Foreign Correspondent

Foreign Correspondent (1940)


Runtime: 120 minutes


Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock


Starring: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders


From: Walter Wanger Productions


Here is a Hitchcock movie I knew little about beforehand; I picked it to watch last night mainly due to it being on a VHS tape and I needed that tape cleared by Sunday for more taping. I know, I know... but it's me and it's true. The plot to this just before World War II drama/mystery, courtesy of the IMDb:


“Johnny Jones is an action reporter on a New York newspaper. The editor appoints him European correspondent because he is fed up with the dry, reports he currently gets. Jones' first assignment is to get the inside story on a secret treaty agreed between two European countries by the famous diplomat, Mr. Van Meer. However things don't go to plan...”


Yes, I do laugh at the Johnny Jones name as I can't help but think of the MMA fighter known as Jon “Bones” Jones. The editor gives him a fake pen name of Huntley Haverstock, which is great. Just odd is the character name that George Sanders is. His name is Scott ffolliott. Yes, it's correct and threre's two lower-case f's; the movie explains it away in a goofy way; it's just an interesting quirk, I suppose. Anyhow, Scott does figure into the story of how Jones is shipped off to England in late summer 1939 to cover what was predicted to be the start of a major war. That was actually predicted as they started making the movie and well, if you don't know your history it WAS around that time when due to Germany invading Poland, England and some other countries declared war on the Germans; it must have been odd when the movie first came out and shortly thereafter The Blitz attack on London was started by Germany...


Anyhow, now that you know the climate of the movie (England and Germany are real close to war) and Jones is there to cover it and get any hot info about what may happen. He meets up with some people who preach peace and are trying to prevent war. Things happen and the guy sometimes known as Haverstock unwittingly gets involved and the tale involves spies, cover-ups, and double crosses. It twists around and sometimes goes places I wasn't expecting at all, but overall I did enjoy it for sure; not as much as something by North by Northwest or Psycho, but still something I'll likely give 4 out of 5 stars on Letterboxd, to list a method of comparison.


While it is a fantastical tale at times, it's still always interesting once things really get going. The acting is at least fine all across the board and there are some greatly acted scenes. There are also some interesting setpieces and of course there's plenty of tense and suspenseful moments. A lot of the action is in England but some of it is also in Holland; yes, you do see windmills. In fact, they are part of the plot. And wow that was quite final 20 or so minutes.


There is a romance and at least to me it seemed like a case of “Well, THAT escalated quickly” but that is OK as McCrea and Day have very good chemistry with each other. Plus, I hear that part of a key scene that seems wacky actually had basis in real life, as it actually happened to Hitch and the lady who would become his wife.



I'll be back Sunday afternoon; I plan on watching another classic film of old, but not one directed by Hitchcock.