Rating: *** out of 4.
Alfred Hitchcock was not on the top of his game in SABOTEUR, an Americanized version of his own 39 STEPS, littered with propaganda elements; like his superb thriller THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, this Hitchcock thriller was used to promote awareness of "the enemy". But even if SABOTEUR won't be remembered as his best work, and one that certainly won't be outdo its own prototype, it's still a fine crackling good yarn that occasionally lulls but mostly interests.
Robert Cummings (who later would work again for Hitch in the arguably better DIAL M FOR MURDER) plays Barry Kane, an aircraft factory worker who is framed for setting the factory on fire, resulting the death of one of his own friends. Sadly, his friend and another fellow named Fry (Norman Lloyd), are the only witnesses, and one is dead and the other is on the run. Now, as any Hitchcock character would do, Kane runs out to find the true saboteur and along the way he picks up a blonde companion named Pat Martin (Pricilla Lane) who has no use but to trust him despite her doubts.
There are a number of bizarrely humorous moments in the film, particularly in a scene where Kane and Pat hitches a ride with a couple of circus freaks (!). This probably has a lot to do with the fact that author Dorothy Parker is a collaborator. A number of memorable set-pieces give the film edge and excitement; there's a second attempt at sabotage on a ship setting sale, a shootout in a theater (that mirrors the film itself), and the finale on top of the Statue of Liberty (a fight for liberty, perhaps?).
Overall, a pretty flawed but nonetheless engaging film.
Alfred Hitchcock was not on the top of his game in SABOTEUR, an Americanized version of his own 39 STEPS, littered with propaganda elements; like his superb thriller THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, this Hitchcock thriller was used to promote awareness of "the enemy". But even if SABOTEUR won't be remembered as his best work, and one that certainly won't be outdo its own prototype, it's still a fine crackling good yarn that occasionally lulls but mostly interests.
Robert Cummings (who later would work again for Hitch in the arguably better DIAL M FOR MURDER) plays Barry Kane, an aircraft factory worker who is framed for setting the factory on fire, resulting the death of one of his own friends. Sadly, his friend and another fellow named Fry (Norman Lloyd), are the only witnesses, and one is dead and the other is on the run. Now, as any Hitchcock character would do, Kane runs out to find the true saboteur and along the way he picks up a blonde companion named Pat Martin (Pricilla Lane) who has no use but to trust him despite her doubts.
There are a number of bizarrely humorous moments in the film, particularly in a scene where Kane and Pat hitches a ride with a couple of circus freaks (!). This probably has a lot to do with the fact that author Dorothy Parker is a collaborator. A number of memorable set-pieces give the film edge and excitement; there's a second attempt at sabotage on a ship setting sale, a shootout in a theater (that mirrors the film itself), and the finale on top of the Statue of Liberty (a fight for liberty, perhaps?).
Overall, a pretty flawed but nonetheless engaging film.