News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Sunday December 21st 2025
Movie Corner: Confessions of a Nazi Spy
Warner Bros.
1939
Black & White
3.5/5 Stars
By HOWARD MCQUITTER II
Often forgotten but influential in world history, especially in America, before and during World War II, is the movement of Nazi sympathizers. To shed some light on Nazi spies here and abroad at the time, Hollywood studio moguls like Jack Warner (Warner Bros.) and Louis B. Mayer (MGM Studios) produced films to let their audiences see in theaters stories of Nazi sympathizers and Nazi opponents played by actors. However, Nazi sympathizers did live in real time and not just on screen. One of the motion pictures at the time is director Anatole Litvak’s Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) that gets entangled in who are spies, who squeals on the other (intentional or unintentional), who gets away, and who catches the culprits through artful tactics.
In Litvak’s movie FBI agent Edward Renard (Edward G. Robinson) is determined to out the Nazi sympathizers in America and elsewhere, if possible. He knows the German American Bund is, for the most part, a series of clandestine Nazi movements. (The German American Bund actually operated in Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, New York City, etc.) A Mrs. Mary McLaughlin (Eily Malyon) runs a clandestine international post office out of her home in a bucolic village in Scotland.… Read the rest “Movie Corner: Confessions of a Nazi Spy”
Returning: Chapter 31
The Wind Changes
By PATRICK CABELLO HANSEL
The visitor who came bearing the truth was not perfect. Most heroes or heroines are not. And to be honest, most heroines and heroes are not welcomed with open arms by those who they come to help.
Such was the case with Agnes; dear old Agnes, who showed up at Attafe, AKA Mother Light’s door. She had been forced to do the dirty work of Brian Fleming, who threatened to kill or sell overseas Amethyst*, Agnes’ granddaughter and only living relative. Torn by guilt over her culpability, she vowed to save Guadalupe, the kidnapped daughter of Angel and Luz. She knew the possible cost for doing so was terrible. But the damage to her spirit if she did not try to save the little child was greater.
Mother Light brought Agnes into the living room and stood between her and our little family. That was a wise and necessary thing, because as soon as they saw her, Luz and Angel were up on their feet, shouting and moving toward Agnes.
“Where is our girl?”
“What have you done with Lupe?”
“We trusted you and you betrayed us!”
“How could you do that?”… Read the rest “Returning: Chapter 31”
Keep citizen journalism alive!
Raise Your Voice: The Whirlwind
By PETER MOLENAAR
It was a dustbowl tornado which elevated Dorothy. She would then reveal the wizard who pulls the strings behind the curtain. Indeed, democracy under the capitalist system is always circumscribed. Truthfully, Dorothy would not have prevailed had she not allied herself with the brains, the brawn, and the spirit of the laboring masses.
April 13, 2023…
I attended a revival of LSP’s annual Breakfast and Lobby Day at the state capital, as did several others who reside in District 62B. Note: offices are located across 35th Street from Powderhorn Park. LSP stands for: Land Stewardship Project.
As it happened, Minnesota’s commissioner of agriculture sat down for breakfast right next to me. Naturally, our friend is aware that our top soil is washing away to Lake Winnipeg and the Gulf of Mexico, and he is also aware that our sources of fertilizer are finite (i.e., our present mode of agriculture is unsustainable.) Yes, he was open for proposals:
1.) To facilitate a rapid transition to a sustainable agriculture, the state should contract for the production of cover crop seeds and then distribute said seed free of charge.
2.) The science related to sustainable/regenerative agriculture must be completed.… Read the rest “Raise Your Voice: The Whirlwind”