Dishonored

Dishonored is a 1931 war drama from Paramount, directed by Josef von Sternberg, who wrote the screenplay with Daniel Nathan Rubin. Set in Vienna in 1915, it follows Magda, a widow left in poverty by the war, who turns to prostitution to survive. The head of Austrian intelligence recruits her as an agent under the code name X-27, and her charm and beauty become her working tools. Assigned to gather information on officers suspected of dealings with the enemy, she uncovers a traitor in the army's ranks, then travels toward the Russian headquarters near the Polish border to trace his contacts. There she meets the Russian agent Kranau, who sees through her disguise; the two become rivals bound by mutual fascination that persists even as their opposing services set them against each other.

Marlene Dietrich plays Magda, with Victor McLaglen as Kranau. Gustav von Seyffertitz appears as the head of the secret service, Warner Oland as Colonel von Hindau, and Lew Cody as Colonel Kovrin. The film followed The Blue Angel and Morocco in von Sternberg's filmography and came before Shanghai Express and Blonde Venus, part of the cycle of collaborations between the director and Dietrich.

Dishonored runs 91 minutes and was released in April 1931. It holds a 7.2 rating on IMDb from around 3,500 votes and a 6.9 on TMDB from a smaller group of users, while the critics' rating stands at 7.4 from ten reviews, slightly above the audience scores on both platforms.