by Minnie Apolis
One of the more interesting
Hitchcock films, as far as those set in modern historical times and
events, was Notorious, a rather tense thriller starring Cary
Grant as a spy, the luminous Ingrid Bergman as the cat's paw, and the
the versatile Claude Rains as the Nazi. How little its audiences knew
that Grant was in fact a real-life spy and Nazi hunter from 1938 on,
or how many parallels his spy career had with that 1946 film.
In the summer of 1939, a Hollywood partnership was
formed as a front for British Intelligence (MI6-- Military
Intelligence 6). It was made up of Samuel Goldwyn, Douglas Fairbanks,
Sr., Alexander Korda (the Hungarian producer), Walter Wanger and
Korda's London Films. Cary Grant worked with this partnership to
flush out Nazi sympathizers in Hollywood and its environs. (Another
similar partnership was organized by Cecil B. DeMille at Paramount.)
Grant's chief contact with British intelligence was Noel
Coward, the author of numerous plays and humorous songs.
It may surprise some film buffs to learn that the major
accomplishment of Cary Grant the Nazi hunter was to out the
Australian actor, Errol Flynn, as a Nazi sympathizer.
Flynn had been recruited early into the Nazi cause by a
German friend, Hermann Erben, back in 1933 when they both were aboard
a German steamer, the Friderun. Later in England, Flynn wrote
letters in support of Hitler, including one where he stated he would
like to see Hitler in London to take care of the Jews there. Such was
Flynn's popularity and star power that he was able to associate
openly with Erben, even in the midst of the Jewish community in
Hollywood. Flynn and Erben traveled together to Mexico City,
ostensibly to report for Collier's magazine on Fascism in South
America, but they were really contacting the Nazi community in
Mexico.
Grant had turned in Flynn's name to authorities but told
New York literary agent and friend Joseph Longstreth in 1941 that he
was nonplused by the fact that nothing had been done about Flynn.
Among other things, Flynn had arranged a rental car so that Erben
could escape across the border into Mexico. This would have been a
treasonous offense if legal proceedings had been initiated. Erben
eventually made his way to China, where he was busy with the Nazi spy
ring in the Orient.
Still, the question of why Flynn was not charged with
various offenses such as violating the Trading With the Enemy Act is
unclear. He may have been more useful as part of anti-Nazi propaganda
in films, he may have been too well-protected, or MI6 may have
decided that the spy you know will lead you to other spies that you
don't know.
In June of 1940, William Stephenson of British
Intelligence arrived in New York under the cover as a passport
control officer with offices at Rockefeller Center. He then began
organizing a system of spies which became known as BSC, or British
Security Coordination. This BSC became the focus of MI6 operations in
both North and South America.
One of the people Grant investigated
was Barbara Hutton, who was in a messy divorce and trying to regain
custody of a son from her German ex. Grant is presumed to be the one
who intercepted her mail and forwarded it to BSC. Apparently Grant must have thought that Hutton passed
muster because he later married her.
One of the most interesting parallels between real life
and reel life is seen in the movie Notorious. Like the
character he played in that Hitchcock film, he had to learn to crack
safes as part of his spy duties. According to Grant's one-time
personal assistant Ray Austin, Grant confided some details of his spy
career, including the safecracking and bringing back information
hidden in his clothing.
Other parallels reflect the fact of Nazi cells not only
in Mexico and Argentina, but in much of Latin American – as Grant's
character Devlin uses Bergman's character Alicia to infiltrate the
circle of German industrialists in Rio. The menace conveyed by Claude
Rains and Leopoldine Konstantin perfectly reflect the suspicious
characters that Grant had unwittingly rubbed elbows with in his
private life. He and Barbara Hutton had been friendly with Countess
Dorothy de Frasso and her husband, not knowing that they were deeply
involved in Nazi activities, and also with Count Cassina, another
Nazi that he had gotten a studio job as a translator.
It must have been incredibly tense on the set of the
classic 1939 film Gunga Din, to co-star with the openly
anti-Semitic Victor McLaglen, who had been discovered more than one
beating up Jews in the Hollywood area. Some see the plot of the film
Gunga Din as a thinly-disguised attack on Nazism, represented by the
evil Indian guru and his supporters.
Grant had already donated his salary for his next film
that year, The Philadelphia Story, to British War Relief and
the Red Cross; however, it was later learned that the publicist
entrusted with the funds had stolen them. This did not keep Grant
from donating his later salary from Arsenic and Old Lace to
the war effort.
It was most meaningful to Grant when the U.S. Army sent
some officers to present him with an American flag as a token of
thanks “for his work as a special agent, provider of funds for the
war effort, and champion entertainer of the troops.”
SOURCE:
Higham, Charles and Roy Moseley, Cary Grant: The Lonely
Heart, Avon Books (Hearst Corporation), New York, 1989, 380 pages not
including index.
