John W. Williams

Political Science, Principia College

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This paper was published in the Foreign Intelligence Literary Scene (now the World Intelligence Review).

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Most spies of World War One were "legends, romantic nonsense that thrives in the intellectual twilight of the intelligence world, folk-tales on which new recruits are nurtured and trained." Furthermore, according to Phillip Knightley in his book The Second Oldest Profession (1986), "[T]he intelligence community does not appear to have done very well in the First World War, and the individual agent did worst of all." (p. 46) Among the "legends" whose stories have since been challenged are Mata Hari and Col. Alfred Redl of the Austrian army general staff.

Another legend is "Fraulein Doktor," variously identified as Elsbeth Schragmuller or, more commonly, Annemarie Lesser. Richard Wilmer Rowan (and Robert G. Diendorfer) describe Schragmuller, who received her PhD from the University of Freiburg, as the director of the German spy school located in Antwerp during the German occupation. "The school was her pride, and she was the school. Its widespread fame, its successes and ultimate failure are her story -- and so given here, but only to the limited degree that authentication permits." (p. 534) Rowen argued:

Most versions of the story, such as Berndorff's melodramatic Espionage! (1930), called her Annemarie Lesser. To them, "This is the story of the greatest of the German women spies...." (p. 94) The various tales describe Lesser's exploits, usually featuring close calls and daring escapes, across the continent. While her exploits were always successful, as appropriate for a legend, both the Great War and her life were disasters. The stories uniformly refer to her decline into morphine and cocaine addiction, and ultimate insanity. According to the tales, she disappeared into an asylum under an assumed name. "And the walls of the asylum are themselves a living tomb; the tomb of the greatest of the German spies who served their country in the Great War." (p. 164)

All the versions acknowledge that the records of her work, including those held by the German intelligence, were destroyed. Likewise, her last years in an asylum, thanks to the convenience of an assumed name, cannot be confirmed. The only apparent confirmation of Fraulein Doktor's existence was a brief passage in Lieutenant Colonel Walter Nicolai's book Geheime Machte, in which he noted the existence of "an unusually well-educated woman who knew best how to deal with agents, even the most difficult and crafty of them."

Symptomatic of the obscurity and misinformation surrounding Schragmuller/Lesser is Rowan's own notation (preserved in the revision of his book):

Like all legends, the story of Fraulein Doktor has been inflated by subsequent portrayals. However, befitting her anonymity among the legends of espionage, Fraulein Doktor remains relatively unknown. Four movies, three before World War II, were made featuring the character of Annemarie Lesser. None, especially the first, can truly claim to be about her.

The first feature film about Annemarie Lesser was also Myrna Loy's first solo starring role for MGM studios. MGM cast Loy as Lesser, called in studio publicity "the most successful spy in the German service during World War I," in the fictitious "Stamboul Quest" (1934). This was also the year that Loy was paired with William Powell in the first of the highly successful "Thin Man" series about Nick and Nora Charles. "Stamboul Quest" was directed by Sam G. Wood, who later directed the Marx Brothers' comedy "A Night at the Opera" (1935), "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1939), and Ronald Reagan's "Kings Row" (1942), among many others.

Loy, as a resourceful and natural Annemarie, is sent by German counter intelligence to investigate a leak of German defense secrets in the Dardanelles. At the time, the Germans and the Turks were allied. The commander of the Turkish forces, played by C. Henry Gordon, is suspected of selling the secrets to the enemy. Gordon, one of Hollywood's stock villains, is remembered as the enemy leader speared by Errol Flynn at the climax of "The Charge of the Light Brigade." (1936) Annemarie's assignment is complicated by the presence of an American medical student, played by George Brent, one of the gallant leading men of 1930's Hollywood. The student, who had trained in Germany before the war, falls madly in love with Annemarie and follows her to Constantinople. His naivete provides the focus for a series of interesting situations. The New York Times noted:

In 1936, expatriate German film director G.W. Pabst directed the French production "Mademoiselle Docteur" (1936). English director Edmund T. Greville simultaneously filmed an English-language version, "Mademoiselle Doctor" (1937). The latter film was distributed by Trafalgar and United Artists. Both versions starred Dita Parlo, a German actress. The plot involves Parlo, as Lesser, enlisting as a German spy in order to avenge her lover's death. Lesser is sent by the German spy chief, Colonel Mathealus, to the country of Salonika to obtain troop movement plans. Once in Salonika she falls in love with a captain, the very man she is assigned to monitor. Although she successfully steals the troop plans, both Lesser and the German spy chief are captured and executed. The story reflected the growing concerns in both France and Britain over the developments in Germany. Lesser's failure as a spy reinforced the Anglo-French victory over the Kaiser.

Although the two versions were filmed simultaneously, followed identical plots, and starred Parlo in the title role, the supporting actors were different. Louis Jouvet played the German spy chief and Pierre Fresnay played the lover in the French edition, while Erich von Stroheim played the German spy chief (Col. Mathealus) and John Loder played the lover (Capt. Peter Carr) in the English edition. Because they were better known, von Stroheim and Loder received star billing above Parlo in the English version. This was the same year von Stroheim played his most famous role, the commandant of the German prisoner-of-war camp in Jean Renoir's "Grand Illusion," in which Dita Parlo also starred.

Both versions eventually made it to the United States. The French version was released under the title "Street of Shadows" in the late 40's. The English version was edited down from the original 84 minutes to 69 minutes and released as "Under Secret Orders."

The final version of Lesser's story was the ambitious English-language Yugoslavian-Italian co-production of "Fraulein Doktor" (1968). The film, produced by Dino de Laurentiis and released through Paramount, starred British actress Suzy Kendall in the title role. Kendall, once married to Dudley Moore, is best known for co-starring in "To Sir With Love" (1967) with Sidney Poitier. British actor Nigel Green, a veteran of the spy thrillers "Ipcress File" (1965) and "The Kremlin Letter" (1970), played Colonel Mathesius, Kendell's German intelligence chief. Kenneth More, winner of Britain's version of the Oscar for his role in a 1954 comedy, played the protagonist, a colonel in British intelligence. More had appeared in the 1958 version of "The 39 Steps." The fourth key character, a German double agent, was played by James Booth.

According to the plot, Fraulein Doktor had arranged the assassination of Lord Kitchener and continued to endanger the British war effort. The British intelligence officer (More) attempts to trap Kendall by capturing and turning another German agent (Booth). Col. Mathesius (Green) deceives Booth into thinking Kendall is dead. The British are not convinced and More tracks Kendall to the Belgian front where she is trying to obtain maps of the British and French offensive. Posing as a wealthy Spaniard, Kendall is organizing a Red Cross mercy train. Fraulein Doktor is presented as "a morphine-addicted, amoral lass who thinks little of seducing and murdering a lesbian doctor" (played by the French actress Capucine). In the final climatic encounter in the rail yard, German agent Booth shoots More, but is killed by German troops. Kendall escapes.

"Fraulein Doktor" was created on a grand scale, like other English-language European co-productions of the era, such as "Waterloo" (1970), the story of Napolean's defeat starring Rod Steiger and Christopher Plummer. The movie captured grim moments of war, such as the devastation of trench warfare and the gas attacks. The critics, however, panned the acting and the movie was a costly failure.

Except for film-trivia buffs, none of the four movies are memorable. This is a good thing, since they shed no light on the truth surrounding the character of Elsbeth Schragmuller, Annemaire Lesser or Fraulein Doktor, whoever she might have been. And, they do little to create or dispel the myth.

Berndorff, H. R., translated by Bernard Miall, Espionage! (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1930).

Knightley, Phillip, The Second Oldest Profession: Spies and Spying in the Twenthieth Century (New York: Penguin Books, 1986).

Parish, James Robert, and Michael R. Pitts, The Great Spy Pictures (Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1974).

Rowen, Richard Wilmer, with Robert G. Deindorfer, Secret Service: Thrity Three Centuries of Espionage (New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1967).