Saboteur (1942)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Peter Viertel (original screenplay) &
Joan Harrison (original screenplay) ...

Release Date:

24 April 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Mystery | Thriller | War

Tagline:

3000 miles of terror!

Plot:

Aircraft factory worker Barry Kane goes on the run across the United States when he is wrongly accused of starting a fire that killed his best friend.

Plot Keywords:

Cross Country | Desert | Circus Train | Christening | Espionage

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Robert Cummings	...	Barry Kane
Priscilla Lane	...	Patricia 'Pat' Martin
Otto Kruger	...	Charles Tobin
Alan Baxter	...	Freeman
Clem Bevans	...	Neilson
Norman Lloyd	...	Frank Frye
Alma Kruger	...	Mrs. Henrietta Sutton
Vaughan Glaser	...	Phillip Martin (as Vaughan Glazer)
Dorothy Peterson	...	Mrs. Mason
Ian Wolfe	...	Robert, the Butler
Frances Carson	...	Society Matron
Murray Alper	...	Mac - the Truck Driver
Kathryn Adams	...	Mrs. Brown - Tobin's Daughter
Pedro de Cordoba	...	Bones aka The Human Skeleton - Circus Troupe
Billy Curtis	...	The Major - Midget - Circus Troupe

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

France:U | USA:Approved (certificate no. 8268) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Germany:16 | Ireland:PG | Peru:14 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Frank Lloyd Productions

Trivia:

Film debut of Norman Lloyd.

Goofs:

Continuity: The close-up of the Soda City calendar shows a much heavier coating of spider webs than the previous shot.

Quotes:

[to Tobin]
Barry Kane: Why is it that you sneer every time you refer to this country? You've done pretty well here. I don't get it.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (2006)

Soundtrack:

Tonight We Love

Strange but very good Hitchcock movie

Barry Kane (Robert Cummings) is wrongfully accused on sabotaging a hanger making aircrafts for the war. He goes on the run, meets Patricia Martin (Priscilla Lane) along the way, and she joins him to find and bring the real criminals to justice.

There are a lot of things wrong with this film. Robert Cummings was a good actor but he's totally miscast in this role; Priscilla Lane is pretty but was never a good actress; the story doesn't make a whole lot of sense (and rambles on longer than needed); it wears its patriotism a bit much (but this WAS made while WWII was in full swing) and there's no ending. It shouldn't work but it does.

It's full of bizarre lines and characters that certainly hold your interest.

For example: Lane says to Cummings (while they're falling in love), "I wish I could have met you a hundred years ago" (????!!!!); Lane PAYS a villain for getting her lunch and Cummings and Lane join a circus troupe briefly while on the run. Also Hitchcock's direction was (as always) just great--he throws in some truly amazing shots and sequences--especially the Statue of Liberty climax.

This is not one of Hitchcock's classic movie but is still very good and worth catching.