Saboteur (1943)

I received this brilliant collection recently in celebration of a pagan holiday. So expect more reviews to come dear readers.

Saboteur is one of Hitchcock’s more uneven films in my opinion. There is a glaring ridiculousness about it, in part, because of the soundtrack. But that doesn’t keep definite Hitchcockian elements from shining.

Centered on Barry Kain, an airplane factory worker, who sets off in a cross-country chase to clear his name and capture the guilty. Set amid national treasures with hints of propaganda, it’s a race against time as fascists set out to harm our nation. But with respectable businessmen who double as secret agents, Kain and billboard model turned sidekick/love interest Patricia Martin (Priscilla Lane) aren’t sure who to trust. The tension climaxes at the top of Lady Liberty.

Robert Cummings stars as Kain and with the look of ‘everyman’ he is convincingly patriotic and respectable—wanting only to clear his good name and foil the terrorists. He is just the tip of a spectacular cast. Otto Kruger as Charles Tobin is maliciously cool. In contrast is Vaughan Glaser as Phillip Martin, as Pat’s blind but remarkable uncle with his Freudian dialogue.

The production is slick. The race against {insert current political evil here} is taught, rife with suspicion, scheming, and humor. Hitchcock springs plots and characters on his unsuspecting audience wonderfully, twisting and turning—if it were a roller-coaster we’d all be nauseous.

As I see it, the success of Saboteur rests on its characters. Cummings and Lane are solid, but Kruger, Glaser, the truck driver and entire circus group make it a film to remember.