Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

I actually like these movies, they're quick and sometimes quite entertaining.Ron Randell plays a Scotland Yard inspector working in the US to help find out who is leaking government secrets at a missile testing ground to the Russians. The American agent investigating purportedly committed suicide, but further investigation proves that he was murdered and that it was set up to look like suicide.The leak is revealed to the audience fairly quickly, and she doesn't know she's a leak. It's none other than Amanda Blake in her pre-Gunsmoke "Miss Kitty" days. She and the star, Ron Randell, became engaged during this time, though they never married.Black and white, pretty good, and I could listen to Ron Randell talk forever. What a voice.

"Counter Spy Meets Scotland Yard" may not be high art, but it is an enjoyable spies and sleuths programmer that pits the good guys, led by Howard St. John and Ron Randell, against a nefarious network of villains out to defrock truth, justice and the American way. Released by Columbia Pictures in 1950, "Spy" also includes B film stalwart June Vincent and Amanda Blake, who was to find fame (and maybe fortune) on the television version of "Gunsmoke" as Miss Kitty, as two friends not quite as in sync with each other as one of them seems to think. As scripted by Howard Green (based on the radio series "Counterspy") and directed in no nonsense fashion by Seymour Friedman, this one is an engrossing, low-rent potboiler that nicely entertains the entire 67 minutes of its economical running time.Personally paired as 'our feature attraction' with the Columbia-released Gene Autry production "Gene Autry and the Mounties", it made for a great nostalgia film package, the sort that used to routinely play my beloved Granada Theatre here in Hamilton.Oh how I miss those days!

David Harding: COUNTERSPY MEETS Scotland YARD – 1950A low rent "Red Scare" programmer from the Columbia Pictures B- film unit. This was the second film based on the radio series, COUNTERSPY. Howard St John plays David Harding, the head of a government agency out to stop enemy spy types from stealing American secrets. An agent of St John's, Harry Lauter, leaves a message for St John that he has a lead on possible red spies. Lauter is head of the secret files office at a US rocket research base. The next day, Lauter is found dead after supposedly committing suicide. St John does not buy this for a second, and assigns John Dehner to look into the matter. Dehner soon rustles up a suspect in Lauter's death. The suspect however turns out to be Scotland Yard agent, Ron Randell. Both had been following the same lead. Randell had been in town delivering a part to the rocket research lab when Lauter died. Randell had decided to look into the matter himself. St John quickly asks Randell to join the U.S. team in the hunt for the spy-slash killer. One of the main suspects is Amanda Blake, in a pre-GUNSMOKE role. She is the main secretary for the record files section. It seems that Blake suffers from regular migraines and sees a local doctor, Everett Glass, for relief. Glass, along with his nurse, June Vincent, are really commie spies. They shoot Blake up with truth serum on her visits and have her repeat from memory, all the reports on the secret rocket tests. These are taped and dispatched every week for Moscow. The "Reds" have a hideout at the local bottled water plant. They use the company trucks to pick up the tapes etc and move them. The Government types soon tumble to the "Red" set up. They lay a trap for Glass, Vincent, and his thug, John Doucette. Needless to say fists and bullets are exchanged before the Commies are captured.Not bad at all for a back-lot quickie. The director, Seymour Friedman keeps the pace moving for the whole 67 minute run. Friedman turned out a number of these bottom rung programmers. Some of the better ones are, CRIMINAL LAWYER, CHINATOWN AT MIDNIGHT, CUSTOMS AGENT and LOAN SHARK.The d of p, Phil Tannura, is also known to noir fans. He worked on several BOSTON BLACKIE and WHISTLER films as well as, CUSTOMS AGENT, HI-JACKED and NIGHT EDITOR.I'd swear John Doucette pops up in every other film or TV show from the 50's. He had hundreds of bits in film and television between 1943 and 1987. Look quick and you will see director Fred Sears in a small part. As a director, Sears cranked out over 50 films between 1949 and 1957. These include one of the best low rent sci-fi films of the era, EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCERS.

Despite the rather cheesy sounding title, "Counterspy Meets Scotland Yard" is a very good B-movie. However, it's included in a collection of film noir films, and I really don't see this as noir--more just a good old spy yarn.The film begins with a government agent supposedly committing suicide. However, he was on the verge of a breakthrough on a big case and didn't seem depressed, so the agency had its doubts as to whether he really killed himself. So, they decide to secretly exhume the body--at which point they find another person already there with the same idea! Well, this turns out to be a Scotland Yard detective with a very bad sense of direction (after all, this is the West Coast of the US). Together, this agent and the Americans try to determine who actually murdered the guy.The story turns out to involve a ring of spies who use mind-control drugs to get secrets out of agency personnel--people who have no idea that they are having secrets pumped out of them when they go to see the doctor. It's all very far-fetched but also pretty exciting--especially as the film has a dandy conclusion involving a drugged agent fighting to alert his friends.Well written (despite the odd angle about drugs) and acted, despite this film's humble origins and budget, it kept my attention and was constantly entertaining. Well worth seeing.