Saboteur

Saboteur (1942)

Runtime: 109 minutes

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Robert Cummins, Priscella Lane, Otto Kruger, Alan Baxter

From: Universal

Out of all the Hitchcock films I could watch tonight, I decided to go with this one, as because at least I can tell an interesting tale about it. Earlier this month I decided to bookmark it to watch later, as I hadn't seen it before... or that is what I thought until I later realized that I HAD seen it before. And it was after I moved to Florida in May of '04; I don't know what it means that I did not remember right away this would be my second viewing of the film.

To copy and plot the synopsis from the IMDb: “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.” It's more complicated than that but I'll elaborate. A man named Fry sets up Barry Kane (Cummings) in a case of sabotage after he hands Barry a fire extinguisher that is actually filled with gasoline and causes Kane's friend to die. He has to go on the run because he is wrongly accused (a common theme, as you've read here the past few weeks) and he hooks up with a blonde who at first doesn't believe him but then she changes her mind (yep, another common theme).

I'll be honest; it's not as great as the similar North by Northwest or The 39 Steps. Sure, there are tense moments and suspense and drama and black humor, but those movies did do it better. North by Northwest and The 39 Steps did not have such things as rampant patriotism (it's understandable considering the time period), some speechifying, an old blind man who at times acts like he is Daredevil or Zatoichi, and a circus troupe where you see the hero and lady hang out with a fat short woman, a midget man, a bearded lady, and Siamese twins, so there's that. Wackiness, I tell you. Needless to say those were the moments of the movie I remembered the most as I viewed it again.

This is uneven and some parts I am kind of “eh” on, but there still are strong moments and as usual for a Hitch movie, it has a big and memorable ending; not to spoil it but it involves the Statue of Liberty. It's unfortunate that the movie goes to The End screen sooner than you expect after the big thing happens, but what can you do? That memorable ending helps and I'll likely give this 3 ½ out of 5 stars on Letterboxd, if you care to know. It's not one of his all-time classics but if you enjoy the director you certainly could do worse

I'll be back Wednesday night.