The Adventures of Tartu is a bit of a mess. It's sluggish and labored, with a complex plot. And it can't decide what it wants to be: it has moments of comedy mixed with spy story tension, tender romance, wartime propaganda, and action heroics. Robert Donat is exuberant, clever and energized - he is the film. Ian Fleming must have seen this film, because it also has all the elements of the James Bond films that came 20 years later, including the playboy spy, giant sets where the bad guys prepare for world domination, and the outnumbered hero defeating the forces of evil.