JohnHowardReid
Producer: Frank Lloyd. A Frank Lloyd Production. (Available on an excellent Universal DVD).Copyright 29 April 1942 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. Presented by Frank Lloyd Productions. New York opening at the Radio City Music Hall: 7 May 1942. U.S. release: 23 April 1942. Australian release: 10 December 1942. 11 reels. 9,876 feet. 110 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Innocent of sabotage, an accused man hunts from west to east to pin down the real Nazi agents. In short, this movie is a variant on "The 39 Steps".COMMENT: Hard to believe that Norman Lloyd wasn't even nominated for a prestigious Hollywood acting award. Who remembers winner Van Heflin in Johnny Eager? Yet Lloyd's is one of the strongest and most unforgettable support performances of the war years."Saboteur" is a thrill-a-minute thriller with a great cast, terrific production values and an absolutely stand-out climax atop the Statue of Liberty. Hitchcock at his best! Cummings is very effective as the fall guy, Priscilla Lane makes an attractive heroine, whilst Otto Kruger is suavely deadly as the chief heavy. This great movie features crackling dialogue, and is delivered at an express-train pace. with top of the range credits and production values.In short, a typically brilliant Hitchcock chase thriller, with many of the director's favorite cliff-hanging ingredients masterfully infused into the plot. All these echoes in story and characterization add rather than detract from the over-all suspense. Hitchcock makes the familiar seem fresh and even more terrifyingly real.
Prismark10
Saboteur was made in 1942 and thus is a propaganda film by Alfred Hitchcock.The subject is Nazi sympathizers in America working to sabotage key targets such as factories and military installations.Robert Cummings plays Barry Kane an aircraft factory worker wrongfully accused of sabotage which killed his co-worker. He crossed the path of the real saboteur and now with few clues is on the hunt for him and clear his name.The film owes a lot to a previous Hitchcock effort that he made in Britain, The 39 Steps. Both films have similar plot devices as the hero is in a cross country pursuit chased by law enforcement authorities and fascist sympathizers. On the way he meets some people who assist him such as a truck driver, or a travelling circus and more importantly Kane meets up with beautiful model Patricia Martin (Priscilla Lane) who is wary of him and tries to turn him in at first.The film very much feels like a remake of The 39 Steps but Cummings lacks the dash of Robert Donat and just looks like too much a solid stock actor. There is some black humour and effective visual touches as Kane goes from California to the skyscrapers of New York.This is still a film that shows us a Hitchcock trying to feel is way round filming in America trying to find actors who will represent his vision. Here he is well served by the bad guys. The suave and wealthy Otto Kruger lusting after power in the new world order and Norman Lloyd the villain who gets his hands dirty.What is effective is the climax at the Statue of Liberty. Not for the first time where Hitchcock will got an American landmark and it is so effectively filmed.
utgard14
When sabotage strikes a wartime aircraft factory, employee Barry Kane (Bob Cummings) falls under suspicion. Kane knows a man named Fry (Norman Lloyd) is the real saboteur but police say Fry doesn't exist. So Kane takes it on the run to search for the mystery man and clear his name. Along the way he is joined, reluctantly at first, by a pretty young woman named Pat Martin (Priscilla Lane). The two wind up tangling with a group of fascists who plot to commit more sabotage on American targets.One of my favorite "lesser" Hitchcock films. I say lesser because it's never been one of his more celebrated works. Yeah, it's not Hitch's most unique or complex film. It's also similar in some ways to an earlier classic, The 39 Steps. I get that. But it is a very entertaining and exciting wartime espionage picture with a quick pace and some great set pieces. The bridge jump, the movie theater, and the Statue of Liberty climax are all highlights. Love the scenes with the circus caravan and the blind man. Pretty hokey but I liked it. It's also a beautiful film to look at with some of the best black & white photography of any Hitchcock movie. Robert Cummings and Priscilla Lane are both likable heroes. Otto Kruger and Norman Lloyd make for appropriately slimy villains. Not one of Hitch's best but very good and underrated.
LeonLouisRicci
Underrated Hitchcock Propaganda Piece that has Many Stunning Sequences and a Few that Don't Quite Work. It is Entertaining and Enjoyable with a Good Deal of Suspense Amidst the Shenanigans.Robert Cummings is Much Better Here than in His Later Role for Hitch in Dial M for Murder (1954) and Priscilla Lane is Bland but OK. It is the Slimy Villains that Shine. Otto Krueger is On His Game as a Snooty Traitor that Can't Abide Americans that He Calls Stupid. Norman Lloyd is Also Remarkable as Frank Fry the True Saboteur.The Fantastic Opening from the Credits to the Blazing Act of the Title are Prime Hitchcock and Ultra-Stylish. The Soda City Scenes are Ominous and Introduce Another Great Villain, Alan Baxter as an Effeminate Baddie that Likes to Dress His Youngest Son in Girls Clothes and Never Cuts His Hair, because His Mother did the Same. That is Pure Freudian Hitchcock and the Scene Tingles.The Circus Caravan is Also Offbeat as is the Scene with the Blind Man. They Echo Freaks (1931) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), as Hitch Pays Homage to Two Great American Films. The Scene that Works the Least is the Clunky Movie Theatre Thing where Patrons are Yucking it Up as a Gangster Sprays Bullets Everywhere. The Scene Seems Awkward and is Completely Goofy.The Shipyard and the Statue of Liberty Pieces are as Good as the Opening and Highlight the Movie Along with a Fast Pace. One Can Overlook the 1942 Speechifying Rallying the Citizens. Mention Should Also be Given to the Words About the Rich and Respectable Class that are Given a Pass Because of Their Status in Society. Barry Kane States this More than Once and it is a Profound Warning and a Nod to an American Ideal, Not Always Adhered to, that Everyone is Equally Innocent Under the Law. The Film is Rich Enough with This Type of Thing and the Craftsmanship is So Pristine that its Flaws Can be Forgiven.
AD
