Saboteur (1942)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

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

Release Date:

24 April 1942 (USA)

Genre:

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:

Factory | Sabotage | Fire | On The Run | Police

Awards:

1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Nov. 14

8:00 PM

TCM

Cast

Priscilla Lane	...	Patricia 'Pat' Martin
Robert Cummings	...	Barry Kane
Otto Kruger	...	Charles Tobin
Alan Baxter	...	Freeman
Clem Bevans	...	Neilson
Norman Lloyd	...	Frank Fry
Alma Kruger	...	Mrs. Sutton
Vaughan Glaser	...	Phillip Martin (as Vaughan Glazer)
Dorothy Peterson	...	Mrs. Mason
Ian Wolfe	...	Robert
Frances Carson	...	Society Woman
Murray Alper	...	Truck Driver
Kathryn Adams	...	Young Mother
Pedro de Cordoba	...	Bones - Circus Troupe
Billy Curtis	...	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) | Brazil:12 | 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:

Director Cameo: [Alfred Hitchcock]A man visiting the newsstand in front of the drug store where Barry Kane is taken upon arriving in New York City.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Fry orders the taxi to go downtown from midtown Manhattan, but on the way they pass by the sunken ship on their right which is supposed to be in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Brooklyn is to the east of Manhattan so it's impossible to see the ship on their right.

Quotes:

Mr. Freeman: The most important thing is to make sure of everyone around us.
Charles Tobin: Mr. Kane?
Mr. Freeman: I'm just not sure. I want to know that he's all right.
Charles Tobin: All right? What an understatement. He's much more than that! He's noble and fine and pure... So he pays the penalty that the noble must pay in this world: he's misjudged by everyone.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: Three Men and a Comic Book (#2.21)" (1991)

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.