Jessica Chastain, Charlize Theron, and Angelina Jolie have carved out their own niche in the male-dominated spy movie genre but what about the feisty female actresses who paved the way before them? SPYSCAPE celebrates 10 sister spies who changed the face of cinematic history.
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Protéa (1913)‍

France’s silent film star Josette Andriot (1886-1942) is best known for playing Protéa in a series of espionage films from 1913 to 1919. Her first film Protéa (1913) was the first of the spy adventure genre with a woman as the central action figure. She is sent on a dangerous mission with her partner in crime to retrieve a secret document in a neighboring country. The film achieved considerable success, and a franchise was born. (YouTube)

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Les Espions (1928)

Les Espions involves a spymaster who learns of a dangerous romance between a Russian woman and a dashing agent from the government's secret service. Austrian actress and film star Gerda Maurus made her name on stage in Vienna and was discovered by director Fritz Lang. Her role as a defecting Russian spy led to further back-to-back leads in Treason (1929). (Prime Video)
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Mata Hari (1931)

The name Mata Hari (played admirably by Greta Garbo) conjures up images of the beautiful dancer-turned-German secret agent in WWI Paris. Lionel Barrymore stars as an infatuated Russian general while Lewis Stone is an icy master spy. Ramon Novarro, a handsome aviator, wins Mata Hari’s heart but they may not live happily ever after. (Prime Video, free on YouTube) 

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Dishonored (1931) 

The Austrian Secret Service sends a streetwalker (Marlene Dietrich) to spy on the Russians during WWI and expose two suspected infiltrators. Both become infatuated with her. In real life, Dietrich was mixed up with spies as well when, in 1937, the actress was approached by Nazi representatives and asked to star in propaganda films for the Third Reich. Dietrich, staunchly anti-Nazi, refused. (Stream for free on Archive.org) 

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Marthe Richard (1937) ‍

Edwige Feuillre stars as Marthe Richard (1937), a real-life French spy who rose from life as a Paris prostitute to become a pilot, politician, and activist who pushed a law through the French parliament that made brothels illegal. Richard dreamed of being a military pilot but, when her wealthy husband died, she decided on a career in espionage. She eventually ended up in Madrid where she befriended Mata Hari and seduced the German ambassador to Spain, a double agent. (Netflix, Prime Video)

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The World War II trilogy Rome, Open City, Paisà, and Germany, Year Zero (1945-1948)

Italian film director Roberto Rossellini explores the impact of WWII on ordinary people. His neorealist classic Rome, Open City follows Pina (Anna Magnani) and Marina (Maria Michi) who are female opposites. Marina, the femme fatale of the piece, sinks into drunken debauchery, corrupted by a lesbian affair with a German officer into informing on her own people. (HBO Max, Apple TV) 

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Notorious (1947) ‍

Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant star in Hitchcock’s Notorious, a classic movie about the daughter of a convicted Nazi spy who is asked by American agents to gather information on a ring of Nazi scientists in South America. How far will she go? (Hulu, Disney+, Prime Video)

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My Favorite Spy (1951) 

Hedy Lamarr and Bob Hope star in My Favorite Spy about a burlesque comic recruited by the government and sent to Tangier to retrieve sensitive microfilm before it's captured by hostile foreign agents. While Peanuts (Hope) poses as international spy Eric Augustine, he encounters Lily Dalbray (Lamarr) who is in league with his arch-enemy Brubaker. (Apple TV, Prime Video) 

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Odette (1950) 

British war film Odette is based on the true story of Special Operations Executive French agent, Odette Sansom (Anna Neagle) who was captured by the Germans in 1943, condemned to death, and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp. Colonel Maurice Buckmaster, head of the SOE's French Section, played himself in the film, as did Paddy Sproule, a female SOE agent. (Netflix, Prime Video)

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Carve Her Name With Pride (1958) ‍

Violette Bushell (Virginia McKenna) is the daughter of an English father and French mother during WWII who meets a French Army officer. He is killed fighting on the North African front and, because of her linguistic skills, the widow is recruited as a spy by the Special Operations Executive for operations in France. (Watch for free on YouTube)