dramatic weight rests on the slender shoulders of former child star Nova Pilbeam, who had a key role in Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) and shot to stardom as the leading lady in his 1937 thriller Young and Innocent. Newsreel footage from the front is adroitly blended with newly shot material. In keeping with the national willingness to participate in the war effort, many prominent actors, among them Jack Hawkins, Torin Thatcher, Basil Sydney, Phyllis Stanley, Basil Radford, and Naunton Wayne, take bit parts. When released in the United States, additional footage was shot as a prologue and epilogue, in which a General admonishes audiences to be tight-lipped.
M**Y
'LOOSE Lips' propaganda movie~ World War 2 British~ very good~ 5 STARS~
Plot: How the Enemy gains info from loose lipped people. World War 2 British~ 5 STARS~This was made during World War 2 by the British~ this one starts with an American group of soldiers "warned" beware of talking the enemy gains info that way. This starts with a British Soldier chatting innocently with his girl. He arranges to tell her where the next move of his army group will be. The girl is a stipper and we also find she is also a cocaine addict who trades SECRETS for her cocaine. She weasels info out her love sick soldier who passes her the next village they will be moved too. The stripper passes it on a recently arrived Nazi Spy. He passes it on to a Nazi Bookseller who passes it to yet another spy and to a Nazi Spy dentist. This a fun little dig at LOOSE lips sink ships premise. The film is very grainy and dark but worth the watch. Some small parts by good actors including Jack Hawkins, Nova Pelbean, Mervyn Johns and Stephen Murray. This one is made by oldies.com and stated Prologue by J Edgar Hoover but he is not in this edition. I give it 5 out of 5 for a look at the overly done version of How the Enemy gets their info.
J**K
Bad disc won't play
Disc won't play. Gets stuck in FBI warning and won't play past that point. Defective.
P**E
Suspense on the Battlefield
solid suspense war film...a few twists and turns...was ok...
P**.
Four Stars
Good movie
H**S
Five Stars
good movie
R**Z
Interesting Historical Piece
Five stars for historical interest, one star for cinematic achievement. This made-for-wartime film illustrates the ease with which a country can become infiltrated by spies for foreign powers and hence, the need to watch what you say, to whom you say it and at what decibel level, given the fact that others may well be listening. The main plot arc concerns a British operation in coastal France, an area sparsely defended by the Germans. When the spies and traitors do their work, however, the Germans are able to reinforce and the mission is jeopardized. Sometimes marketed as 'the film that Churchill sought to ban', his concern was that seeing British forces overcome could hurt morale.The interest in the film chiefly comes from early appearances by Torin Thatcher and Jack Hawkins. Ian Fleming appears (uncredited) as a naval officer. The plot is thin and the characterizations largely stereotypical. While the budget was doubtless limited, the production values are well above laughable. The basic problem is that the quality of the script is not equal to the importance of the subject. This is not The Thirty-Nine Steps. The film will be interesting as a political period piece, not as cinematic art. It also, as expected, lacks the combat realism of something like Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers. The combat scenes are very staged and lack the urgency that Churchill might have feared.
V**Y
Five Stars
Awesome film, I really enjoyed it. Quick delivery and the item was in perfect condition.
K**G
Alpha Video.... from VHS to DVD's and the DVD is region 1 US and Canada but defective
Unfortunately the dvd is not playable. I tried it on Cyberpower DVD, then a normal RCA DVD Player, then I tried to even open the dvd to see if I could copy it so the copy would play, and it comes up unknown. I have over 450 dvds, bought over the years, but this is the first I could not play on anything. Alpha Video usually gets hold of copyright free films, and on VHS the copies were terrible. On DVD I guess we will never know the quality, but ive never heard of a company that puts a film on a dvd, you can't play on any software or dvd player. Junk, sent it back to Amazon, which is just annoying running around for a 7 dollar film.
D**E
well acted but difficult to enjoy a film that has propaganda this blatant
Dated, well acted but difficult to enjoy a film that has propaganda this blatant, like being hit with a 2X4. Understanding that it was necessary during that time period but I think it would be done with a little more sophistication today.
M**N
Don't waste your money
Terrible movie
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