The Government of the United Kingdom maintains intelligence agencies within several different government departments.
The Directorate of Military Intelligence was part of the War Office from the 19th century until absorbed by Defence Intelligence in the Ministry of Defence in 1964. Its sections were numbered and often referred to as "M.I. number". The names MI5 and MI6 retain wide currency, although the bodies are no longer within the Ministry of Defence.
British Intelligence is a 1940 spy film set in World War I. It was directed by Terry O. Morse and starred Boris Karloff and Margaret Lindsay. The film, also known as Enemy Agent, was released in the United States in January 1940. The Warner Bros. B picture was based on a 1918 play Three Faces East written by Anthony Paul Kelly and produced on the stage by George M. Cohan. Two film adaptations of Three Faces East in 1926 and 1930 preceded British Intelligence.
During World War I, Franz Strendler, a master German spy has cost the British dearly. In desperation, they send for their best agent, currently undercover in Germany. Pilot Frank Bennett (Bruce Lester) is sent to pick him up, but the Germans are forewarned and Bennett is shot down. Luckily, he survives and is rescued by friendly soldiers. While recovering in a hospital, Bennett is tended by a pretty nurse, Helene Von Lorbeer (Margaret Lindsay). He tells her he loves her, but she informs him she is leaving, and they will not see each other again. However, after Bennett falls asleep, she kisses him on the cheek.