THEY CAME TO BLOW UP AMERICA - "What Else Do You Need To Know" (1943)

 

I was crusin' and perusin' the Internet the other night, and I rolled up on this poster that made me feel like what in the Hell is that, so that's why this evening's Saturday Night Special is...

 "They Came To Blow Up America!"

"They Came To Blow Up America" was made in 1943, but WWII didn't end until 1945, so it was still a time of bolstering up the public!

This nasty Nazi named Ernst Reiter has been caught, and is now totally out of the game!

The F.B.I is replacing the real Ernst Reiter with a man named Carl Steelman! Carl is played by George Sanders in what might be one of my favorite roles for him.

Secrecy is SO important, Carl has to even lie to his parents!

George looks pretty freakin' suave as a nazi!

Liesl Handl as Helga Lorenz has already maxed out her ration of stockings, and is in jeopardy of not looking good. She is also of Austrian descent and is totally anti-nazi.

Carl's got some extra credits, so he decides to help the pretty lady out, and purchases them for her!

Scheiss! The authorities have monitored Carl and Helga's every move, and now he has to explain himself, and not blow his cover!

 

This is my worst nightmare! Terrorists setting fires! Right about the same time, the Japanese were working on their deadly Fu-Go balloon bomb campaign. Luckily, it was mostly a failure, but what a mean spirited concept!

The Winston Churchill dart board at the Nazi headquarters is quite novel!

So Carl has got himself quite a problem. He's had to convince his own parent's that he's a Nazi, then he's had to convince Helga that he's not, only to pretend that he is again when they take her away, and then rescue her, and scurry her off to safety!

This newly developed mini-bomb is going to be very helpful!

The bomb is set to go off in many different ways. This time it's based on speed!

Carl puts the bomb in the car of the Nazis chasing him and Helga, sets the bomb to go off at 75 MPH, and then leads the guys on a high speed chase. When they hit 75, the car explodes and the chase is over.

A really sick, but pretty funny scene happens when the wife of the real Ernst Reiter shows up at Carl's hotel room, and discovers her husband is not who he is supposed to be. Carl then has to scramble, and go tells his Nazi boss that his wife is insane, and she doesn't recognize him any more, and is a danger.

So, when she goes to blow the whistle on Carl, they totally don't believe her, and immediately put her in an institution! Dennis (Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man, She-Wolf Of London) Hoey is tremendous as the vile Colonel Taeger.

Big Ward Bond as the head of the F.B.I. finds out that Carl's Father has made himself physically ill by worrying about his son being a Nazi, so he lets him know the truth, but he's not supposed to tell anybody else, not even his wife or it might put Carl's life in jeopardy!

Carl's Dad feels better immediately after getting the news that his son is a hero, not a zero, and gets up out of bed and decides to smoke a cigar, when his Doctor shows up. He's so excited, and feels like he has to tell somebody, so he tells his trusted Doctor, who just happens to be a Nazi sympathizer, and now Carl's life is really on the line. What a dumbass!

When they find out the Frau Reiter wasn't crazy, but was telling the truth, the Colonel goes to talk to her. She gets so mad and reads him the riot act, which only gets her the ultimate reward for being true to the party, he has her shot! Frau Reiter was played by the stunning Russian actress Anna Sten, who Samuel Goldwyn had poised to be the next Marlene Dietrich, but it never panned out!

Yeah, that's great Doc, thanks for all your help.... you're under arrest you rat bastard!

A pretty decent copy streams on YouTube for free, and it's only an hour and thirteen minutes long, so what are you waiting for?